Speakers at panel discussion on Wednesday said that education is a way forward to root out the menace of gender based violence from the society as Pakistan is one of bottom countries in the Gender Development Index (GDI).

Speakers at panel discussion on Wednesday said that education is a way forward to root out the menace of gender based violence from the society as Pakistan is one of bottom countries in the Gender Development Index (GDI). They panel discussion titled gender based violence arranged by Institute of Home Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) at the Senate Hall in collaboration with Aurat Foundation. Addressing on the occasion, UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan said that awareness, increased education level and high literacy rate would help minimize the cases relating to gender based violence from the society. He said that the effective measures were being taken on the part of the government to address the issue and to empower women. He showed his concern that mostly cases of gender based violence remained unreported. He was of the view that women empowerment was prerequisite to achieve sustainable development and prosperity. He said that UAF was making conscious efforts to promote the education in women as 45 students of UAF were women. Ghana University Professor Angela said that the sexual harassment was one of top in the cases of gender based violence in her country. She said that they were offering the foundation course of gender in their educational institutes to address the issue. She said that the enabling environment for women was essential to make the development.Chairman Department of Sociology Prof Dr Ashfaq Mann said we cannot make the development without involving the women in socioeconomic activities and bringing them into mainstream. He said that the situation is steadily deteriorating: women remain sidelined from mainstream economic activities. Dr Nighat Bhatti said that the women were feeling insecure. She stressed upon the need to get their rights and to play their active role in the development of the country. Dr Farah Riaz stressed upon the need to educate the rural women to empower them by creating awareness about their rights in the society. He said that rural women are playing a pivotal role in the development of agricultural but their role remains unrecognized. Dr Naureen Rana said that the women play active role in agricultural sector also but their role is not recognized. She urged the women to stand shoulder to shoulder with men. Dr Farah Naved, Dr Binish Asad, Dr Saira, Dr Aysha Zafar, and Dr Mehreen also spoke on the occasion.