Pakistan is the Worst for Gender Based Disparities in Asia

If Pakistan is worst in Gender based disparities, India surely isnt any better, Indian Law openly discriminates against the Males in society to such an extent that Men are sent to prison without investigation, simply on the word of mouth of the wife. Draconian Laws like 498a and DV act 2005. As long as men are discriminated its ok, they are subhumans in any society where Fascist Feminazi Witches rule. 

Pakistan is at the lowest bottom of the ranking among Asian countries and at 132 out of 134 countries.
Economic empowerment also stood at 132, health at 128 and political empowerment at 55. The situation is getting worse, as its ranking was 127 in 2008 also Asia’s worst ranking in terms of gender based gap.
‘Global Gender Gap Report,’ is a framework for understanding the magnitude and depth of gender-based disparities in different fields of the life.

Women continue to suffer from structural inequalities and violence and their low status is entrenched in society and mindsets.

Laws have been issued to tackle violence against women, such as the Protection of Women Act, 2006 or the Criminal Law Act, 2009. The latter provides protection to working women at workplace from sexual advances and intimidation. The 2006 law protects women from abduction and rape, among other things, and makes provision for punishment of such offences. However it still fails to fully protect women, for example by not recognizing marital rape or by severely punishing non-marital sex, thus giving arguments to extremists.
On January 26, 2010, a bill regarding acid violence – which would specifically target those crimes by stating higher punishments for the attackers and by regulating the sale and purchase of acid – has been submitted to the National Assembly of Pakistan.

In most cases, the judicial institutions have not taken stern sanctions against the perpetrators, who have often been able to act and walk away in total impunity. Nor has adequate compensation and support been granted to the victims.

Throughout 2009, thousands of cases of violence against women were reported in Pakistan. Most of the perpetrators are members of the family – immediate and extended – like a husband, a brother or a cousin. If a woman has been branded “kari” (black woman) by a Jirga – a tribal assembly of elders that dispense so-called justice according to customs and tradition – her husband is entitled to kill her and her alleged lover. Jirgas are illegal in Pakistan, but the rule of tradition is often more powerful than the rule of law.
Women are beaten up, raped, tortured or even killed at home; they have to face the constant threat of sexual harassment, sexual assaults, rape and gang-rape.

In Swat, 17-year-old Chand Bibi received 34 lashes in public for going out in the street with her father-in-law.
Their everyday-life is regulated by tribal archaic traditions. Few weeks ago, Samina Khawar Hayat, a female legislator in the legislative assembly of Pakistan’s Punjab province stunned her colleagues by asking the Punjab government to amend existing laws to allow men to marry a second, third and fourth wife without the consent of first wife, whereas existing Muslim Family laws in Pakistan make it mandatory for husbands to obtain the first wife’s permission.

The number of women of all ages and backgrounds who are killed in the name of honour cannot be determined; the vast majority of these cases are unreported and only in the rarest cases are perpetrators brought to justice. Many women in Pakistan live lives circumscribed by misogynistic traditions which systematically control their bodies, their decisions and their lives.

Undocumented and unreported killings in the name of honour are often bolstered by governmental indifference, discriminatory laws and negligence on the part of Pakistan’s police force and judiciary.
As Neshay Najam in ‘Honour Killings in Pakistan’ notes, “it is paradoxical that women who enjoy such a poor status in society and have no standing in family should become the focal point and a false and primitive concept of family honour, which they are expected to uphold at the expense of their inclinations and preference in matters of marriage.”

All these examples show how it can be dangerous, just being a woman. It also shows that discrimination against women is not only a legal problem, but also a societal problem, as it is deeply entrenched in the mindsets. Laws are not sufficient to protect women against centuries-old traditions. This can be changed only through an in-depth evolution that includes the disassembly of Jirgas, the effective implementation of the rule of law in every region of the country and the reform of the judiciary and the police to stop impunity and fairly condemn perpetrators, which requires a strong political will. Structural changes also have to be made, such as a better representation of women in state and public offices.

PAKISTAN: Women’s International Day – Pakistan is the worst for gender based disparities in Asian countries

Mar 6, 2010

Despite the Pakistani government’s few efforts to improve the women’s situation, physical and sexual violence, honour killings, forced marriages and structural inequalities within the society still make Pakistan one of the worst countries in the world in terms of gender gap according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2009. Pakistan is at the lowest bottom of the ranking among Asian countries and at 132 out of 134 countries. Economic empowerment also stood at 132, health at 128 and political empowerment at 55. The situation is getting worse, as its ranking was 127 in 2008 also Asia’s worst ranking in terms of gender based gap.

