Women-WPS Office

Women
#MeToo Movement
This month marks the twoyear anniversary of the #MeToo hashtag, but it also marks the start
of a monumental shift. In just a few hours, sexual violence, including harassment, went from a
topic seldom discussed on mainstream platforms to one that dominated headlines and affected
everything from pop culture to policy debates.
On Oct. 15, 2017, Alyssa Milano asked her Twitter followers to reply “me too” if they had been
sexually harassed or assaulted, a reference to the Me Too campaign I started in 2006. For
millions, it was the first time they were invited to open up about the trauma their experiences
with sexual violence had caused. For hundreds of thousands, it was the start of a much needed
conversation about safety in our workplaces, neighborhoods and communities. And for a few
hundred, it meant a disruption in the harmful, toxic behavior they were engaged in, using the
various seats of power they held
It was a consciousnessstirring moment, but it’s not enough to create awareness. Sexual
violence is a national problem that deserves a national response. If we are invested in the
outcome of this movement that we’ve built, then we must ensure that it remains part of the
conversation.
Pakistan and Gender Parity
Gender agenda
Themrise Khan | October 13, 2019
there are only a handful of women ministers in the current cabinet at a time when many
countries, including those in the developing world, are at least on paper aiming for gender
parity in politics. Moreover, there is no federal ministry for either gender or women’s rights.
Because Pakistan presents a dismal picture when it comes to its women population. Female
literacy rates stand at 51.8 per cent. In 2017-2018, the female labour force participation rate
was estimated at 20.1pc. Pakistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in South Asia,
and in 2017, it ranked a low 133 out of 189 on the Global Gender Inequality Index. We had one
of the most vibrant social movements for women’s rights in the 1980s which challenged the
status quo head-on, quite literally, against police batons and tear gas. Not so much now. While
many can argue that the state of women in Pakistan has in many ways gradually changed for
the better, we still lack a prominent agenda for women’s rights in Pakistan that feeds off these
new movements.Twitter is now the urban Pakistani female activist’s best friend. Start-ups and
incubators, the latest trend in employment generation, are addressing more and more issues
related to women, such as their mobility, personal hygiene and reproductive practices.
Women backwardness leads to the backwardness of nation

August 30, 2017
1. There is no denying this fact that women backwardness causes political backwardness of the
nation. There would not be sound and comprehensive electoral process. According to ECP, in
the nomination of political parties, female constitutes only 3.5% against their male counterpart
with 96.5% seats in National Assembly. policy making. placement of few women on key
executive position. According to Transparency International report, corruption is more when
women do not participate in politics.
2. Another reason of nation backwardness is owing to economic backwardness of women.

Pakistan’s demographics are feasible where female constitutes 52%. According to Women
Bureau, women’s labor force participation has increased to 35% from 15% in the 20th century,
but in Pakistan little has improved in status quo.
3. No doubt, Women’s backwardness is another embedded problem behind social

backwardness of the nation. character-building of individuals.according to Statistics Bureau of
Pakistan, the literacy rate of Pakistani women is 45.8% as compared to world 82.2%. women’s
education and upbringing must be the priority.
Pakistan stands at second worst amongst 149 countries in terms of gender parity leaving only
Yemen behind. It is because of social, economic and political biasness and discrimination in
terms of gender which lead to weak growth as a whole.
Social aspects leading to gender-based violence:
Pakistan is a patriarchal society in which men hold key roles of running outdoor affairs
education, job, business, administrative tasks etc. On the other hand, women are supposed to
remain in home for managing household activities such as cooking meals, washing clothes, and
nurturing family members and a source of reproduction. In such a setting, potentialities of
almost half of a population are dashed to dust because they are not provided with fundamental
rights such as proper education, healthcare, opportunity to grow and excel in life, right to
choose life partner, acquiring inheritance rights of property, access to court and speedy justice,
and so on. All these aspects are controlled by males or heads of family and societal members
which is sheer violence. All these violations are the repercussions of social structure in which
men and women are assigned specific roles which construct genders. Further, such defined
roles are then practiced as an obligation. Therefore, the line drawn in patriarchal structures are
always difficult to erase as it requires a total shift in behaviour and attitude not of an individual
but of whole society.
Economic aspects leading to gender-based violence:
Economy plays a key role in shaping individual's as well as society's future. According to GGGI
2018, Pakistans ranks 146th amongst 149 countries in terms of equal economic participation of
all genders which is a serious cause of worry. Slow economic growth brings distress, anger and
violence. Pakistan is a country where more than half of population is living below poverty line.
In such a country, 49% population(women) are supposed to remian in homes with no economic
activity. Men are supposed to be bread-winners. They finance their family members to fulfil
their needs but if a women steps outside to earn and support her family, she is eyed with doubt
and humiliation.Again, this sort of mentality is the product of our social construct of gender
where women are considered ineligible to to job and earn their livelihood. Such mass-
behaviour is weakening the social fabric as this is the core reason of increasing poverty. It is
surveyed that Pakistan can witness a whooping 60% boost in economy if women are also given
equal opportunity to grow and participate in economic activities. Therefore, it will prove handy
for alliviating poverty and fostering better lifestyle.
Political aspects leading to gender-based violence:

Political aspects are also connected with social and economic aspects. They are interwoven.
When women are snubbed right from early childhood and deprived of their basic rights, their
chances to grow and participate in administrative and managerial affiars become less evident.
That is why, inequality is glaring in politics too. According to GGGI 2018, Pakistan holds 97th
position amongst 149 countries in terms of proper and equal opportunity for all genders to
politically participate in state affairs. Since 1947, only one female has become the prime
minister. This reveals the straining process of going to the top levels. Social barriars are the
impedimemts in the way of progress of genders on equal basis. Further, proportion for female
representatives in national, provincial assemblies and senate is considerably low. This is all
because of usurpation of rights in a patriarchal society where women are seen only as a source
of nurturing family members and producing children. Thus, proper workable mechanism based
on equal proportion to genders is the required need to welcome women in politics so that they
become the part of legislature in order to table their voice.
University scandal
Editorial | October 18, 2019
THE sexual harassment and blackmailing scandal that has erupted at the University of
Balochistan may well have jeopardised the education of thousands of young women in the
province. The fact that the privacy and safety of students at a well-regarded institution is being
taken so lightly by the varsity administration raises concerns about the credibility of other
universities in the country as well. If the Balochistan government was trying to advance the
cause of women’s education in the province before, it has an even greater responsibility to do
so now. If it does not investigate the scandal in a transparent manner and award exemplary
punishment to the perpetrators, irrespective of their clout, many parents will stop their
daughters from opting for higher studies. Besides it will give conservative tribal and political
forces an excuse to buttress their efforts to suppress women’s education.
As per the details, students were being filmed by secret cameras installed in washrooms
andsmoking areas inside the campus. According to FIA officials, the videos recorded were of a
‘personal nature’ and involved the mingling of male and female students. So far, the FIA has
been able to trace 12 videos that were used to blackmail and harass female students.
Statements by various students’ organisations seem to confirm claims that such harassment
had been going on for quite some time on campus. An atmosphere of fear and anger justifiably
prevails, with students calling for the vice chancellor to resign. It is a matter of shame that the
university ignored the students’ complaints and they had to approach the Balochistan High
Court that took suo motu notice. Though the scandal also echoed in the Balochistan Assembly,
which has constituted a 10-member inquiry committee of its own, it remains to be seen what
actionable evidence the FIA will come up with that it has not already found in its month-long
investigation. It is expected to submit its report to the court by Oct 28.
These disturbing developments have affected both male and female students, but it is obvious
that it is the latter who will feel the effects the most. Balochistan is regarded as the least
developed of the provinces, and national and international statistics bear this out. The female
literacy rate in the province is 33.5pc as compared to 52pc for the rest of the country, according
to the Pakistan Economic Survey of 2018-19. In fact, there are quite a few districts in
Balochistan, such as Dera Bugti, Sherani and Qilla Abdullah, where the female literacy rate has
persistently remained below 10pc. Coupled with conservative tribal attitudes, the scandal may
put greater distance between women students and their dreams. The authorities must take
immediate action to punish the perpetrators, reassure families that this kind of incident will
never occur again, and provide counselling services to all those who have gone through the
trauma.
Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2019
"University harassment" by Editorial
- https://www.dawn.com/news/1518525?ref=whatsapp
THE conversation around the University of Balochistan harassment scandal seems to have
snowballed into a larger debate about the province’s overall sense of deprivation and tenuous
security situation. On Wednesday, acting vice chancellor of the university Mohammad Anwer
Panezai told a Senate committee on human rights that the FC and police officials had agreed to
vacate the campus. He was responding to a committee member’s concerns that the presence of
law-enforcement officials at the university might be contributing to the environment of fear at
not only this particular institute but also in the rest of the country. He also said that the number
of CCTV cameras in the university had been reduced — though he did not make clear the steps
being taken to prevent the misuse of those that remained. He stressed that the university faced
a “continuous threat of terrorism”. The security concerns are legitimate. Balochistan has
suffered from violence perpetrated by multiple anti-state actors. But the core issue remains the
sexual harassment of students and the violation of their privacy in the largest higher education
institute of Balochistan. Some initial steps have been taken to address the situation, with the
previous vice chancellor stepping down and four university officials being suspended for their
alleged involvement. Moreover, the provincial government has issued directives to all
universities in the province to set up anti-harassment cells, though so far only Khuzdar
University has complied. Still, the facts remain hazy, and one hopes that once the FIA submits
its final report to the Balochistan High Court on Dec 2, it will become easier to identify the
perpetrators and take them to task.
Given the stigma attached to it, sexual harassment is difficult to tackle in conservative societies,
especially in a country like Pakistan where antiquated notions of family and societal honour
have always prevailed. This is especially true for the tribal families of Balochistan — more so in
the case of women, many of whom may now find it difficult to convince their families to allow
them to opt for higher studies after this incident. Already the female literacy rate in Balochistan
is a mere 33.5pc — a stark contrast to the, admittedly deplorable, 52pc for the rest of the
country. How the Balochistan government tackles the situation remains to be seen. But it is
hoped that it will leave no stone unturned to arrest the culprits who may have put the future of
thousands of young women in jeopardy.
Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2019
The ‘second shift’

Saba Karim Khan | October 28, 2019
The writer is a freelance contributor.
IT would not be surprising if the term ‘working mother’ — a professional woman with children
— is viewed negatively in the future. Working women are short-changed and in the pecking
order of discrimination, they are hit the hardest. On the other hand, the second set of reactions
implying the “wasted lives” of stay-at-home mothers is equally irksome. It’s hardly surprising
that for women, the myth of ‘having it all’, is inescapable. The ideal woman is one who rises to
a Fortune 500 CEO whilst remaining a committed mother.
The half-truths we are fed exacerbate this fairytale. If you dream big, if you are committed, if
you marry the right partner, if you perfectly sequence your life by pursuing the endless
hypotheticals, everything is possible. The result: women blame themselves for not advancing as
fast as men, raising enviable families, and striking the perfect work-life balance. In fact, the
issue flows much deeper. Women are brought up to believe that the onus of sacrifice lies on
them, so when the time arrives, the expectation isn’t questioned.
Navigating the polar worlds of home and office simultaneously isn’t uncomplicated. Along with
paid jobs the ‘second shift’ — child-raising and homemaking — demands equal tenacity. For
working women, both are imperatives. According to a study analysing 11 indicators of stress,
working mothers are 18 per cent more stressed than others. The stress level spikes to 40pc for
women with two children.
In Pakistan, this burden exacerbates for two reasons: ‘mommy tax’, which surfaces once
women embark on parenthood, is coupled with patriarchal norms. The epidemic of the
‘motherhood penalty’ kicks in as early as women disclosing their pregnancy. Recruitment hinges
on first impressions, hence mentioning that you are a mother, or pregnant, during the hiring
process, can lead to assumptions about juggling too many balls. I remember withholding
information about my pregnancy when I interviewed for my current job, despite it being a
Western institution. The fear of being viewed as a liability is real.
Maternity policies are flaky, involving insufficient leave, pay cuts and a perception fallout
impossible to measure. Requests for flexible hours, working from home or the inability to
relentlessly travel impact work prospects and often result in a lowered probability of being
tasked with big assignments. Intervals to return to a career are confronted by the stigma of
rationalising gaps on the CV. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, earnings
plummet by 30pc for women if they stay out of the workforce for two to three years.
When it comes to socialisation, male upbringing neglects values of shared parenting and
housework. In cases where fathers support childcare or divide chores, they are
disproportionately lauded — women must feel lucky. In Pakistan, unlike the West, men face no
negative sanctions for being part-time parents. Amidst these competing priorities, ‘leaning in’
and rising to C-suite boardroom positions becomes a far-fetched proposition for women.
Change is likely to be sustained if it is twofold: personal allied with institutional. First, the
benchmark for the photo-shopped parent is so high we inevitably fail in scaling it. Settling for
‘good enough’, reducing guilt about allocating ‘me time’, spending fewer hours with children
without being tempered by distraction, spousal division of labour and accepting crucial trade-
offs must be normalised.
Secondly, institutional reforms, including nonlinear thinking that reshapes workplaces and
eases stiff schedules and hierarchies, is lacking. More physical time in office doesn’t correspond
with higher efficiency, staying digitally connected often works. Introducing childcare facilities
and favourable maternity and paternity policies ease stress. The culture of segregating
emotions from workplace interactions is unnatural; the dichotomy between our personal
feelings and professional lives warrants extinction. People must be allowed to express ‘bad
days’ at work, without the fear of appearing ‘unprofessional’.
Women today are desperate to keep the feminist flag high, but glib reassurances of ‘having it
all’, gloss over realistic possibilities. According to Bronnie Ware, author of The Top Five Regrets
of the Dying, people’s most frequent regret was, I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to
myself, not the life others expected of me’. For a long time, I pursued a success model which
believed in catapulting the professional ladder the quickest. A decade later, two children in tow,
I am questioning this ideal and the cost it carries. My transition from corporate life to academia
demonstrated that our careers aren’t a linear, upward slope but an uneven staircase, with dips
and peaks and intervals. As tempting as the sprint to success is, a happiness project is more
likely to endure if we run a collaborative marathon.
Eliminating child marriage
- https://tribune.com.pk/story/2088376/6-eliminating-child-marriage/?amp=1
Dr. Mazhar Mughal
PHOTO: Reuters
Marriage before the age of 18 has long been recognised as harmful for the growth and
development of women. The expert body that monitors the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women stipulates 18 years as the minimum age for
marriage both for males and females. While most of the countries have outlawed under-age
marriage, Pakistan is yet to pass a law making the practice illegal by raising the minimum age at
marriage for girls from the current 16 years.
Earlier this year, the Senate passed the Child Marriage Restraint Amendment Bill (2019). The
National Assembly has since been unable to pass the legislation that would make child marriage
a criminal act punishable by imprisonment for up to three years, a fine of at least Rs100,000 or
both. But opinion in the house remains sharply divided with the more traditional members
strongly opposing the bill.
The debate goes to the heart of the social divide in the country and can be clearly seen in the
differences in opinion within the country’s main centrist party, the ruling PTI. The opposition to
the bill stems from the argument that Islamic laws do not explicitly define the minimum age of
marriage for Muslim men and women, and doing it would be against the Shariah. Never mind
the fact that the law applicable today, which was first passed in 1929 and vehemently
advocated for by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, stipulates a minimum age at marriage
for both men and women. Besides, laws banning child marriage already exist in several Muslim
countries and are authorised by Muslim jurists and scholars.
Legislating the marriage age certainly has its merits, but lessons from the changing situation on
the ground may help in providing a way forward. As late as the early 1990s, more than half of
ever-married women in the country had got married before turning 18.
According to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS), this proportion has dropped
to under 40% within a generation. The majority of Pakistani young women today are getting
married between the ages of 18 and 25 years. The shift has been led by changing social trends
in urban areas, whereas child marriage still remains more common in rural areas particularly
among poor households. The extremely poor, predominantly rural profile of these women
living mostly in impoverished localities of the country should precisely be the target of the
poverty alleviation projects being launched and expanded under the government’s Ehsas
Programme.
One set of measures that could be undertaken under the programme relates to education of
women. Hardly 13% of women who marry before the age of 18 have completed primary
education whereas two out of three (67%) of every child bride received no schooling.
Promoting education among girls can help people come out of poverty while at the same time
reducing the incidence of child marriage. The objective should be to provide girls equal right to
education, equal right in education, and equal right through education.
