The sudden and inexplicable surge in violence against women this year has sent shivers down the collective spine of the country. Not that previous years had been any different in terms of violence against women. However, the year 2017 appears to be particularly brutal with more than a dozen honour killings occurring in the first one and half months.
Patriarchal and exploitive- Pakistani society is mired with barbarians. Their egos cannot handle a strong, independent and motivated woman like Huma Shahnawaz, 27, from Kohat, KP province. She is the latest victim of an honour killing. Huma was daring enough to defy the advances of her cousin who wanted to marry her. He became enraged when she refused his proposal. Employed at an NGO in Islamabad, a small town girl from Kohat, Huma was the sole breadwinner of her widowed sister-in-law, her children and her divorced sister and her child.
As condemnation poured in from across the globe, the State leapt into action. They arrested the father of the murderer who is on the run and is yet to be apprehended and arrested. State inaction amounts to an endorsement of all such acts occurring in the name of honour of a tribe or family. By normalizing torture in the name of honour, society has allowed men to do as they please and literally get away with murder.
Evidence shows that most men make excuses for their behaviour. They cite momentary anger, terming verbal abuse as normal. All the while they shrug off the seriousness of financial control as punishment. Society also encourages violent behaviour as an acceptable social norm. According to the statistics of violence against women, contained in a report by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights to the Parliament, there were 860 “honour” killings (mostly women), 481 incidents of domestic violence 90 cases of acid burning, 344 cases of rape/gang rape, and 268 incidents of sexual assault/harassment. And this is just the official toll. Less than half of the abuses that occur are reported to the police.
The laws against the practice of honour killings have been toughened. However, nearly 40 honour killings have been recorded since the promulgation on October 7, 2016 of the Anti-Honour Killing and Anti-Rape Bills. This fact speaks volumes about the state of implementation of these laws.
Out of a total population of 190 million people, women in Pakistan make up almost 52%. Yet, a majority of these women suffer mental and physical abuse in the form of domestic violence, rape, assault, acid attacks and honour killings. According to the 2011 Thomson Reuters Foundation report, Pakistan is the world’s third most dangerous country for women. Pakistan continues to suppress and oppress women and girls by denying them the right to education, health, adequate nutrition and even the right to choose.
According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2016, Pakistan ranks 143 out of 144 countries in the gender inequality index. Since 2006, when the country stood at 112th, its position has been deteriorating every year. Pakistan has been ranked the second worst country in the world for gender inequality for a second consecutive year.
The Punjab Commission on the Status of Women has reported a 20 % surge in violence against women every year from 2012 to 2015.The rise in crime is said to be the direct result of the decline in conviction rates, which the report had stated as decreased. There were 81 convictions in 2015, compared to 378 in 2012.
Promulgation and enactment of women-friendly laws is fruitless unless women are given decision-making and empowering positions in the work force. According to the commission’s report, Pakistan was one of the few countries in the world that did not have a woman as a federal minister; there are only two female state ministers at the federal level. The provinces of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had only one woman minister in their cabinet, while Balochistan has no women in their cabinet.
In the country the literacy rate is dismal, as per UNESCO’s 2015 report titled “eAtlas of gender inequality in education.” Almost 16 million girls between the ages of 6 and 11 are not currently in school. It is wishful thinking to expect the status of women to be elevated merely by promulgating laws.
Despite being a signatory of CEDAW, the Pakistani state has done little more than pay lip service to the cause of women’s rights. The patriarchal mindset that lies at the core of the problem has not changed. Rather, it has seeped further into the moral fabric of society due to religious radicalization and militarization.
The urban-rural divide in terms of VAW has ceased to exist. Violent gender crimes are being increasingly and regularly reported from urban centres. The State has become a silent spectator to the plight of women suffering due to the lack of state protection and the rule of law. Honour killing becomes a norm when the judicial and state institutions fail to protect the marginalized and the vulnerable. Perpetrators enjoy impunity allowing them to take the law into their own hands.
The state of women in the country can and will be improved by: promotion of education, greater participation in politics, and widespread awareness of social, economic and political issues. Professional and financial independence can further improve their state. The State must play an active role in ensuring equality, as envisaged in the Constitution. Until the Pakistani government and society take up their responsibility to uplift the status of their wives, mothers, daughters and sisters, 51% of Pakistan’s population will continue to suffer from discrimination, violence and inequality.
The AHRC urges the State to take concrete action to bring Huma’s murderer to book. Our criminal justice system needs to be sensitized to handle the violence and crime against women. Our criminal justice system in Pakistan is particularly biased against women. Steps should be taken to ensure that the Investigative officer is a woman who fights crimes against women.
We need to end incidents of honour killings. It is vital that even if the family pardons their brother, father or son for the murder of the victim, the State must nevertheless prosecute the culprit. Under Pakistani law, a person accused of an honour killing can get away with the murder of his female relative because the family pardons him under Qisas and Diyat law. The State must take the initiative, in earnestly and sincerely implementing the women-friendly laws, promulgated to protect the rights and interests of the women of Pakistan.
