Violence against women is endemic in Pakistan according to a
new report by International Crisis Group. The report notes that on 8th Decemer
2016, International Women’s Day, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed his
government would take all necessary legislative and administrative steps to
protect and empower women. However, it also highlights that Pakistan currently
has discriminatory legislation and a “dysfunctional legal system” which is by
and large unwilling to enforce progressive gender legislation. In addition,
ongoing conflicts between the army and militants in tribal areas are
contributing to continued attacks on women and abuse of their human rights.
Hina Jilani, renowned Pakistani human rights lawyer and
women’s rights campaigner, responds to the report and explains why she remains
optimistic about the potential for legal process to achieve women’s protection
and political empowerment:
“Women face substantial, systemic challenges in Pakistan.
And most fundamental is the question of violence. One of the key problems is
that there is a very fragmented legal framework for violence against women.
Moreover, there are no proper mechanisms on the ground for proper enforcement.
For instance, the burden of prosecution always remains on the shoulders of the
victim. If this is a marginalised, disempowered woman, how much effort can she
really give to that kind of litigation? A lot of cases end up getting withdrawn
as the victim is simply too tired.
There has been some good legislation dating back to 1961 on
family law but the state has always been very apologetic about that. We see
this again and again in Pakistan: there is no serious commitment to implement
the good laws that do exist because of the environment that has been created
around the whole question of women’s rights.
This was created very deliberately in the 1980s by the
military government of the time which was fighting the Russians in Afghanistan,
using Islamic groups.
At the level of decision making and power, these religious
groups have enjoyed a disproportionate influence ever since. Every time
something comes up in terms of women’s rights, this lobby gets together and
attacks and challenges new ideas or proposals.
The legislature is generally not opposed to legislating good
laws but they feel frightened because of the prevailing political climate of
intolerance and impunity.
Yet when laws have been seriously implemented, they have
become instruments of social change. One example is the old law on “illicit
relationships”, meaning between non-married men and women. This was introduced
in the 1980s as part of the Islamisation process. It meant prisons were full of
women who would often stay behind bars for three or four years without ever
being convicted. For 25 years, the women’s movement fought against that law,
and finally it was changed. The reform was incomplete but the effect it had was
very profound in terms of cutting the number of women in prison.
We can also point to progress in the field of women’s
political empowerment, which goes hand in hand with democratisation. Women have
benefited from whatever progress there was in terms of democratisation of
practices, policies and the culture of our institutions.
In the 2004 parliamentary elections it became compulsory for
political parties to fill up seats on a proportional basis specifically for
women. And in the 5 years of the parliament, women had a sense of
responsibility; they felt they needed to show something for themselves. They
did tremendous work in terms not just for women but also human rights. In fact,
the Human Rights Commission report of 2012 found almost all human rights
legislation was tabled by women, regardless of what political parties they
belonged to.
This is a key point: women can and do secure progress for
and by themselves despite all the obstacles in their path. Despite all the
problems women have in this country, we’re still optimistic and we’ve come a
long way in the past two and a half decades. This is due to the strong civil
society and very influential women’s movement. Whatever we’ve been able to
achieve has been because of this movement, not governments or the judiciary.
Women in Pakistan are demanding change and challenging their
political, social and religious institutions. Women from all religions suffer
from similar problems. Violence is universal and nothing has been done about
it.
If the international community wants to help these women,
they shouldn’t be defensive or apologetic for fear of offending religious or
social traditions. That hurts us. There’s no reason to be apologetic when we’re
not. We’re a part of this society. If the international community is
apologetic, it confuses the population and makes it harder for forces inside
the country to send our message with clarity.”
Compiled by Hina Jilani
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