This will not only require making schools available for girls at accessible distances but also
ensuring safe transportation as well as provision of water and sanitation at schools.
A more direct intervention could be to offer the girls or their parents in impoverished areas
monetary or in-kind gifts for completing secondary education. Giving incentives to complete
secondary education not only helps girls attain more awareness and acquire skill useful in the
job market but also contributes to lowering monetary pressure on parents worrying about their
dowry and wedding expenses.
Another step could be to create opportunities for girls to acquire vocational and technical
training. This would help provide girls better employment prospects and will have the beneficial
consequence of reducing the probability of girls getting married before 18. The measure would
also be in sync with the objectives of the ambitious Prime Minister Youth Programme that is
currently being launched.
"Child marriages" by Dawn Editorial
A RECENT report by Unicef reveals that the number of child marriages in South Asia has halved
from where it stood 25 years ago. Undoubtedly, the on-ground efforts of activists and NGO
workers, as well as of lawmakers —in particular, women politicians — have borne some fruit
and created much-needed change in society. Despite such gains, however, the practice
continues in many part of this country, as children’s lives and futures continue to be in danger.
Just recently, heartbreaking images of two girls were being circulated on social media after it
was claimed that they were exchanged to settle a personal dispute in Sindh. There have also
been instances of underage Hindu girls forced to become brides after converting or being made
to convert, which is in complete violation of the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act. To its
credit, Sindh is the only province to have successfully increased the age of marriage to 18, while
the other provinces continue to delay the matter on some excuse or the other. Punjab
introduced amendments to the existing colonial-era law, but is yet to increase the age of
marriage for girls from 16 to 18. Confusion over who is classified as a child in the eyes of the law
remains due to many contradictory laws and continued resistance from religious groups and
conservative politicians, which does not make legislating on the issue any easier. This is despite
the fact that Pakistan is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which clearly
states that anyone under the age of 18 is classified as a child.
Child marriage is a deeply harmful practice that disproportionately affects girls and has been
likened to a culturally acceptable form of slavery that perpetuates or even legalises child rape
under the guise of marriage. Not only are young girls unable to pursue their fundamental right
of completing their education, they are also subjected to difficult household work and
responsibilities before they have even developed their full mental and physical capacities.
Moreover, underage girls go on to face health complications during and after childbirth. Seen as
a financial ‘burden’ on their families, they are married off early to escape oppressive poverty, or
they are used to settle disputes as if they were the property of adults to be bartered and sold,
and not vulnerable individuals with rights of their own that need to be fiercely protected.
Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2019.
"Underage marriages" by Editorial
IN a reassuring move, a court in Jacobabad recently upheld the law by nullifying the marriage of
15-year-old Naniki Kumari, who reportedly converted to Islam from Hinduism, after declaring
her to be under the age of marriage as per the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2013. The
judgement was given under an inordinate amount of pressure, and amidst tight security, as
religious hardliners had been issuing threats to the girl’s family who asked that their daughter
be returned to them. Meanwhile, the Hindu community of Jacobabad had been holding
demonstrations against the marriage of the girl, which they feel comes in a long line of similar
cases of girls and young women being kidnapped, forced to convert and then married against
their will. For instance, in 2017, a 14-year-old from Thar was taken away from her family by
armed men, converted, and married off to a Muslim man. In each instance, influential
seminaries insist that the girls convert of their own free will. Whatever the details of this
particular case may be, it is clear that the child is too young to make life-altering decisions such
as marriage.
Child marriage continues to be a rampant evil practice in this country, which deprives the girl
child of the right to complete her education, and exposes her to a host of health-related
complications, rape, domestic abuse and exploitation. Unicef estimates that Pakistan has the
sixth highest number of child brides in the world, with approximately 21pc being married off
before reaching the age of 18; and 3pc before the age of 15. And yet, apart from Sindh, no
other province has increased the age of marriage to 18 years for girls, despite the fact that not
doing so is a blatant violation of the fundamental human rights of children inscribed in the
many international conventions that Pakistan is signatory to. But each time the issue is brought
up there is great opposition from religious groups and male politicians. It is time these critics
themselves grew up.
Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2020
THE STRANGE CASE OF THE

SILENT WOMEN
In conversations surrounding the 'forced conversions' of Hindu girls, the voices of the girls are
missing
‘Forced conversions’ of young girls is an emotive issue within the Hindu community of Sindh.
Those accused claim that ‘young love’ is being misrepresented by the community, the media
and activists. But those who know the whole truth are often not speaking...
Last year Hari Lal’s house in Daharki, a city in Ghotki district, was echoing with the sound of
laughter and the cranky fights of his daughters Reena and Raveena on the eve of Diwali. Diyas
illuminated the small courtyard where the sisters had drawn intricate rangoli patterns, after
carefully choosing each colour. But this year, Diwali at the Lal home is devoid of colour. In
March, Lal maintains, his daughters were kidnapped during the festival of Holi.
“Today our day started with crying,” Lal tells Eos. The 50-year-old cannot help but remember
Reena and Raveena on every special occasion.
Lal had made headlines earlier this year when a video of him — helplessly slapping himself
while crying outside the Ghotki police station, asking the police to do something to recover his
daughters — went viral online. Lal was not alone. Reportedly over 2,000 Hindu men and
women from nearby villages and towns had joined him in demanding justice for Reena and
Raveena, blocking the highway for three consecutive days.
The incident became a flashpoint about the issue of forced conversion of Hindu girls. Pakistan
Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal-Bhutto Zardari met with Lal and his son Shaman Das, and
assured them that all efforts would be made for the recovery of the girls. Prime Minister Imran
Khan took notice of the incident. Even Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj directed
the Indian high commissioner in Islamabad to send her a report about the incident.
“In the past 200 years, not a single Hindu has been converted to Islam forcibly,” Mian Mithu
claims. “All those men, women, girls and boys, whether they belong to the Hindu community or
any other community, come to us to change their religion out of their own choice,” he says.
But it was all for nothing. In April, the Islamabad High Court found that the sisters from Ghotki
were not forcibly converted to Islam. A medical test showed that Lal’s claims that Reena and
Raveena were minors were also incorrect.
Some now use the ruling as an example of how the issue of forced conversions of Hindu girls in
Sindh is blown out of proportion.
But Lal refuses to accept that his daughters married the two Muslim men, Safdar Ali and Barkat
Ali — both of whom were already married with kids — out of their free will. His son, Shaman
Das, alleges that the strings of what happened to his sisters were being pulled by the pir of the
shrine Bharchundi Sharif, Mian Abdul Haq, more commonly known as Mian Mithu.
Bharchundi Sharif, a Muslim shrine near Daharki under the patronage of Mian Mithu | Salman
Haqqi
Mian Mithu, a former PPP member of the National Assembly, is infamous for his involvement in
cases of alleged forced conversions. In 2015, when Imran Khan asked Mian Mithu to join
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), the PTI chairman faced so much backlash from the Hindu
community that he had to distance himself from the pir. The PPP had earlier denied Mian Mithu
a ticket when he first came under the spotlight in 2012 because of accusations of forcefully
converting a Hindu girl, Rinkle Kumari. The conversion, Mian Mithu had claimed, was not
forced.
The religious leader found himself in the news yet again in September this year. He made
headlines when he reportedly led a large number of people who took to the streets in protest
to an alleged incident of blasphemy. In a rare move, Mian Mithu recently called a press
conference in Karachi, clearly in an attempt to clear his name.
THE MIAN MITHU SHOW Mian Abdul Haq alias Mian Mithu
The Karachi Press Club is bustling with energy on a Tuesday. Reporters chatter away before the
man of the hour, Mian Mithu, takes his seat facing the audience. He looks calm. He is wearing
his signature cone-shaped white cap and a grey kameez. His white beard and calm demeanour
give the impression of someone who is very sure of himself. Joining Mian Mithu is his 30-
something son, Abdul Malik, and another associate.
“I have nothing to do with the Ghotki violence. In fact, my sons and nephews tried to control
the mob, which was charged over an incident of blasphemy committed by a Hindu school
principal,” Mian Mithu says.
He and his followers had nothing to do with the vandalism of the Sacho Satram Das temple, he
maintains. Instead, he insists, some organisations are trying to defame him.
But Mian Mithu is not just here to talk about the recent riots in Ghotki. He wants to address
another accusation against him that keeps resurfacing: forced conversions of Hindu girls.
