It documented thousands of reported violent incidents including rapes, assaults, sexual harassment, acid attacks, murders, and even four examples of “stove burning” — understood to be when a woman is taken into a kitchen, covered in kerosene and set alight; then the perpetrators claim she was burned by the stove.

The real figures, the commission said, are likely to be much higher.

Many cases of violence against women are not reported to authorities. In rural areas such cases often bypass the formal justice system and are dealt with by village “jirgas” or councils, often in a manner that is punitive for women.

But even for those cases which do enter the court system, the conviction rate is “below one percent,” says Rabeea Hadi, an activist with the Aurat Foundation, a women’s rights watchdog.

In cases of domestic violence and sexual abuse, it is “almost zero,” adds Anbreen Ajaib, the executive director of another women’s rights group, Bedari.

Siddiqui says women, including herself, are often pressured to drop their cases, and can face blackmail and harassment.

But she is determined to see hers through, and says the attention it has received has prompted many women to contact her to say they, too, are encouraged to stand up for themselves.

“I have been told by the prosecutors... that I’m probably the first woman who is fighting so hard to get justice,” she told AFP, sounding calm and confident.

“It has proved that if women fight, they can turn things around, so they should never give up... they should not tolerate injustice, violence and blackmail.”

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