'53% Pakistani teenage girls feel domestic violence is justified if wife refuses to have sex'

Washington: Over half a population of teenage girls in Pakistan believes that it is justified for a husband to beat his wife if she refuses to have sex, claims United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report.

Girls between the age group of 15 to 19 cite 'refusing sex' as one of the reasons that justifies domestic violence.

The report, titled, ‘Sexual and Reproductive Health of Young People in Asia and the Pacific’, also states that over 30 percent of girls aged in the same age group had experienced physical or sexual violence in Pakistan.

Low educational attainment, unemployment and a family history of violence were positively associated with acceptance of violence, The Express Tribune reported.

The report also says Pakistan is one of the countries where the greatest number of adolescents (10-19 years) live with HIV.

India (120,000) has the largest population of HIV-positive adolescents followed by Indonesia (46,000), Thailand (11,000), Myanmar (7,700), Pakistan (7,000), Cambodia (3,500), Iran (3,200), Vietnam (2,600) and Nepal (1,200).