Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari Friday said that the government has decided to appoint women judges in the judiciary as part of its efforts to take social, economic, legal and constitutional steps for the empowerment of the women and for their protection from all kinds of exploitation and violence.

He was addressing a signing ceremony here at Aiwan-e-Sadr, to conclude one million signatures campaign, to increase awareness about violence against the women which was attended by a large number of women, members of the federal cabinet, parliamentarians, representatives of NGOs and foreign diplomats.

The president said discrimination against women was deeply rooted in all spheres of society -social, political, economic and legal.

President Zardari said the democratic government had taken a number of steps for women empowerment, eliminate all forms of discrimination against them.

He said the democratic government, inspired and guided by the vision of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto to end the exploitation of women, passed a number of legislation to ensure the rights of women and their empowerment in the true sense. AGENCIES