True for Pakistan at least
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s population currently stands at around 180 million people. Out of those 180 million people, 47.5% are female. 70 to 90% of that 47.5% population suffers abuse at the hands of men and a solidly patriarchal society of Pakistan.
There are no legal safeguards that protect this gross number of people from the litany of abuses (acid attacks, underage marriages, genital mutilation, and honour killings). There are no laws in place for domestic abuse. Marital rape is not considered a crime under the Constitution of Pakistan.
Interestingly, Pakistan considers blasphemy and accessing YouTube a crime. Also interestingly, the jurisdiction of Supreme Court and High Courts of Pakistan does not extend to certain areas, according to Article 247 and Article 248, under the existing 1973 Constitution. That means that you can beat and rape a woman in your household without penance. You can also have a piece of state where the laws don’t apply. But you cannot access YouTube or exercise freedom of thought or fly kites.
In 2009, PPP’s Domestic Violence Protection Bill passed the National Assembly but failed to pass in the Senate. The Council of Islamic Ideology objected, saying it will ‘increase divorces’. Of course a lot of the legal problems (including the CII itself) are a product of the Zia era. Gender equality was specifically guaranteed in 1973 constitution – but Zia banned women from participating and being spectators of sports and promoted ‘purdah’.
He suspended fundamental rights listed in the 1973 constitution. Post-Zia, gender-bias became a legality-free area. It has been a long uphill ride since then. With the onset of Pervez Musharraf’s government, there were some fairly liberal reforms seen in the overall structure of Pakistani society, but clearly politicians have more pressing agendas than stopping acid attacks on women.
On 29 January, 2010, President Zardari signed the ‘Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill 2009’. In addition, more bills were passed, making acid attacks, vani, watta-satta, swara and marriage to Holy Quran as criminal acts. The battle for women’s rights is far from over. Men keep finding new and creative ways to work around the laws. They indulge in genital mutilation and shaving of the head or eyebrows to humiliate women. A mob in Sialkot dragged a 60-year-old woman and shaved her head for apostasy. Blasphemy laws are clear-cut and simple and have no leeway. So if someone is ‘inconvenienced’ by a woman, it is that simple to accuse them of blasphemy and have them hanged or arrested or have them humiliated in the multifarious ways they see fit. There are no definitive laws in place for such barbaric acts and attitudes. There are also no tangible land or property rights for women — most assets are controlled by men, by virtue of culture and some religious safeguards.
Gallup reveals no improving insight, even though literacy rates are improving. 63% Pakistanis agreed, according to Gallup, that a boy’s education is more important than a girl’s. 67% think men are better politicians than women. Sadly, 82% of women respondents believed that prosperous women should raise their voices to support the rights of poor women.
Is there an end in sight? Is Pakistan going to move towards a better future for women? Perhaps, we can only hope. Perhaps we can look up to these beautiful women who have continued to give us hope that if women raise their voice, if they are not silenced by the men who want to oppress and dictate their futures, they will receive just as many opportunities to thrive and they will prove that they are just as capable to succeed as any man in any country.
From L-R
Hina Rabbani Khar – Pakistan’s first female foreign minister
Kishwer Naheed – a literary giant among men in her time
Mukhtara Mai – rape survivor and female rights’ activist
Marvi Memon – politician and businesswoman
Shaista Ikramullah – politician, diplomat and author
Perveen Rehman – social activist (murdered in 2013)
Nusrat Bhutto – politician, wife of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Noor Jehan – prominent singer and actress
Abida Perveen – folk singer, lauded for qawwalis and sufi songs
Asma Jahangir – lawyer, female rights’ activist.
Ismat Chughtai – author and outspoken feminist
Benazir Bhutto – first female PM of a Muslim country
Sana Mir – captain of Pakistan’s women cricket team
Naseem Hameed – marathon runner
Rana Liaquat Ali Khan – forerunner in Pakistan movement
Maryam Nawaz Sharif – chairperson PM’s Youth Programme
Fehmida Mirza – first female Speaker National Assembly
Malala Yousafzai – survived Taliban attack, education rights’ activist
Perveen Shakir — poetess
Nasira Iqbal – ex-High Court justice
Tehmina Daultana — politician
Majida Rizvi – lawyer, human rights’ activist
Fatima Jinnah — politician
Sherry Rehman – diplomat
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy – Oscar winning documentary filmmaker
