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Women in the grip of Violence
By
Humaira Shehzad
DISCRIMINATION
against women is widespread and deep-rooted, especially in the Third World
countries like Pakistan. They are down-graded, deprived and dehumanized
through social practices and traditions. Injustices are ingrained in State
policies and economic system.
It is a global phenomenon. The use of violence against women both in the
form of discrimination and as a means of perpetuating the whole phenomenon
of gender inequity continues. It is frequently resorted to and results in
physical, emotional and psychological damage or even death. Discrimination
against women is a common norm in our society.
Domestic violence is taken in Pakistan as a fact of life. It is committed
within the four walls of homes. The only time that domestic violence becomes
public, through reporting in the print media, when it results in the death
of extreme physical injury to the women. Incidents of women catching fire
while cooking on kerosene stoves and dying of excessive bums is an
increasingly common in Pakistan. Another touchy issue, related to gender
inequity is to kill the women in the name of honour and police officials
admit that in the year 2000 nearly 1000 women were killed in Pakistan.
The fact behind the henomenon of honour killing is that women are considered
man’s property, a kind of cattle or an object of his desire. Besides murder,
rape is the ultimate violation. It inflicts long-lasting damage on the
personality and life of the victim. It is the most pervasive form of
violence against women and also the one that is mostly under reported crime
against women in Pakistan.
At a seminar organized by the Ministry of Law in Islamabad in March 2004 it
was stated that a huge mafia was involved in the sale and trading of women
leading to their social, cultural and sexual abuse. In January 2004,
Pakistan adopted the Islamabad declaration at the 12th SAARC summit in which
it was declared that the member States would move towards an early
ratification of the two conventions on child welfare and trafficking in
women and children for prostitution.
The discussions at both official and non-official forums on violence against
women noted its crime committed against women. While figures on violence
against women collected by various groups sometimes differed significantly,
there was no evidence of any check on number of cases of violence against
women. It is also notable that despite the attention devoted to the issue in
Parliament by government officials and the passage of a bill of honour
killings, no efforts have been made to ensure improvement in the check on
prostitution.
Existing laws are often poorly implemented, and it is not clear what
measures would be taken to ensure implementations of new legislation. It is
unfortunate that the change in laws discriminatory to women, including the
Hudood Ordinance is being stalled by the vested interests.
These laws must be amended without further delay as per the recommendations
of the National Commission for the status of women. Other laws concerning
women need to be enforced to ensure that women are granted the legal
protections available to them and those guilty of violence against women are
punished under the law.
Laws restricting liberties and freedoms of women must not be put in place in
any part of the country. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has assured that the
Government is making efforts to provide better facilities to the women.
Pakistani women are hoping that the present Government will take appropriate
steps for the betterment of the women and to protect their rights.●
© 2005 Humaira Shehzad |
