FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO SEXUAL ABUSE OF WOMEN IN PAKISTAN: A VICTIM-PRONEMODEL OF SEXUAL VICTIMIZATIO

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify and explain the hidden factors contributing to victimization and revictimization of women in Pashtun society. This study was conducted insix districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, district Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Abbottabad, Upper Dir and Swat.  This study applied qualitative research method. A total of 30 victims of sexual abuse were interviewed in 06 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Semi-structured interviews were conducted
with the victims of sexual abuse. In this study, sexual abuse was measured as non-consensual sexual contact that caused physical and emotional harm to the victim. Victims of sexual assault or harassment in the absence of physical contact were excluded from this study. The main findings included inequality, domesticity, poverty and economic dependency that made women vulnerable to victimization and revictimization. The victim-prone-model basically shows these factors that underpin each other and change in a cycle. One factor supports the other and the successive factor is basically the outcome of the former.