‘Global Gender Gap Report,’ is a framework for understanding the magnitude and depth of gender-based disparities in different fields of the life. Please see the link of the report at page 10 and 11 on following link; http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gendergap/report2009.pdf

With these statistics in mind, we must concede that although this day began as a day in which women are reminded of the battles they have fought, the achievements that have been won, and the small, but certain, steps that have been taken, it is clear that it is still just the beginning. Although this a day to celebrate the rights women acquired throughout the years and to remember the efforts that still have to be made towards equality between men and women. In Pakistan however, women have nothing to be celebrating about. Their rights and safety are continuously restrained by repressive laws and customs. Physical and sexual violence, honor killings, forced marriages and structural inequalities within the society are constant violations of women’s fundamental rights. Despite the government’s few efforts to improve their situation, they still suffer from structural inequalities and violence and their low status is entrenched in society and mindsets.

Laws have been issued to tackle violence against women, such as the Protection of Women Act, 2006 or the Criminal Law Act, 2009. The latter provides protection to working women at workplace from sexual advances and intimidation. The 2006 law protects women from abduction and rape, among other things, and makes provision for punishment of such offences. However it still fails to fully protect women, for example by not recognizing marital rape or by severely punishing non-marital sex, thus giving arguments to extremists.

On January 26, 2010, a bill regarding acid violence - which would specifically target those crimes by stating higher punishments for the attackers and by regulating the sale and purchase of acid - has been submitted to the National Assembly of Pakistan. However, this only marks the beginning of a long legislative process and it will require some time before the law is successfully adopted and effectively enforced. It will also require a strong political will which, until now, has proven inadequate, if not, inexistent. Indeed, in most of those cases, the judicial institutions have not taken stern sanctions against the perpetrators, who have often been able to act and walk away in total impunity. Nor has adequate compensation and support been granted to the victims.

Throughout 2009, thousands of cases of violence against women were reported in Pakistan. Most of the perpetrators are members of the family – immediate and extended – like a husband, a brother or a cousin. If a woman has been branded “kari” (black woman) by a Jirga - a tribal assembly of elders that dispense so-called justice according to customs and tradition – her husband is entitled to kill her and her alleged lover. Jirgas are illegal in Pakistan, but the rule of tradition is often more powerful than the rule of law.

Women are beaten up, raped, tortured or even killed at home; they have to face the constant threat of sexual harassment, sexual assaults, rape and gang-rape. In Swat, 17-year-old Chand Bibi received 34 lashes in public for going out in the street with her father-in-law. Their everyday-life is regulated by tribal archaic traditions. Few weeks ago, Samina Khawar Hayat, a female legislator in the legislative assembly of Pakistan’s Punjab province stunned her colleagues by asking the Punjab government to amend existing laws to allow men to marry a second, third and fourth wife without the consent of first wife, whereas existing Muslim Family laws in Pakistan make it mandatory for husbands to obtain the first wife’s permission.

The number of women of all ages and backgrounds who are killed in the name of honour cannot be determined; the vast majority of these cases are unreported and only in the rarest cases are perpetrators brought to justice. Many women in Pakistan live lives circumscribed by misogynistic traditions which systematically control their bodies, their decisions and their lives. Undocumented and unreported killings in the name of honour are often bolstered by governmental indifference, discriminatory laws and negligence on the part of Pakistan’s police force and judiciary. As Neshay Najam in ‘Honour Killings in Pakistan’ notes, “it is paradoxical that women who enjoy such a poor status in society and have no standing in family should become the focal point and a false and primitive concept of family honour, which they are expected to uphold at the expense of their inclinations and preference in matters of marriage.”

All these examples show how women are not considered as human beings in some regions and how it can be dangerous, just being a woman. It also shows that discrimination against women is not only a legal problem, but also a societal problem, as it is deeply entrenched in the mindsets. Laws are not sufficient to protect women against centuries-old traditions. This can be changed only through an in-depth evolution that includes the disassembly of Jirgas, the effective implementation of the rule of law in every region of the country and the reform of the judiciary and the police to stop impunity and fairly condemn perpetrators, which requires a strong political will. Structural changes also have to be made, such as a better representation of women in state and public offices. These are just some of the measures that could be taken in order to deliver Pakistani women from old tribal traditions. Women’s International Day should be a good occasion to think about it and, more importantly, not to forget them.

PAKISTAN: The troubled history of domestic violence legislation in the country

Oct 5, 2010

For more than a year, Pakistan's Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill has languished in legislative limbo, awaiting political resuscitation. The National Assembly passed the bill on August 4, 2009, but the Senate failed to do so within three months mandated by the Constitution, opting to let the bill lapse.

