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Sana Saleem |
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Domestic Violence Bill and the status of women in Pakistan |
The most indispensable tool for development of a society is prevailing humanitarian rights with a vital assurance that rights are maintained without gender bias and discrimination. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW) Between 70 percent and 90 percent of the 83 million women in Pakistan have been attacked or suffered other forms of domestic abuse by husbands, future husbands or other family members. Nearly 290 women were killed and 750 permanently injured or disfigured as a result of acid attacks in 2002 alone.
The Pakistan National Assembly has recently passed “Domestic Violence Bill”. It appears to be a crucial step provided that domestic violence was not even considered a crime in Pakistan. The bill also proposes to broaden the definition to not only pertain to physical and emotional abuse , but also sexual, verbal and economic abuse. Causing hurt, use of force, mischief, assault, wrongful confinement, and intimidation to be considered as crimes as well. Leading English newspaper dawn states:
The National Assembly passed a private bill on Tuesday aimed to prevent the prevalent curse through quick criminal trials and a chain of protection committees and protection officers. The first breach of a protection order will be punishable with imprisonment of up to one year, but not less than six months, and a minimum fine of Rs100, 000, which will be paid to the aggrieved person. But a violation for the second or third time, or more, will be punishable with up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of not less than 200,000 payable to the aggrieved person.
However, filing a false complaint—which the complainant knows or has reason to believe to be false — in a court will be punishable with simple imprisonment of up to six months or with fine of up to Rs50,000, or with both.
Komal Waqar a Sociology student expresses her opinion regarding the bill “The journey of a thousand steps has finally begun. The bill, though well intentioned, will fail if other measures are not taken along side and other factors considered. In a society like Pakistan where women are often expected to give up their careers after marriage and be economically dependent on the husband, it is possible that abused women may not speak up.”
Hira Malik an aspiring lawyer believes that “ The law can be easily abused, much like the Hudood ordinance, which was used against women rather then for them. With a history like that I don’t feel very hopeful”
Its obvious that the Hudood Ordinance has left many skeptic over the fate of women right laws. According to a report by HRCP:
In 1979, there were only 70 women in prisons all over Pakistan. By 1988, this figure was an astounding 6,000 (six thousand). The number of prosecutions under the Zina Ordinance not only multiplied, they became the majority of the cases against women being dealt with. Indicating a misuse of the law, the former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Mohammad Afzal Zullah, said 95% of all Hudood cases in the superior courts had been decided in favor of women. (The Muslim, Islamabad, March 9, 1993).
The passing of the Domestic violence law has raised many questions regarding its implementation.
First and foremost comes the dilemma of getting women to actually file a report. In most cases women are too scared to report and have no means to do so. Keeping that in mind significant measures need to be taken in order to get genuine pleas registered.
According Dr.Sobia a practicing psychiatrist “ a woman subjected to violence on a repetitive basis, looses her confidence. Such women are made to believe its their fault, and the beating is well-deserved. Keeping in mind out societal orientation, I think it’s a long journey to get victimized women to take a stand”
Moreover protection committee will consist of “two police officers and two women councilors”. Provided the immense lack of trust people have in the police department, transparency remains a crucial question.
Barrister Shahida Jamil while speaking to Journalist Naveen Naqvi on Breakfast at dawn elaborated on possible flaws “It’s a good step. It offers protection to women, children, seniors and domestic staff. But the problem area could be how the home and domestic violence are defined .The police are not in a position to be effective in protection committees”.
An Amnesty International report analysis the role of police in such cases: “When women are seriously injured by their husbands or families, police still discourage them from registering complaints and advise them to seek reconciliation with their husbands or families. In Karokari (Honor killing) cases, when husbands appear in police stations declaring that they have killed a girl or woman of their family, police often fail to take action, reflecting their unwillingness to enforce the law over custom.”
A vivid example of the abuse of law by the authorities can be the case of Zafran Bibi. in 2002, Zafran Bibi was sentenced to be stoned to death by a Sessions Court in Kohat , as she went to the police to register a case of rape after discovering she was pregnant. Instead the police registered a case of zina (adultery). Zafran Bibi was lucky, an appeal was filed and she was acquitted by the FSC. But for weeks she was kept in a death cell shackled and isolated from people.
In another devastating incident last year five women, aged between 16 to 18 years, were buried alive in a remote village, the Baba Kot, city of Jafferabad district, Baluchistan. They were shot and badly wounded and then buried in a ditch while they were still breathing. Their crime was wanting to have their rights on ‘choosing a husband’. The incident was later justified by Sardar Israrullah Zehri, a Senator, as being a ‘Tribal Custom’ and hence unquestionable and justified.
A lot needs to be learned from these tragic incidents. The outcry ties hope to break free from the customs that have deprived the women for decades. With such incidents being supported by Government itself the future of women right laws doesn’t appear much hopeful.
Ramla Akhtar who runs a futurist consultancy NEXT demands that “ We shouldn’t let any Bills, especially one with respect to a social issue, misguide the people or the government into believing that the task has been done. It is a popular misconception that the most effective action that can be taken on an issue is to create a (punitive) law. The law, however, is only as effective as the people's collective will -- and the collective will is a function of awareness. That awareness comes from social and cultural sources.”
It appears that the conditions of women rights in Pakistan and the law pertaining these violations needs to be scrutinized. Eventually crucial steps need to be taken to insure implementation of this bill. Without making significant legal changes, this bill could easily be deemed ineffective. However, to make the required amendments possible seems to be a tough struggle.
Over the years women, in Pakistan, have been able to pave their ways into Government offices, high-ranking jobs and secured influential positions. However this doesn’t mean that their struggle has been easy to say the least.
Fariha Rashid CEO of INK magazine describes the experience of a working woman in a male dominating society.
“As a woman, initially when I began working, and that too in a largely male dominated environment, I experienced a very non-serious attitude towards my work from the opposite sex. Men, unfortunately, usually feel threatened by any woman who does well for herself and who is able to perform better than them. There is a misplaced, preconceived notion in their minds that women in the workforce must either be stupid, or need help with their work, because they couldn't possibly handle it on their own.”
Even today women in Pakistan have to bear the brunt of misogynistic laws, where even basic rights of women are considered insignificant. The society still haunts women with forced marriages, child marriages, sexual abuse, dowry abuse, harassment and assault. It will not be far-fetched to assume that passing of the ‘Domestic Violence Bill’ is only a step towards a much longer journey.
Despite the notorious past Jehan Ara the President of Pakistan Software House Association (P@sha) feels positive and hopes for further improvement “I am glad that that there is finally a public recognition that violence against women is a real problem faced by many women in this country. However, there are problems in the Bill that need to be addressed. The Protection Committee is, in my opinion, something to worry about. This is supposed to comprise one union councillor, a female police officer and a male police officer - a group that is not likely to generate a lot of confidence.” Jehan who has recently returned after attending MDG3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women workshop in Kuala Lumpur, further points out that the “One thing that is missing from the Bill completely, is the harassment/violence using email, Facebook, SMS etc. The current technologies allow for some new forms of psychological violence that needs to be considered. We have heard that in some Muslim countries, people are divorcing their wives through SMS. Protection against such unfair practices need to be included in the Bill.”
Pakistan needs a staunch political representation of women’s issues with an effective projection to the society. Significant provisions in the Constitution to lay down strategy in helping oppressed women in resuming their societal role. It will be no less than a miracle to change the conservative patriarchal orientation of the Pakistani society, and trigger a change of attitude towards women.
On a positive note we still have women such as Jehan Ara (President Of Pakistan Software House Association), Sabeen Mahmud (Director Peace Niche NGO), Rabia Gharib (CEO of CIO magazine), Asma Jehnagir (Human Right Activist) and many more. These women not only represent the independent, enlightened and modern woman of Pakistan, despite the hurdles, but also act as role models to many young women such as myself.
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