The practice of pouring acid on the faces of women who offend or embarrass you continues in Pakistan. This week, the young actress Bushra Waiz was awakened in her bedroom in Nowshera, 90 miles from the capital of Islamabad, by searing pain. The right side of her face was being burned away.

Allegations have been made against a local television producer. Police claim he was upset at the 18-year-old for rejecting his marriage proposal. Police believe that this man has fled the area to return to his hometown in the western part of the country. Waiz remains in critical condition at a hospital.

Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. Waiz is not alone in her suffering.

Industrial-strength acid is commonly found across Pakistan because of its use in cotton processing. It's also an inexpensive (but dangerous) cleaning fluid for rusty tools. In 2012 alone, approximately 150 attacks against women involving acid were reported. Given the traditional reluctance of women in rural communities to go to police in these circumstances, the overall numbers are no doubt much higher. Often these attacks are part of ongoing family feuds, but others can result from minor insults or breaches of the strict protocols imposed on women in traditional Pakistani communities.

Last November, Anosh Zafar, who was only 16 years old, was killed by her parents using acid. Her father had seen her standing too close to a boy and speaking to him too familiarly. When Zafar's father confronted her with the allegation that she was romantically involved with the boy, he became angry and had her mother fetch a bottle of acid in order to pour it on Zafar. After suffering burns across more than half her body, Zafar died the next day. Her parents were arrested after they refused to show the girl's face at the funeral, arousing suspicions among their neighbors.

Recently, efforts have been made to draw international attention to these attacks and the impact they have on their victims.

For example, the Pakistani film "Saving Face," which won an Oscar in 2012 for best documentary, focused on what happened to Rukhsana Mukhtar after her husband attacked her with acid in 2009. Publicity, however, does sometimes come with a price. Shortly after the film was honored by the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Mukhtar was forced to flee her village because of the negative attention she received as a result of the film's success.

When acid is not available, angry and offended men in Pakistan have other tools at their disposal. Pakistani women are also frequently set on fire. When the complaint is relatively minor, she may only have her nose cut off. On occasion, as in the case of Zafar, other women in the family are involved in these horrific crimes, as well.

These attacks reveal the serious problems that many Pakistani men are having in adapting their traditional attitudes toward women to reflect the realities of modern life. The focus of many of these attacks is on young girls who seek to empower themselves by making their own decisions. This exercise of individuality and independence insults the perpetrator and fills him with a desire to disfigure the woman who has embarrassed him.

Until recently, even when the local police were able to apprehend and charge an acid thrower, there was a provision in Pakistani law that allowed the perpetrator to pay compensation to the victim's family and escape prosecution.

It would be overly simplistic, however, to focus only on Pakistan or attempt to draw some forced conclusions about what is or is not permitted by Islam. So-called "honor killings" are common in rural areas across the region and occur frequently in nearby non-Muslim India. When an Indian woman, disfigured by acid, won the local version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," the publicity she generated shone a bright light on the horrible fate of these victims. Sonali Mukherjee was attacked when she was 17 years old for rejecting the sexual advances of her three neighbors. She is using her $40,000 to pay for further reconstructive surgery.

Wherever these attacks occur with frustrating regularity, governments must be held responsible both for failing to enforce the laws that are already on the books and for creating an atmosphere that's not far removed from tacit acceptance of this violence.

As Waiz suffers the consequences of her attack for years to come, authorities at both the national and local level across Pakistan must step up and make the necessary changes in policing and sentencing, as well as in general perceptions of the value and legitimacy of female aspirations, in order to ensure that girls and women in their country are adequately protected.

Timothy Spangler is a writer and commentator who divides his time between Los Angeles and London. His radio show, "The Bigger Picture with Timothy Spangler," airs every Sunday night from 10 p.m. to midnight Pacific time on KRLA AM 870. To find out more about Timothy Spangler and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.