Mere consideration of a domestic violence bill constitutes a major development in Pakistan, where gender-based violence is rampant. Approximately 80 percent of married women in rural areas fear domestic abuse while 50 percent of women in urban areas report having been subjected to spousal abuse. The Aurat Foundation reports that gender-based violence increased by 13 percent from 2008 to 2009.

Men routinely attempt to disfigure or kill women who refuse to be forced into a sexual relationship or marriage, particularly in rural areas. In 2008, five women who refused forced marriages were shot, then buried alive in Baluchistan -- and the province's representative defended the perpetrators' "right" to do so. There has been an increase in abductions, forced marriages, and forcible conversion by extremists in rural areas.

Current law defines abuse narrowly and makes it difficult for victims of domestic violence to so much as prove a case against abusers and stops well short of providing legal guidelines and institutional resources to ensure investigation, prosecution, conviction, and punishment of offenders. In May of last year, a father and son who raped a widow in Dadu province escaped prosecution despite their identities being known. In the same month in Naseerabad, an elderly woman was beaten to death by a raiding party of policemen charged with preventing such assaults.

The bill would establish protection committees to supervise the provision of legal protections and guarantee medical care for victims of domestic violence. Further, it would increase the consequences for perpetrators by making the accused liable for the financial losses and damages inflicted on victims and their dependents as well as imposing harsher sentences on convicted offenders—with special sentencing guidelines regarding imprisonment and fines for repeat offenders. The bill also requires regular review of domestic violence legislation by the National Commission on the Status of Women. The dual Augean tasks these conditions must accomplish will be to discourage perpetrators from domestic abuse and encourage victims to report assaults by shifting social and cultural norms.

Some of the same hurdles that led to the bill’s lapse in the Senate remain. While some cite the opposition of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) to the original bill as a causal factor in its lapse, others accuse critics of playing politics with religion by overstating religious opposition. The CII did classify the bill as "discriminatory," pointing to the potential for its use by police as a justification for violating the "sanctity of the home," and further objected that the bill would increase divorce rates. Yet the passage of the bill in the National Assembly and support from within Islamist political parties suggest that the obstacles to its passage in the Senate cannot be ascribed to religious opposition solely.

Attempts at implementation will have to address several potential flaws of the legislation as well as contending with cultural resistance, the social legacies of a broken justice system, and warped legal tradition. In particular, the protection committees created by the bill may be inadequate, as the members of the police force who comprise them may be among those contributing to the prevalence of gender-based violence and ensuring impunity for offenders. The refusal to report domestic violence is the most basic hurdle: women often do not report domestic violence, in particular sexual violence, because of strong social norms and fear of reprisal. Traditionally, there have been few protections for victims. Filing a report and pressing charges often expose victims to abuse, mistreatment, and deprivation of dignity at the hands of police and within the justice system. In neighboring India, despite the fact that the law now bans references to a victim’s sexual history or character in sexual assault cases, police and physicians still use the "per vagina," or the "finger test," in rape investigations to determine whether or not an unmarried victim may have "been habituated to sex" prior to assault. If the investigators suspect that a victim has been sexually active, they may drop the case altogether, evidencing a wide disconnect between legislative progress and the realization of rights for sexual assault victims.

The most vocal critics of gender-based violence and the strongest proponents of the bill come from within Pakistan. That the political debate has been primarily internally driven is positive and may signal the presence of the political will necessary to implement the bill and effect wide-spread change. Last year’s Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, broadening definitions of sexual harassment and increasing penalties for violators, also augurs well for future steps toward codifying gender parity.

External actors and international organizations should contribute to the efforts of supporters of domestic violence legislation in Pakistan by drawing attention to the increase in gender-based violence and escalating severity of crimes as well as explicitly raising the profile of the legislation, which has largely disappeared from the radar of international media. Of course, would-be allies must ground analyses and advocacy in the context in which this legislation must operate. While Scandinavian countries, for example, have been exceptionally successful in surmounting gender discrimination and promoting gender parity, their legislative lessons and models are of little use in Pakistan, where those who hope to enact legislation to prevent forms of gender-based and domestic violence contend with fundamental debates, such as the question of whether legislation that affects how men treat their wives should be considered a violation of a widely acknowledged concept of rights. Protections for women granted as basic and justified elsewhere in the world cannot be presumed in Pakistan. The roots of gender-based violence and the mechanisms by which legislation may attempt to influence its incidence differ, and actors and allies must recognize these differences without attempting to oversimplify or fall prey to political attempts to deflect debate.
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