Pakistan chapter of the United Nations (UN) Women has launched a campaign condemning the demand for dowry in South Asian societies.
The human rights watchdog has defined jahezkhori as “the customary practice of asking for and accepting durable goods, cash, and real or movable property, from the bride’s family by the groom’s as a condition for marriage”.
“There is a need to call for an end to this practice as it also leads to violence against women and girls. The most common forms of dowry-related violence are emotional abuse, domestic violence, acid throwing, stove-burning, and other forms of violence,” it has stressed.
Several Pakistani celebrities and pop stars have endorsed the campaign by tattooing the slogan on their hands in henna.
Actress Ayesha Omar called on her followers to take a stand against the practice as “real men don’t ask for dowry”.
Ushna Shah also said that “real men” should be able to take care of themselves without resorting to dowry.
Sana Javed wrote that men who start their lives by asking for a start-up fund in the name of dowry from the bride’s family need to be called out by naming and shaming them as jahezkhor.
Actress Aiman Khan questioned: Where’s a man’s self-respect when he’s demanding money and household items from his wife to be and her family?”
Their male co-stars also joined the campaign condemning a social evil. Ali Rehman Khan, who recently starred in Parchi, wrote that dowry is malpractice embedded in all classes of our society, which needs to be stopped.
Model Waleed Khan stressed that jahezkhori can be stopped together.
Singer and actor Haroon Shahid urged people to “speak up for it makes a difference”.
“We’ve all seen it happen around us, we’ve all at some level been a part of it willingly or unwillingly but it’s never too late to speak up and change. Believe in change”, he wrote.
However, there has been a backlash from certain segments of society calling out the double standards of celebrities who live very glamorised lives themselves. Many pointed that Aiman Khan recently had a very lavish wedding ceremony spread over weeks.
A satirical Facebook page mocked her photo with a caption: “I recently got married and we kept it very simple. It was spread over 30 days only and we only spent 45 crore on over a dozen different events.”
“My husband only spent 44.5 crores and rest of the money came from sponsors and that is why I am giving you all a message to keep weddings simple so society cant put pressure on people to have all these functions.”
