DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST MARRIED WOMEN IN KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA: (A CASE STUDY OF DISTRICT PESHAWAR), PAKISTAN

Defining woman as a person, she is denied an identity of her own; she is seen as a commodity, eventually owned by her husband or male members of family and society. Pakistan has the male dominated society with high ratio of illiteracy and poverty. Women are considered as inferior entity due to which women are mostly victimized. Women are victimized mentally, physically, psychologically, and deprived of their rights not only outside the home but also in the four walls of home. She is also deprived of her rights, although Islam has given equal rights and opportunities to both genders. Many national and international NGOs and GOs are working for the rights of women and are trying to create awareness among the people about the status of women in our society. Pick up any Urdu or English daily newspapers you will find news about violence against women. The stories are horrifying and frightening. There may be more stories, which have not reached the newspapers columns due to pressure of influential, police or family members. Violence may include corporealassail by vigor, spokencruelty, vengeance blazing and sexual cruelty, rape and enforced prostitution. The violence faced by married woman is not only by her husband but the women of in laws family also inflict violence along with the men of the parent’s family i.e. father, brothers, uncles, cousins etc. Without women the life is not possible, it is the mother that bears the pains and gives birth to a man, i