“In the past 200 years, not a single Hindu has been converted to Islam forcibly,” he claims. “All
those men, women, girls and boys, whether they belong to the Hindu community or any other
community, come to us to change their religion out of their own choice,” he claims. “They are
not forced to convert.”
Faryal Bibi, born Rinkle Kumari, addresses a press conference in 2012 | Online photo
Going back to the case of Rinkle Kumari, he proudly shares that Faryal Bibi (the Muslim name of
Rinkle Kumari) has recently completed reading the Quran and has returned to Pakistan after
performing Umrah. She currently teaches the Quran to children at the madressah, he says.
Mian Mithu clearly wants to position himself as a saviour of love. He says that he supports
newly converted Muslims, even Hindu women who are entering the religion after falling in love
with a Muslim man. This is something Mian Mithu has apparently been doing for years.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), in 2018, more than 13 Hindu
girls were abducted and married off to Muslims without the consent of their families. But
members of the Hindu community say the number is higher.
Back in 2013, when he was a local member of the national assembly, he had invited the press to
his residence on the outskirts of Daharki. Reporters and photographers had travelled from
Karachi to see Kiran Kumari, another young woman who had supposedly fallen in love and
eloped with a Muslim boy.
Kiran had narrated her and Shabbir Ahmed’s love story in great detail. She told the captivated
audience of journalists that she and Ahmed had come to Mian Mithu’s residence a day before
Eidul Fitr, where she embraced Islam and married the love of her life. Mian Mithu had told the
media that he gives shelter to eloping couples because it is his “duty” to provide them security.
Six years later, Mian Mithu repeats the same lines at the Karachi Press Club. “There is no force
in religion, but there is also no bar on helping those in need,” he declares.
“Once non-Muslim converts, the first thing that they need is shelter and a source of livelihood,”
he says. “Yes, I support those who are in need, but they convert out of their own free will,” he
says, at the crowded news conference at the press club.
Representatives of the Hindu community and civil society protest against forced conversions
and marriage | Tanveer Shahzad/White Star
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD
Away from the cameras and prying journalists, 18-year-old Radha* walks on a narrow pathway
passing through green fields. She is waving a small stick in her hands. She looks like any other
young woman in her village in Umerkot district. Radha is wearing a colourful choli and gharara
and her arms are full of white bangles. Suddenly, she stops and points to the fields where her
life changed forever. “There,” she says, pointing the stick in her hand to the exact spot where
she was playing when she was kidnapped by a man named Ali Nawaz, when she was 16.
“He kidnapped me from the fields in the evening and took me to some house,” she says. It was
at this house that the teenage girl was raped multiple times.
Radha’s father Vinesh* petitioned the Sindh High Court against the kidnapping of his daughter.
He had found out that his daughter was being kept in a village near the Sarhandi shrine, in
Mirpurkhas division. Soon the court-ordered Nawaz and four of his accomplices to produce the
girl in court.
The men did their best to intimidate Radha.
“They said that I have to tell the judge that I have changed my religion and married Ali Nawaz
out of my own free will,” she recalls. They also warned her that they would kill her parents if
she did not comply.
But, in court, Radha told the judge the truth, that Ali Nawaz had kidnapped her and had been
raping her for three months. “When the judge asked who I want to live with, I said my parents,”
Radha recalls the traumatic ordeal, her voice shaking as she speaks.
Members of the Hindu community in the area insist that this is not an isolated case.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), in 2018, more than 13 Hindu
girls were abducted and married off to Muslims without the consent of their families. But
members of the Hindu community say the number is higher.
Finding reliable data on the matter is difficult. Like the Reena and Raveena case, many cases
that are initially reported as cases of forced conversion are later deemed love marriages. But
the community refuses to buy this explanation. They believe that there is something more
insidious at play here.
THE THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE AND HATE A screengrab from a viral video of Reena and
Raveena saying that they have voluntarily accepted Islam
Ameet Kumar is a social rights activist and mukhiya (chief) of the local Hindu community in
Daharki. “When a mother gives birth to a daughter in our community, we feel fear,” he tells us,
as we sit for tea at a dhaba.
“It’s become a nightmare to live in these circumstances,” he says, adding that many Hindu
families have stopped sending their daughters to school out of fear of abduction and
kidnappings.
Dewan Lal, a member of the Hindu community, says these fears are not unfounded. The thin
and tall man claims that every other Hindu here can narrate a similar story of abduction,
conversion and forced marriage involving someone related to them. It allegedly happened with
his own niece, 18-year-old Simran.
Simran, a high school student, had gone to the Mol Mata Mandir with her mother in May this
year. “This is where she disappeared from,” Dewan Lal tells Eos.
“Once a girl is raped, she is blackmailed into giving whatever statement they want recorded in
the court,” he says, supposedly speaking from his own experience of handling dozens of such
cases. He questions why it is Hindu girls alone who are so eager to change their religion and
elope. Why aren’t Hindu boys, who enjoy more social independence than the girls, doing the
same?
As in the case of Reena and Raveena, the community staged protests for the recovery of
Simran, this time outside the Sukkur Press Club.
Much like Reena and Raveena, a week later, Simran could also be seen in a viral video clip,
saying that she had changed her religion without any coercion and had married her husband
Afaq out of her own free will.
Like Reena and Raveena’s family, Simran’s uncle, Dewan Lal, claims that Mian Mithu was
behind the conversion.
“After the court allowed Simran to go with her husband, Mian Mithu’s son, Mian Aslam, along
with some of his men, visited the girl’s house,” he says. “They told us that Simran had married
and converted her faith of her own will, and firmly asked us to let them live together now.”
Simran’s parents were apprehensive. They feared that like many girls of the area who ‘marry
Muslim men out of love’, their daughter would not be allowed to leave her house, study or
meet her family. When the parents expressed their concerns in the Sindh High Court, the
court’s circuit bench in Sukkur passed a unique order. The two-judges directed the groom, Afaq,
to ensure that Simran meets her parents and family members every three months. The judges
also directed the man to allow his new bride to pursue her studies or do a job, if she chooses to.
Mian Mithu’s followers point to cases like that of Simran’s to rubbish the Hindu community’s
claims that their women (and girls) are being forcefully converted. They claim that these
women choose their future partners and, obviously, in order to marry a Muslim man, they have
to embrace Islam.
A QUESTION OF CHOICE
Eshwar Lal Makheja meets us at a gao shalla (cowshed) in the middle of Sukkur city. He closely
watches the caretakers as they prepare fodder for the 300 cows in the premises. The more
well-off members of the community in the city make voluntary contributions to arrange food
for the animals. Hindus, Makheja says, consider cows sacred because their Lord Krishna would
cherish the butter stolen from the neighbours in his childhood. We walk and talk as Makheja
takes us on a tour of the under-construction Krishna Temple on the gao shalla’s premises.
Makheja is the mukhiya of Sukkur’s Hindu community, some of whom has lived in the region
since before Partition. He is also president of the Hindu Panchayat Council’s chapter for upper
Sindh — where Hindus contribute significantly to the economy through businesses, trade,
exports and farming.
The well-respected community member says that debunked cases of forced conversion should
not be taken at face value. The most sensitive issue, Mukheja says, is rape.
“Once a girl is raped, she is blackmailed into giving whatever statement they want recorded in
the court,” he says, supposedly speaking from his own experience of handling dozens of such
cases.
He questions why it is Hindu girls alone who are so eager to change their religion and elope.
Why aren’t Hindu boys, who enjoy more social independence than the girls, doing the same?
Makheja, who himself comes from a wealthy upper-caste Hindu family, says that the most
unfortunate thing is that their community is being pushed around and cornered despite the fact
that they have lived in Sindh for generations.
“These spiritual leaders’ devotees first earn the trust of Hindu girls, and then motivate them to
change their religion in some cases,” he alleges. “In other instances, the devotees kidnap the
girls with the support of their pirs. Since the converted girls are not allowed to meet their
families, we do not know what becomes of them,” he says.
“The situation prevailing in the province towards the Hindus is just a glimpse of the hostility
towards our community,” he says. “The problem should be identified at the state level. But,
unfortunately, nothing is being done on the part of the state.”
The Sindh government did, however, get involved and tried to work towards a solution.
