On the pro-women legislation
Law and society, they have a mutually affective relation. While the former reflects and/or codifies the changing attitudes of the latter (for what is an elected legislature if not the representation of the will of the people), it can also be an instrument to bring about a change in these very societal attitudes. Hence, its both top-down and bottom-up. The anti-women practices bills passed by the senate can be characterised as more of the former: an affirmative effort by the government of the day to take up deviant practices that refuse to die out. While these laws should have come out a long time ago, it’s better late than never.
The roots of some of the practices outlawed in the bills run deep. Nothing can signify this more than that not only are these practices prevalent here at home but also in the Pakistani diaspora (as the recent conviction of a Pakistani man and his son in Belgium for honour killing shows). The fact that they are widespread and have embedded themselves over time has given them de facto religio-cultural sanction – even though these practices are what would be considered wayward both culturally and religiously speaking. Thus, the best way to tackle them would be to institutionally criminalise them as has been done. Once such things are put in the books, it is inevitable that the effects trickle down and all but the most resilient attitudes give way.
But the passage of this legislation is just one step. What good is a law if it is not implemented? The role of not just the judiciary but that of the law enforcement machinery is critical in this regard. Pakistan has often suffered from the fact that it has appropriate laws in the statute book but they are not implemented due to want of evidence or irregularities in the enforcement process. The Mukhtar Mai case also suffered on this count (amongst others) which led to the perpetrators walking free.
The passage of this legislation is laudable. Our hapless republic has its share of oppressed minorities and the second sex is the largest one of them. One hopes that this legislation can mitigate the hard ground realities of violence against women.
