CEU eTD Collection (2025); Khurshid, Momina: Debating Domestic Violence In The Public Sphere: Law, Society And Perceptions In Pakistan 2013-2023

CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
Author Khurshid, Momina
Title Debating Domestic Violence In The Public Sphere: Law, Society And Perceptions In Pakistan 2013-2023
Summary This thesis examines the public history of domestic violence in Punjab, Pakistan from 2013 to 2023. Although Pakistan has some of the most progressive laws against domestic violence globally, their implementation has been undermined by various factors. This project relies on a range of sources such as newspaper articles, court judgements and interviews with survivors to demonstrate how extreme cases of violence have historically dominated the public discourse while the nuances and factors that shape domestic violence faced by women in their daily lives remain out of the public sphere. By developing Nazariya, an interactive workshop tool based on museum pedagogy and empathy based-civic learning, this thesis advocates to shift from punitive legal frameworks to public education aimed at addressing attitudinal acceptance of abuse. This tool uses survivor testimonies to create first person narratives for fostering empathy among users—primarily judges, police personnel, and students— by allowing them to make choices as the survivor, faced by the same obstacles and decisions. The thesis argues that a vacuum exists between the public history of domestic violence and the lived realities of Pakistani women who experience abuse. By narrating private stories in public learning spaces, this project contributes to a more nuanced and empathetic understanding of domestic violence in Pakistan.
Supervisor Al-Baghdadi, Nadia Martina,Susana
Department Historical Studies MA
Full texthttps://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/khurshid_momina.pdf

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