According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) during the period between January to mid of May....
opinion
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) during the period between January to mid of May, 2018, a total of 1084 cases against women have been reported. There have been 344 cases of sexual violence; 213 cases of honour crimes; 364 kidnappings; 53 cases of domestic violence (the real number is probably higher but people do not report these); 57 cases of burning including acid attacks 23; set on fire 30 cases. The problem with women-specific crime is that people seldom come forward to seek justice; mainly because they are not sure whether their effort will bear anything. Most people are too afraid to speak up because the criminals are usually powerful people or hold some kind of authority over the victims.
A new government is on the political horizon of Pakistan. Everyone is looking for the change that was promised and there is a lot of hope that things will improve with the new people in power. If things move towards betterment for the country, everyone will embrace this change and help move the process forward. But will the new government be able to change things for women who make up 48 per cent of the population (according to Census 2017)? Will women be able to enjoy their basic rights as citizens of Pakistan? Will crimes against women be taken seriously and the criminals punished?
While the country was gearing up for the polls in July 2018, several crimes against women were routinely reported. A husband decapitated his wife after she refused to quit her job at a factory in Raiwind, Punjab. His explanation for this gruesome act was that he did not like her job and when she refused, he killed her. Chopping of the head is a cruel act itself, but it reveals the rage the person who committed the act felt at that time. It may also signify the need to silence the mouth that uttered the words of disobedience. In this case the wife’s refusal to quit her job despite her husband telling her to became the reason of it. For him, his wife’s refusal was a bigger offence and he didn’t seem to think that she was trying to help him by sharing the burden of earning for the family.
In another case a woman was murdered in Taxila Punjab because she refused to marry someone. The enraged suitor could not bear this and shot her in a broad daylight as she travelled in a rickshaw. The boldness of the act reveals that the criminal was not afraid of the law - probably because he was so empowered as a man that it never occurred to him that the power he held within his family or friends did not automatically give him a higher status in front of the law.
Meanwhile in Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, another Pashto singer and stage actress Resham Khan was fatally shot by her husband after a domestic dispute. And Peshawar saw a woman killed after being tortured by her husband, who was a police constable.
These cases are no doubt only a handful that came to light and were reported in the media mainly because the victim faced a horrifying end. There are probably dozens that haven’t even been reported and the victims are probably facing a hellish life on a loop or lying in some shallow ditch after being brutally killed, mostly in the name of honour.
Women issues have always seemed to be treated as secondary and we have not seen any government streamlining the legal process to make it easy for women to get justice. Issues such as honour killings along with some basic women related problems like security, health and education have been mostly ignored.
Things seem to remain unchanged despite more women entering Pakistan’s Parliament. Over the years we have seen an increase in the number of women coming into powerful positions like speakers of assemblies - and we have had a women prime minister - but still there seems lethargy to make women-specific laws. But it seems that the legislators are too busy to actually work towards coming up with a workable system to provide relief to the people they are representing. Existing laws are generally not implemented for various reasons. One main reason could be due to lack of awareness among a large number of women who would probably seek justice if they were aware that they had the provision. Another reason for the low number of women seeking justice may be because they lack support from the males of their family which exposes them to more pressure and criticism, not to mention the danger they are putting themselves into by standing up for their rights in a largely misogynist society.
The political manifestos of all the major parties have given the women voters very little to look forward to in the next government. The main reason for this is that big promises have been made in the past as well but many have not been fulfilled despite the large number of women in parliament. However, with more talk about women empowerment and crimes against women globally, it will be interesting to see how this is translated in the country. We have already seen the global #MeToo campaign breaking social taboos in Pakistan, and we may see more of this happening in the time to come. We also hope to see the women political leaders across the political spectrum in parliament, try and achieve more than their predecessors have in the past. And, provide women a better chance to live a better life with more power, better opportunities and more security from falling victim to crimes.