To control the growing incidents of alleged abductions of Hindu girls, their forced conversions
and marriages below the legally fixed adult age of 18 years, the PPP-led Sindh government
passed a law to criminalise such acts in 2014. The Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act sets the
legal minimum age of marriage for boys and girls at 18 years. Religious groups had opposed the
new law, which finally came into force following amendments to certain sections.
However, community leaders say that the new law in Sindh is being bypassed, as converted girls
are being shifted to Punjab to register their marriages and conversions, because the legally
fixed minimum age for marriage is 16 years in Punjab.
“Raveena and Reena were shifted to Rahim Yar Khan district in Punjab… This is the new trick to
play with the law,” Eshwar Lal says. (Hari Lal, Reena and Raveena’s father, had claimed that his
daughters were 14 and 16 when they were ‘abducted’. Case proceedings presided over by Chief
Justice Islamabad High Court Athar Minallah had later found that the women aged 18 and 19
are adults.)
Activists and members of the Hindu community do not think that this act alone is enough. In
2016 the Sindh Assembly had unanimously passed a bill against forced conversions. But this
was not signed into law due to pressure by some religious quarters.
Asad Iqbal Butt, HRCP’s vice-chairperson for the Sindh chapter, says that a very sophisticated
and organised campaign is behind forced conversions of Hindu girls by religious leaders.
“These spiritual leaders’ devotees first earn the trust of Hindu girls, and then motivate them to
change their religion in some cases,” he alleges. “In other instances, the devotees kidnap the
girls with the support of their pirs. Since the converted girls are not allowed to meet their
families, we do not know what becomes of them,” he says.
Human rights groups have been voicing their concerns over the situation in the province for a
while.
Hindu minority and civil society protest against forced conversion marriages in front of the
National Press Club in Islamabad, 2016 | Tanveer Shahzad/White Star
“In a majority of the cases, the girls say that they want to live with their husbands, so the judges
allow them to go with their husbands,” says Zahida Detho, an activist closely working with the
minority community. But she says, in many cases, the girls give these statements because they
face threats at the hands of their kidnappers, who have warned them that they will cause harm
to their family members unless they comply.
“The actual story unfolds when a kidnapped girl returns to her family, which is very rare,” says
Detho.
Radha’s was such a rare case. Her father Vinesh had clearly mentioned in his plaint that his
daughter’s kidnappers were being protected by the influential village pir Ayub Jan Sarhandi —
known for having converted hundreds of Hindus, mostly women.
THE PIR OF THARPARKAR
Sarhandi’s residence is located around 20 kilometres off the Umerkot road, where he also runs
a madressah for boys. Members of the Hindu community and human rights activists in the
Mirpurkhas division claim that Sarhandi uses force and his influence to suppress Hindus living in
Tharparkar.
On a sunny morning, Sarhandi is sitting in his courtyard, wearing a crisp white cotton shalwar
kameeez and matching headgear. He occasionally strokes his long grey beard as he carefully
listens to the allegations against him. He raises his eyebrows from time to time, but does not
interrupt us or lose his temper.
He takes a moment before responding. We can hear young boys reciting the Quran in the
madressah.
Finally, Sarhandi responds to our questions about the community’s accusations of him
patronising forced conversions of underage Hindu girls and marrying them off to Muslim men
after they have abducted the girls and sexually assaulted them.
“It is all propaganda by the NGOs [non-governmental organisations] that are agents of India’s
spy agency RAW [Research and Analysis Wing] and Western donors that want to defame
Pakistan,” the cleric says.
He says that the claim that they only convert Hindu women is utterly false. He signals a young
devotee to bring a logbook in which he and his men have recorded each conversion.
Students at Pir Ayub Jan Sarhandi’s madressah in Samaro with the seminary’s caretaker | White
Star
One would expect Sarhandi to be perturbed by the laundry list of heinous acts he is accused of
committing. Instead, the pir manages to maintain a sense of humour during the interview. He
opens the logbook. “This is Bheero Kohli,” he says. “A relative of the Indian cricketer Virat
Kohli,” he jokes. He then continues to point out names of Hindu men who have come to him to
embrace Islam.
Sarhandi vehemently opposes the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act that criminalises
marriages of underage children. “There is no age religiously determined to embrace Islam,” he
says. “Similarly, no age limit was fixed for the marriage of women.”
Sarhandi believes that people like him are the real victims and the media continues to
misrepresent them, running “one-sided” stories. “Please [publish] my complete version,” he
requests, giving us a knowing smile.
But men like Sarhandi and Mian Mithu routinely find themselves surrounded by journalists,
taking notes and photographs as they speak. Their views on the topic of alleged forced
conversions are extensively documented. As are those of representatives of the Hindu
community, parents of the girls who have been allegedly abducted and human rights activists
who are demanding change. The missing voices are those of the girls.
Girls like Reena, Raveena and Simran are only seen speaking in carefully curated short videos
that are circulated online. Pirs like Mian Mithu speak on behalf of women like Faryal Bibi. Even
in a rare case like Radha’s, where a girl has returned home after defiantly speaking her mind,
she is mostly confined to her home after marriage to a Hindu man. Everyone seems to have
something to say about alleged forced conversions of Sindh’s Hindu girls, except the girls
themselves.
*Name changed to protect privacy.
Naeem Sahoutara is a member of staff. He tweets @NaeemSahoutara
Ali Ousat is a freelance journalist. He tweets @AliOusat
Published in Dawn, EOS, November 10th, 2019

☞ *Essay # 1* ☜
☞ *Feminism and its impact on society*
☞ *Shakeel Hussain Anjum*
‘Feminism is one of the basic movements for human liberty’ (Schneir, 1996: xi) a feminist role in
society is to actively recognize the need for, and work towards creating equality for all women.
Feminism is purely a movement which intends to enlighten people with a goal of improving
gender equality and strengthening women’s status in society.
Geographers began to study feminism in the late 1970s as a resistance against sexism. “Since
the late 1970s to 90s, the work of many feminist geographers have explored the connections
between gender and geography, and has challenged gender inequalities in both geographical
discourse and knowledge about the world” (Blunt, A & Wills J 2000. Pg 91). Feminist geography
is a more advanced approach within human geography, it addresses ‘the various ways in which
genders and geographies are mutually constituted’ (Pratt, 1994: 94).
Feminist geography questions the patriarchal and hierarchical assumptions on which geography
is based, and highlights the oppression and difficulty women face through gender inequality.
The Feminist theory is concerned with analysing and explaining as well as changing gendered
power relations. Our society is characterized by differences in power and status of two groups:
men and women. Men inevitably have more power and status than women; this results in their
interests being reinforced by patriarchy. “We live in a patriarchal society that accepts as
essentially unproblematic the routine beating, raping, and murder of women.” (Batzell, R 2009)
Feminist theories has inspired critical work across the humanities, social sciences and natural
sciences that seeks to disrupt the gender imbalance of power that exists both within and
beyond the academy (Alison, Blunt 2000).
Feminists also claim that many cultural beliefs in contemporary society benefit men and
ultimately disadvantage women. Therefore their fundamental aim is to reverse this
disadvantaged role women play in society. Feminism spans ‘all ideologies, activities, and
policies whose goal it is to remove discrimination against women and to break down the male
domination of society’ (Lovenduski and Randall, 1993: 2) Associations between gender and
geography as a discipline will be further explored, illustrating how production of geographical
knowledge has been gendered.
Gender represents ‘differences between women’s and men’s attitudes, behaviour and
opportunities that depend upon socially constructed views of femininity and masculinity. The
term gender is preferred to that of sex, which is restricted to the anatomical distinction
between the sexes rather than social differences.’
(McDowell, 1986: 170) Gender is a social relation that positions men and women differently in
society. Feminists may argue that there is a hierarchy of power held directly by men who are in
a more advantageous position in society, because of their gender. ‘Gender is a part of an
individual’s identity; it influences what we think about ourselves, people and also our
relationship with other people’ (Blunt, A & Wills, J 2000 Pg 92). To be born male or female does
not imply masculinity and femininity; rather ideologies about masculinity and femininity are
socially constructed. This is further supported by (de Beauvoir, 1949) “One is not born but
rather becomes a woman”. These social constructions are very crucial in shaping the everyday
lives of men and women.
Socialist feminist geographers (also known as Marxist feminists) look at the way in which the
structuring of space creates and continues to maintain traditional gender roles and
relationships in society and how spatial variations in gender impact where an industry locates.
