Saman Hamid
Order this tractor trolley to shut her mouth” , says not a truck driver to his wife for interfering in some crucial matter in some distant rural Pakistan, this enlightened language finds it way on the assembly floor for one of the most celebrated female politicians in Pakistan by the Defence minister of Pakistan. Disturbingly this made news fodder for the day as subsequent disciplinary action was pursued by the determined lady. The apology did come a day later but did it really matter. Should someone get away by a mere apology, apparently Islamabad High Court thought so who could not find enough legal grounds to disqualify the esteemed minister who defended against harassment claims. This comes at a time when the National Assembly passed a “woman protection bill”. It is quite ironic how a new bill has passed which many terms as a direct result of an award winning documentary when in that very assembly members have little regards to how to carry themselves in front of fellow colleagues.
The bill aims to curb honor killing and rape in our society. The bill though long awaited and highly propagated by various organizations for women’s rights has many glaring loopholes in the legislation; firstly, the crime is still compoundable, it enables the victim’s family to pardon the killer in case of death penalty, given the nature of such crimes normally committed by close family members it is no wonder such criticism is being made. Secondly the law defines the very crime as fasad-fil-arz but leaves establishment of this as honor killing on the judge which according to critics is very difficult to establish especially in terms of providing evidence for the said crime. The Anti-Rape law on the other hand is a step forward as it has allowed for admission of DNA as evidence. Some of the other things to appreciated in this legislation are; defective investigation’s worthy of punishment, the case should be decided upon by the court within six months, protection of the identity of the victim by deeming it done without consent an offence, victim’s plea of non consent in such a case would be accepted by the court in order to establish it as an offence. Hence in terms of both laws, the former still has a long way to go while the latter has taken a step in the right direction in terms of amendments.
According to Human Rights commission of Pakistan (HRCP) around 300 women were honor killing victims in the first half of 2016, these were the killings reported as honor killing the real figure must be much higher. According to Aurat Foundation the number was 432 in 2012, 705 in 2011, 557 in 2010, 604 in 2009 and 475 in 2008. Rape cases according to HRCP stands at a staggering 2392 since January 2014, with the number this year alone at 1085, with gang rapes at 340 this is 46% of the total number during the past three years (Jan 2014) and with reported minors being 185, this is nearly 52% of the total number during the past three years (Jan 2014). The World Economic Forum placed us at 144 out of 145 countries on gender disparity. It is safe to say that women rights are an area Pakistan needs to work very hard on in addition to lots of other things.
There have been other legislations over the years that may not have been perfect but are a first step namely; The Acid Attack bill of 2014 and Women Workplace Harassment Bill of 2011. As far as the acid attack victims go the numbers reported by HRCP for the past three years is 157, nearly 45% of these are critically burnt. The number has averaged at around 50 for the past four years. The bill alone seems to be insufficient as acid throwing remains a rampant crime mainly due to easily availability of acid in Pakistani market according to law makers. As far as the Harassment Act 2o10 is concerned effective implementation is greatly lacking in our country. With an effective webpage at the Federal level and the Punjab provincial office claiming to have addressed 45 cases reporting and subsequent remedies are the key factors in making this law mere lip service.
We are a country that has come a long way, we did have a female head of state twice in power that is still considered one of the most influential in South Asia and female representation in the National Assembly though needs miles to cover has come a long way. These legislations maybe in many cases are symbolic in nature but instill hope for a better Pakistan. Pakistani women also need to change their perspectives as well as at the end of the day the demons within have to be defeated in order for these efforts to bear fruit. United Nations Population Fund reported recently that 53% of teenage girls in South Asia believe that domestic violence is justified until we find means for a paradigm shift for such perspectives we cannot develop a culture where abuse, harassment is viewed as a crime let alone punished and justly punished.
