Women's Protection Bill is Not Enough

Islamic Republic of Pakistan is an Islamic state, carved out of the Indian subcontinent to provide a separate homeland for the Indian Muslims on 14 August 1947. Therefore, Islam was integral to statehood itself. Pakistan’s first constituent assembly passed a resolution known as ‘Objective Resolution’ in March 1949 and it became the preamble to all constitutions of Pakistan.

The Constitution of Pakistan, Article 25(1) states “All citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law”. “There shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex alone”, Article 25(2). Article 35 of the same constitution ensures that steps shall be taken to ensure full participation of women in all spheres of national law. Although these articles exist on paper, in reality they appear to rest alongside the fact that the vast majority of women are placed among the weakest and most disadvantaged groups within the society.

Article 3 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states “Everyone has the right to life, and security of person”. Article 7 of the same also states that “All are equal before the law and are entitled without discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination”. The Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has also given protection to women against violence in the countries which have agreed to it. Article 1 , 7 and 15 elaborated the discrimination against women on basis of sex.

All these beautifully constructed Articles take 180 degrees turn while considering the status of women in Pakistan. Although Pakistan has agreed with the UDHR, CEDAW and the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence, the right to life of women in Pakistan is conditional on their obeying of social norms and traditions.

Very recently, the Hudood Ordinance enacted in 1979 by a military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq has been an issue in Pakistan. General Zia suspended all fundamental rights guaranteed in the 1973 constitution including the right to be free of discrimination on the basis of sex. He introduced the Hudood Ordinance which puts women to inferior legal status and in some circumstances even rendering their testimony to half the weight than of mans. This ordinance intended to implement Sharia law which enforce punishments mentioned in the Quran for a number of crimes including rape.

As a result of these changes rape was no longer covered by the standard penal code but by the Islamic courts. Thus making rape a religious offence rather than a criminal offence. The sharia court requires the victim of rape to provide four male witnesses to gaurantee proving rape. These laws rendered most sexual assault victims unable to seek redress through the criminal justice system, deeming them guilty of illegal sex rather than victims of unlawful sexual abuse. However, if the defendant is found guilty of rape, he shall be punished to life imprisonment or death.

The amendment to this ordinance was made several times between 1985 and 2003. The amended provisions guaranteed equality before the law and prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex but the Hudood Ordinance also existed alongside.

Women in Pakistan face all kinds of gross violence and abuse at the hands of male perpetuators, family members and state agents. Multiple forms of violence include rape, domestic abuse as spousal murder, mutilation, burning and beating, disfiguring faces by acid, ritual honour killings, custodial abuse and torture.

Reporting such violence is not very easy and no protection is provided for the victims. Women who report rape or sexual harassment encounter a series of obstacles. The police resist filing their claims and misreport their statements. The medico-legal doctors focus more on their virginity status and lack the training and expertise to conduct adequate examinations. As a result, when women victims of violence resort to the judicial system of redress, they are more likely to find further abuse and victimisation.

The estimated percentage of women who encounter domestic violence ranges from about 70-90% according to the Human Rights Commission in Pakistan. It also estimated that about eight women are raped nationwide every 24 hours and at least half of them are minors. The same report also gives a figure of 565 honour killings and suggests that the real number could be much higher as these types of domestic violence cases often go unreported because it is generally condoned by social customs and considered as a private family matter.

A law was passed that invoked the death penalty for people convicted of gang rape, but due to the fact that gang rape is one of the tools used for social control by criminals, landlords and the police. Many women are forced by the police to perform sexual favours in order to be released from custody while others held by police are just raped.

A documentary titled ‘Murder in Purdah’; a BBC production (1999) very effectively highlights the status of women in Pakistan. It discusses candidly the forms of violence against women. In the documentary a question was put to a group of males in a rural area, that why do they not let their women go outside? The answers they gave reflected their narrow-minded ideas about women . Their answers emphasise the ‘commodification’ of women whose role is limited to the four walls of her home and is not eligible to perform any task which might be of use in the development of society. Amratya Sen, noble laureate economist quoted “Women no doubt are the backbone of any society, sustainable development can not take place until women of the country get their due rights”. The documentary above also stresses that women in Pakistan become easy prey to the wrath of males is due to their low literacy rate.

In 2006, the government of Pakistan pledged to amend the highly controversial Hudood Ordinance. Religious groups are not satisfied with the amendments to the ordinance as they believe it goes against the Article 2A and 227 of The Constitution of Pakistan which states “Islam will be the state religion and no laws will be passed which are repugnant to the Quran and Sunnah”.

However, Islam gives equal rights to both men and women to attain education and it recognises wide range of economic rights for women. The Holy Prophet Mohammed (p.b.u.h) said “Treat women kindly, women have been created from a rib and the most crooked part is the uppermost. If you try to straighten it you will break it and if you leave it alone it will remain crooked. So treat women kindly”. But these rights have remained in the domain of the theory. The reality is that women in Pakistan are subservient to the men; they are indicators of the power of the man they are with.

Brad Admas, Asia director of Human Rights Watch says “If president Musharraf does not seize the moment to repeal these laws, he will be doing a tremendous disservice to the women of Pakistan and breaking another international commitment”, Sep 2006. South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, Ali Dayan Hasan also said that “General Musharraf claims he is an enlightened moderate in favour of women’s rights but so far he has been all talk and no action”.

The government of Pakistan proposed to reform the ordinance and on 15 November 2006, Women’s Protection Bill was passed in the national assembly of Pakistan allowing rape to be prosecutable under the civil law. Section 375 and 376 of the Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act 2006 has reformed the law on rape and now there is no obligation on the complainant to provide four male witnesses. The amendments fail to address fundamental problems with the Hudood Ordinance such as the discriminatory provisions that criminalise sex outside marriage and fail to recognise marital rape. Human Rights Watch emphasised that despite all the amendments made to the Hudood Ordinance, the Protection of Women’s Act fails to comply with many of Pakistan’s obligation under the CEDAW. However the women of Pakistan think it is a small step in the right direction. It has been 60 years since Pakistan came into being and the excuse for violence is that they are still developing. The question is: How long would they need to meet the minimum standards of humanity and Human Rights? There is another Women’s Protection Bill in the assembly which relates to the social and cultural practices.

Pakistan is in need to serious civil and Human Rights reform. The government needs to take stronger measures to ensure the safety of women in public and in their own homes. Steps should be taken to raise public awareness about the laws and individual rights. The police should be better trained to deal with victims of sexual assault and take immediate punitive measures against the accused. The services such as shelters and burn units for women must be improved. Children at school must be provided education in respect of their community and the society they live in. They should be taught that days of treating woman as second-class citizens are over and both men and women have to work side by side to achieve prosperity.