Employers locate to areas where there is an availability of cheap female labour, and the
quantity of this type of labour. However this can vary over regions and nations. Their message
also emphasizes that true equality cannot be achieved and will be difficult to attain without a
major revolution, in particular an economic one, as power and capital are distributed unevenly
in the capitalist society we have today.
Women are often stereotyped as domestic workers, consumers and care workers and these
ideas are mostly associated with femininity. This type of employment is often seen to be less
worthy and deserving of a high pay and less respected than traditional “masculine” roles. There
seems to be a tendency to value and remunerate women less for their work as they enter a
profession. It is not fair for women to individually work so that they can rise to powerful
positions in society. It is acceptable to say that power needs to be redistributed throughout
society.
In contrast, ideas about full-time employment and citizenship beyond the home are often
shaped by ideas of masculinity; this is reflected by the notion of men to be suitable to certain
spheres of work and participation in public life rather than women. (Massey 1996, cited in Blunt
& Wills 1993). Gender inequality can be witnessed everywhere through the masculine spaces of
mines and city workers, down to the feminized spaces of garment factories and primary
teaching. However these gender roles and relations are ever changing, and to reiterate they are
socially constructed as well as dynamic rather than permanent and static from birth.
Inequality also lays heavily in the difference in pay between men and women. As a recent study
found that simply ‘being a woman’ was the most serious impediment to women in the
workplace (reportageonline.com), women working full-time earn on average 16.4% less per
hour than men working full-time. Other figures show women working part-time earn on
average 35.3% less per hour than men working full-time (based on mean hourly pay in 2009;
data from EHRC, 2010). The difference in earnings is created through the gender segregation of
occupations and women being discriminated against. Furthermore the lower paid work is
usually carried out by the females as there is a gender stereotype for women to take
responsibility of certain jobs. There is also an under-representation of women in vocational
work and in large firms. Nevertheless, Gender has come a long way, and in recent years has
dynamically changed as now more women are paid fairly in employment
Feminism on a whole has had a positive impact on society it has been a dramatically successful
social movement. It has changed women’s expectations and perspectives on their lives. In the
past, women would have to marry to gain financial security and stability. Women are now
working and more independent than ever, by earning their own living, they do not need to rely
on a man for stability. Sue Sharpe (1976, 1994) has conducted research into this area and in the
first edition of her book Just Like A Girl (1976) she interviewed girls and asked them about their
future plans, which were to get married and have children. A career was not seen as important
neither a high priority. She later repeated her research in the 1990s and found that the girl’s
priorities had changed; their careers came first and marriage and children were not as
important anymore. Women now have far more choice, variety and opportunities compared to
the past.
Feminism has also transformed what men expect from sharing their lives with women and how
they will behave towards women. Children growing up now simply take for granted feminism’s
messages about sexual equality and justice when only 30 years ago such messages were widely
opposed as extremist and threatening to the social order. No other movement has so rapidly
revolutionized such deeply held patterns of behaviour’ (Coward, 1999: 194)
Finally, in response to wider social shifts, the aspirations of girls may have also increased. Thus
girls now may have their sights set on university and a career – and this may translate into
increased engagement with school. Recent reforms have opened opportunities to women –
most notably the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, which made gender discrimination in
employment illegal.
‘women still suffer many injustices, discriminations and sometimes even outrages but there is
no longer a coherent picture of male advantage and female disadvantage â€¦ Gender remains a
crucial division in society but in a much more fractured and inconsistent way’ (Coward, 1999:
192-3)
The key message of feminism in the 21st century society should highlight choice in bringing a
personal meaning to feminism is to recognise others’ right to do the exact same thing. Women
all over the world nationally, regionally and globally should be able to embrace this powerful
message of feminism and be able to create a positive meaning of their own womanhood and
femininity. However, despite feminism being a strong successful movement, inequality and
exploitation of women still exist and sadly there are women today, who are trapped in a society
which doesn’t value them and leaves them neither choice nor freedom to express their views
and rights.
OP-ED
Hassan Shahjehan
OCTOBER 14, 2017
Feminism is not just a third-world issue

If feminism was born in the "first world", it does not mean that the first-world is free from
gender-based issues. These issues; such as gender-based inequalities and discrimination are not
exclusive to the third-world, they are a global problem
Terminologies are socially constructed. The binary division of the world between first-world and
third-world is primarily a reflection of colonial discourses. And such discourses and
terminologies have given birth to the narrative that feminism is primarily a third world issue.
But reality is quite the opposite. If feminism was born in the “first world”, it does not mean that
the first-world is free from gender-based issues. These issues; such as gender-based inequalities
and discrimination are not exclusive to the third-world, they are a global problem. Feminism
and womens rights are global issues.
It is generally believed that only the women of the third world are discriminated against in
social, political and economic contexts. But women in the first-world are also susceptible to
these problems. If third-world countries have a fewer women at high posts, the case is the
same in the first-world. It is the same for other gender based issues such as sexual harassment
and representation in politics.So, when we say that feminism is only a third world issue, we are
completely ignoring the gender discriminations in different spheres faced by the women of the
first world.
Historically, what is now considered the third-world has been more receptive to women in
positions of authority.
Women all over the world are hindered in their aspirations by a strong glass ceiling. Why it is so
that the US has never had a female President? A democracy that is much stronger to the extent
of providing leadership to the whole world has never elected a woman as their President. It
shows that the society generally believes that men are better able to lead than women. And if
we analyse election debates between both 2016 US presidential candidates – Hillary and
Trump, we see that gender was an often touched topic. So much so that to damage Trump’s
appeal, the democrats used Melania, Trump’s wife. Her old pictures, when she was in fashion
industry, were shared online to discredit Trump. In contrast, third-world countries have elected
women as their premiers many times. Pakistan has elected Benazir Bhutto twice as the Chief
Executive of the country. In India, Indira Gandhi has been a successful Prime Minister. In
Myanmar, the struggle of Aung Sang SuuKyi has been recognised by its citizens who elected her
party in the last elections. In Rwanda, the ratio of women holding parliamentary offices has
been improving. These facts show that feminism is very much, a global issue.
21cwj9i
Even if we observe the ratio of women holding top positions in big corporations, we see that
men are present in disproportionately higher numbers. Name any top company of the first
world and we see the men hold all the executive slots. It is true that some big corporations are
headed by the women, but that is also true for the third-world. There are many examples of
women holding top positions in developing countries such as Nita Ambani, Arundhati
Bhattacharya and Chiyono Terada.
2chkh76
Historically, what is now considered the third world has been more receptive to women in
positions of authority. The Subcontinent has seen Razia Sultana, a queen of the Delhi Sultanate
who ruled for more than 3 years. Then, this region experienced the successful reign of
NurJehan, wife of Jehangir. She ruled as de-facto head of the Mughal Empire. If this part of the
world had accepted women as their leaders back then, it has no reason to not accept women as
their leaders today. Gender-based issues are as present in the first-world as they are in the
third-world. In some cases, there are more gender discrimination in the first-world than the
third-world.
The writer is a political analyst based in Islamabad. He tweets @hassanshahjehan
Published in Daily Times, October 14th 2017.
"Gender in South Asia" by Ayesha khan
WE are living in a divided and unequal world that is socially fractured and economically uneven.
Hatred, hypocrisy, prejudice, conflict and war are creating uncertainties and destabilising
societies. Some regions are enjoying peace, security and prosperity, while others are struggling
to break a chronic cycle of conflict and violence.
In South Asia, the causes for divisions within and between countries are many — creating
fissures and fault lines that fuel tensions, and making the region volatile and societies
vulnerable. Add to this the plight of women within society, and these issues become even more
complex.
Gender inequality is a deep-rooted issue that is interpreted in a number of ways by different

people. However, given the patriarchal nature of society, shifting from entrenched values will
not be easy. Discrimination, harassment and violence occur at home and in the workplace,
albeit in different ways; either overt brutality or covert threats, usually based on the anticipated
reaction from society or the victim’s capacity to respond. In the workplace, human resource
policies provide legal cover against harassment but remain largely silent on issues of salary,
promotion and portfolio.
In order to develop an integrated understanding of gender issues in South Asia, it is important

to contextualise it in the prevailing socioeconomic, religious and geopolitical conditions;
account for the fact that constitutional guarantees and legal provisions do not automatically
lead to implementation; and acknowledge that discrimination persists within the family and
societal institutions. The gap between legislation, policy and practice remains an impediment.
There remains a serious gap between legislation, policy and practice when it comes to women’s
rights.
At first glance, South Asia appears rich in cultural constructs such as family ties, social networks
and economic relations, as well as assumptions of social harmony and pursuit of spiritual over
material values. However, underlying this idealistic conceptualisation is the harsh reality of
divisions and discriminations based on gender, caste, creed and socioeconomic disparities.
While the universality of gender inequality in the labour force affects growth, other insidious
factors — especially those that treat women as if they were children of a lesser god — are even
more alarming. Without a fundamental shift, opportunities for women will remain few, growth
will be stunted, inequalities will prevail and biases will continue to shape social values, thus
slowing down the process of empowerment.
This has major human rights implications. We tend to equate worth with economic strength,
social standing and occupation in positions of authority. Acknowledging that productive outputs
are indeed core drivers of sustainable economic growth, this cannot be used as the sole
criterion for granting or withholding fundamental human rights, which intrinsically guarantee
equality for all irrespective of station in life. Human rights are not based on who is rich or poor,
employed or unemployed, young or old, etc. They are about equality, freedom, dignity and
respect for all.
This is why it is important to shift our focus away from framing women’s empowerment in
purely economic terms, and instead create the space to foreground the human rights of women
and link it directly with equal opportunity, access to resources and freedom of choice.
Women are a heterogeneous group and a product of their society. A vast majority fall prey to
the brainwashing that begins at birth and continues throughout their lives, making most
women feel that striving for equality is either immoral or a sin. This restricted intellectual
conceptualisation of womanhood prevents them from striving harder and demanding their
rightful place and share in society. This web of cultural constraints, reinforced by a regressive
and coercive interpretation of religion, acts as a mental barrier and effectively handicaps
women psychologically who are then unable to demand full emancipation. The majority of
South Asian women are not free agents who are empowered to make their own life choices,
ranging from education, marriage, employment, family planning and financial investments.
There is also a disconnect between the Western and Eastern notion of gender, largely due to a
perceived dissimilarity in culture. In the eyes of many in South Asia, the concept of equality is
seen as an alien construct that goes against the stereotypical imaging of women that projects
her subservience as a virtue and eulogises her sacrifices as an act of nobility. In the past, these
stereotypes were reinforced by the entertainment industry, which played a major role in
enhancing and glorifying this self-abnegating image of womanhood. But, since the 1990s, there
has been a shift in the way that the industry frames the role of women. Today, women are
often portrayed as independent entities making free choices, breaking barriers and asserting
their identity as equal partners — not just in the economic domain but, more importantly, in
the social domain.
Moreover, given the existing gender imbalance in wage, income, wealth and participation in the
labour market, the impacts of climate change will act as a threat multiplier for women. There is,
therefore, an urgent need to separate economics from gender empowerment and peg it on
human rights. In this emerging scenario, if freedom and empowerment are framed only in
economic terms, then the rights of many — especially women — will increasingly be usurped
and violated, reducing them to lives of subservience, destitution, oppression and exploitation.
As countries in South Asia plot their ambitious trajectories for growth and pathways to
leadership, we need to be mindful that progress should not be at the expense of any group, or
at the risk of undermining long-term competitiveness, or losing the uniqueness of our culture.
The future offers South Asia a unique opportunity of blending the old with the new to create a
society that is progressive, socially equitable, gender balanced and sensitive to its culture and
traditions. Much will depend on how policies are implemented and perceptions are shaped to
accommodate gender harmonisation, paving the way for a new, more emancipated and
empowered generation of South Asian women.
The writer is chief executive of the Civil Society Coalition for Climate Change.
aisha@csccc.org.pk
Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2019

"No safe spaces for women" by Rafia Zakaria
THAT crime lurks in the streets and corners of Karachi is not news for anyone. Precariousness
and predation are the mainstay in this southern corner of the land of the pure; if you have
something you are hunted and if you have nothing, you hunt. Destiny damns both, the hunters
and the hunted, enacting a dystopian version of The Walking Dead, every day and every night.
Karachi is, after all, judged as one of the world’s cities that are least liveable. The scars of it all
are visible everywhere, on the bodies and faces of its people, on the hospitals that do not care,
and the police that do not protect.
This time, the dark forces that breed within the city came for a young girl. According to news
reports, 20-year-old Dua Nisar Mangi was ‘committing the crime’ of walking down a city street.
This was over the weekend past, and with her was a friend named Haris. It was not supposed to
be the time that catastrophes can strike but then one remembers that serious misfortune can
strike at any time, particularly in a city like Karachi. Catastrophe did strike on this night. In one
short and shocking instance, a car pulled up next to the two friends. Men jumped out, some
carrying a gun, all guns pointed at the two.
It was Dua that they were after. At gunpoint, they ordered her to get into their car. When Haris
tried to intervene, they shot him in the neck. With no one and nothing to stop them, they got
into the car and sped away into the Karachi night. The attack likely lasted no more than
minutes. When it was over, a bleeding and disoriented Haris lay on the street. Dua Mangi was
nowhere to be seen.
What happened in the immediate aftermath indicates just how helpless Karachiites are when
an attack such as this takes place. People gathered, the injured Haris managed to call his family
to tell them that he had been shot. Someone took him to the National Medical Centre on
Korangi Road but he had to be shifted Aga Khan Hospital on Stadium Road. He was, according
to the latest news, still in critical condition. He had been shot in the neck but the bullet
travelled into his chest.
The scars of Karachi’s crimes are visible everywhere, on the bodies and faces of its people.
A police report of the incident has been lodged at the Darakshan Police Station. While the
police say that they are investigating the case, and there have been a couple of arrests, there
seem to be few solid leads. After looking at CCTV footage from the area, they have stated that
the car that was used in the attack appears to be one that was stolen in a carjacking a few days
ago.
Where the police fall short, social media tries to amend. In the tense hours after the young
woman’s disappearance, people took to social media to try and get the public mobilised to find
her. The first 48 hours are supposed to be the most crucial ones where retrieving victims of
kidnapping are concerned and her family members would have hoped that publicising the case
and her picture would hopefully result in some leads regarding where she had been taken. One
hopes that the efforts are successful and in the time between now and when this article goes to
print, Dua is found safe and sound.
Not all who hear about women’s victimisation have good things to say, though. As is the routine
with a society raised on misogyny and where the singular constant is that it is always the
woman’s fault, the self-appointed judges on Twitter and Facebook begin to pass judgement. A
woman strolling on a street, after all, is frowned upon in Pakistan: how dare she imagine even
for a second and even whilst accompanied by a male, that she had a right to occupy public
space. The tone and tenor of all of these exchanges confirm what women in Pakistan’s biggest
city already know: that if they occupy any public space, they must be ever apologetic about it.
The proof of this is everywhere; half the country is made up of women and yet the rules and
rituals of public space are made up entirely by men.
One hopes and prays for women, that they not suffer, and in this young woman’s case, be
found before this piece is published. One must also hope that such cases are resolved, women
in such dire predicaments be spared the living post-mortem of intrusive questions, of cruel
labels and injurious allegations. Pakistan does not know how to spare its women, even if they
are somehow miraculously spared by fate itself.
The current instance should also be a moment in which those Pakistani women who consider
politics and feminism distant questions begin to pay attention. Even with an accompanying
male, at a decent time, in a commercial area, their safety is but an illusion. In a country where
too many still believe that a woman must never leave home, it is only collective organisation
and a demand that their safety be a priority that can save them. Until then, there is nothing at
all to ensure that another woman will be in the wrong place at the wrong time, that a romance
gone sour or a marriage turned bad will be a death sentence for them.
In the meantime, all that this country and this city and all the people in it can offer up to a
kidnapped young woman are thoughts and prayers. Hopefully they can do this small bit, with
clear hearts and true hopefulness. The police might be doing the best they can, but there are
always hopes and prayers — as far as they will go.
The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.
rafia.zakaria@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2019
"Missing women" by Muhammad Khudadad Chatta

A FEW months ago, a friend who had just visited Pakistan for the first time, made an interesting
observation about her time there. While she had thoroughly enjoyed her trip, she could not
help but ask one simple question: where were all the women? Pakistani women were nowhere
to be seen in public places — a fact that outsiders are quick to notice, unlike people who grew
up in Pakistan. In a country where a woman riding a motorbike is more of a statement than an
unnecessary detail, the lack of women in public spaces is a natural and unfortunate outcome.
