The Government remains concerned about reports of abuses and violence directed against women in Pakistan. Our concerns are reflected in the latest update to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual human rights report available at the gov.uk website.<\/p>
We regularly raise our concerns about the protection of vulnerable groups, including women, with the Pakistan government at a senior level. During his visit to Pakistan in September 2018, the Home Secretary raised the importance of tackling violence against women and girls.<\/p>
Pakistan remains a priority for UK development assistance, with programmes designed to improve human rights and opportunities for women. The Department for International Development's "Aawaz" Voice and Accountability programme in Pakistan works to empower female youth leaders from Punjab (and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) to challenge discriminatory social norms in their communities.<\/p>
Our Rule of Law programme in Pakistan aims to strengthen the formal criminal justice system through more effective investigations and prosecutions of crime. It will help to build public confidence in the formal justice system and encourage a move away from the use of "jirga councils". Part of the programme focuses specifically on improving access to justice for women and girls.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4210", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-11-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-11-27T15:54:07.577Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-11-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Pakistan: Females"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the implementation of the Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2015 in the Punjab province of Pakistan.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/2018", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Hylton"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Hylton"} ], "uin" : "HL11467"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }