The women of Pakistan bear the brunt of poor governance, military strife, and the corruption of the social, political and economic systems which surround them. W omen make up 49% of the population of Pakistan, yet they are continuously marginalized and discriminated against by the middle class and feudal societies, and through political and social structures which are inherently misogynistic. Recently, eruptions of violence in cities across the region have prompted new concerns that militia are specifically targeting women in their terror campaigns.
As an explicitly Muslim state, the women of Pakistan are beholden to a number of Islamic principles. For one, the family is seen as the nucleus of society, the fundamental building block from which the rest of society emerges and evolves. Women are seen to be responsible for maintaining the sanctity of the family, and are thus those who are most likely to disrupt this sanctity. As such, the woman becomes the lynch pin of an ordered society; it is on her back that responsibility and power lies, both for her family and by extension, for all of society. While the violence against women enacted in this society occurs for manifold reasons, it seems that this understanding of women as both the lynch pin and the one with the power to unravel society, is a contributing factor to the continual mistreatment of women in Pakistan.
Violence against women is seen to be of no importance to the judiciary of Pakistan, particularly the lower judiciary. Women face numerous types of violence perpetuated by the state and its agents, including rape, gang rape, torture, registration of false cases of adultery, honour killing, Jirga (an illegal, parallel judicial system for the exchange of minor girls in land disputes,) burying alive or putting before dogs, acid throwing, no free choice of marriages, restriction of freedom of movement and expression, domestic violence, sexual harassment at the workplace, snatching of children, forcing conversion to Islam, blasphemy, deprivation of property rights, disappearance after arrest and being used as sex slaves in military torture cells.
The main causes of this violence stem from a lack of proper investigative mechanisms by the police, and the presence of a strong feudal system, which contribute to the ultimate failure of the judicial system. In the urban centers of the country, the judiciary is indirectly under pressure from the landed aristocracy, as in the case of rural areas where there is no question of women getting relief (not even bail after arrest) from the lower judiciary.
Bills adopted against sexual harassment and domestic violence
Even so, there have been advances made in legislation. In a rare show of concern for women, the National Assembly unanimously passed a bill to provide harsher punishments for those who commit sexual harassment, expanding the definition of the crime to facilitate prosecution of the perpetrators. The punishment for the crime was increased to up to three years imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs. 500,000. Effectively, women should feel encouraged to enter the workplace, as their protection is hopefully assured by a bill that makes sexual harassment laws less vague and open to interpretation. While this initiative is truly commendable, it is important to note that the Senate has yet to approve this bill. Indeed, while this is certainly a laudable effort, we must remember that the strength of these laws comes in their application and not simply their approval. Indeed, in one recent case, a senior anchorperson at Dunya Television News was pressured to keep silent about her sexual harassment by the managing director of the company. Please see the following link: http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3250/
The National Assembly has also adopted a women's protection bill, for the prevention of domestic violence, and the provision of aid and services to victims of the same. According to the bill, protection committees, comprising police officers, would provide legal and medical protection. They would assist and if necessary, relocate the aggrieved and their children. The bill also states that at any stage of the hearing, the accused may be directed to pay monetary relief to meet the expenses incurred and losses suffered, including loss of earnings, medical expenses and maintenance of the aggrieved person and her dependents. The bill states that domestic violence is an offence, and that if a person repeats such act(s), they are liable to one-year's imprisonment and a fine of Rs.200,000. The bill also maintains that the federal government must ensure that the National Commission on the Status of Women reviews the legal provisions on domestic violence at regular intervals, and suggest improvements when necessary.
Many cases reflect the need for the police to be held accountable for actions which undercut the rule of law. The AHRC received information that the rape and murder of a woman last year by a group of men included two police officers. Please see an Urgent Appeal, Police officers participate in the rape and murder of a woman and no investigation is carried out, Please see the link of a case http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3213/
In another recent case, police made no moves to arrest five men accused of gang-raping a sixteen-year old girl and were instead said to be supporting an illegal out-of-court settlement. It seems that since the accused are members of a powerful political party, the police have told the AHRC that they do not intend to take DNA samples of the accused. In another case, in which a group of schoolteachers have been accused of gang-raping several students, the police willfully delayed the victims' medical examination. :
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2009/3301/
Unfortunately, it seems that the police are not the only officials who willingly compromise their professional integrity in the name of personal or political gain. Gender biases and misogynistic values can be seen in cases such as one where a Additional District and Sessions Judge Nizar Ali Khawaja on March 25, 2009 in Karachi, Sindh province, was highly inappropriate and unprofessional during the rape trial of a young girl, putting her through a grueling, sexually-explicit cross-examination in front of her alleged attackers, using aggressive, sarcastic
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