This phenomenon is closely related to Pakistan’s abysmal female labour force participation
rate. According to World Bank statistics for 2019, only 24 per cent of Pakistani women above
the age of 15 are actively involved in the labour force. In contrast, the same statistic for men in
Pakistan is 81pc. There are only 15 countries in the world that have a lower female labour force
participation rate than Pakistan. This is certainly one important mechanism that results in
Pakistani women being absent from public spaces.
The deeper underlying causes of this phenomenon are closely related to our cultural norms
that we do not challenge on a daily basis. According to the World Values Survey, 74.6pc of
Pakistanis believe that men should have more right to a job than women; 72pc believe that
men make better political leaders than women; and 51pc believe that university education is
more important for boys than it is for girls. These are the cultural norms that we live by.
What has led to the absence of women in public spaces?
While women bear the brunt of these norms in their daily lives and accept them, it is often hard
to quantify their real cost to our society. One basic and crude measure is to look at the
estimated impact on the economy. This is admittedly an imperfect measure, but it does show
the scale of the problem. A recent study by the IMF estimated that Pakistan can increase its
GDP by 30pc by closing the gender gap. For a developing country that is currently growing at
around 3pc, this number is huge. The rationale behind gender empowerment is fundamentally
ethical. But it also makes a lot of economic sense.
These facts should ideally help us introspect so that we can ask ourselves hard questions about
why Pakistan performs so poorly on gender empowerment. It should allow us to think about
the societal norms that contribute to the existing situation and how we contribute to it on a
daily basis. While one is sure that this is exactly how a lot of Pakistanis react when they are
exposed to these facts, our reactions are not always the most rational and constructive.
Much of the time, however, we get defensive about our cultural practices. This achieves the
opposite of what revealing the facts should do. A few common reactions that we get from
people when bringing up these facts are: denying that this is an issue of gender empowerment;
asserting that women do not need to work; claiming that cultural norms are sacrosanct;
maintaining that the intra-household bargaining power is not tilted towards males in the
household; narrating an anecdote to counter the statistics; and finally, denying that they
themselves contribute to the problem. All these reactions are, of course, incorrect, but at the
end of the day, no one wants to admit that they are wrong.
One of the first steps in solving any problem is to admit that there is one. While policymakers in
Pakistan working on the issue of gender empowerment certainly acknowledge the scale of the
challenge, do we as citizens accept it in our daily lives? As a starting point, all of us need to look
at our own actions and analyse how they contribute to skewed gender norms that persist in
Pakistan. It is only when we take this first step that we as a nation will be ready to grapple with
gender empowerment challenges in Pakistan.
A few years ago, I had a conversation with a colleague who had gone abroad to study for the
first time. She excitedly narrated her experiences that resonate with most Pakistani students
abroad, such as the wonder of experiencing a new place, the excitement of meeting new
people, nostalgia for good desi food, feeling homesick at first and settling in eventually. These
were all feelings that I could relate to, having experienced them myself. When asked what the
best thing about living abroad was, she responded without hesitation: “The freedom. The
freedom to move around.”
This was the one experience that we did not share and the one thing that she cherished the
most. This is, unfortunately, a feeling that she shares with millions of Pakistani women, who
should not have to travel thousands of miles just to feel free. The least we can do as a response
to this gross injustice is to accept that there is a problem and think about how we contribute to
it in our daily lives.
The writer is a PhD candidate at the University of Oxford and a former civil servant.
Twitter: @KhudadadChattha
"Home-based workers" by Dawn Editorial
AT a recent discussion held at the Karachi Press Club, speakers representing the Home-based
Women Workers Federation complained about the blatant exploitation faced by those in this
informal sector. They noted that the sector is growing each year as factory work is increasingly
outsourced to home-based workers, often on a piece-rate system, and yet there has been no
change in their lives or the nature of their work. Despite being one of the largest workforces
that contributes immensely to Pakistan’s economy, they continue to suffer poor wages and
mistreatment at the hands of middlemen and contractors. For years, they had little negotiating
power and virtually no social safety net. Many reported developing physical impairments and
health complications from the painstakingly detailed work they engage in, which consumed
many hours of their day, in addition to their daily household chores. Additionally, the perceived
lower status of women also means they get paid less than their male counterparts for the same
amount of work. Unfortunately, women’s labour continues to be overlooked, especially when it
is restricted to the home. And yet, many have no choice but to be confined within the four walls
of their homes as their mobility is often limited in patriarchal cultures. The informal nature of
the work also results in home-based workers receiving help from other members of the family
living in the house. This can include their children, who should be in school, pursuing their right
to an education.
Thanks to the decade-long tireless efforts of the workers, the Sindh Home-based Workers Act
was passed in 2018 — but its rules of business are yet to be finalised. As articulated by the
speakers at the conference, this needs to be done on an urgent basis to ensure the workers
receive their due rights. And while legislation is a necessary first step in ensuring rights, the
government must see to it that it is implemented on ground. There can be no progress until half
the population is counted as an equal stakeholder in every aspect of life.
"Why are there so few women in the courts?" by Fozia

Viqar
- https://tribune.com.pk/story/2132432/1-why-are-there-so-few-women-in-the-courts/?
amp=1
Access to justice is a cornerstone of the rights and freedoms for citizens of Pakistan and the
justice system is the custodian of these rights. However, both women and men often face
challenges in accessing justice due to financial resources and social constraints. The lawyers and
court associated costs can often be prohibitive for the majority of Pakistanis living at
subsistence levels. Excessive adjournments increase the strain on the litigant’s often meagre
resources and serves as an impetus to giving up one’s claim to rights. Add to that poor
infrastructure of justice delivery institutions and the confusing environment and processes and
you are ensuring the denial of rights.
While men and women both suffer from challenges in their quest for rights in the
overburdened justice system of Pakistan (the judges’ caseload may be as high as 2,000 cases
per judge in the district judiciary in districts with large populations), women experience
additional “barriers” in their ability to access justice mechanisms despite women’s rights and
entitlements being enshrined in the Constitution and laws of Pakistan. The Global Gender Gap
Report 2018 ranks Pakistan 148 out of 149 countries because our Economic Participation and
Opportunity ranking is amongst the lowest in the world, manifests clearly in low participation,
representation and ownership as well as control over resources by women. Economic
constraints, social and psychological barriers and weaker access to information of the criminal
justice system impacts women’s ability to access rights uniquely. The lack of money and assets
puts women at a disadvantage where apart from travel and process-related costs, a person has
to bribe officials to move the process along. Women also lack social capital required to move
officials in Pakistan and face restrictions on their mobility determined by the cultural
expectation that women will stay home and only travel with their families’ permission. But
most importantly, there is a serious stigmatisation of women reporting sexual offences and of
women claiming their rights in general. These factors are compounded by the fact that women
are not raised to engage with public life, resulting in limited knowledge of public institutions
and systems and non-existent social networks — both necessary to navigate the highly complex
and opaque justice system of Pakistan.
It’s important to understand that a woman complaining against any denial of rights, especially
sexual violence is challenged from the time of her birth to the time of her interaction with
courts, due to multiple and intersecting factors. It begins with girls not being registered at birth;
goes on to a lack of basic literacy — there is a gender gap of about 22% between men and
women, leading to a lack of understanding of rights and processes; she often lacks a CNIC
(current gap of 12 million between men and women); she will likely not be in formal
employment (55% women work in informal work and only 2% are permanent workers); and she
does not have money or assets (poverty has a woman’s face).
These dynamics set her up for failure before she gets to the justice sector but once there, she is
met with a non-cooperative, insensitive and hostile police force that feels that only “bad”
women get attacked and “good” women do not bring violence upon themselves because they
do not leave their homes unaccompanied. She is also intimidated by the low numbers of
women in the police (just over 1% in Pakistan with 98% at the constable level) who are not
necessarily more sensitive towards women, but a victim (especially a young woman) will feel
less shame in recounting the crime and will be less re-victimised when talking to another
woman. The intimidation continues with an almost woman-free justice system with less than
12% women advocates and 16% women judges in the district judiciary. The court environment
is almost completely male and if she wants information, she has to ask the teeming multitude
of men around her, instead of being able to access a dedicated information window or desk.
When her case comes up for hearing, the court officials do not understand that the mere act of
standing in an almost all-male and official court room is intimidating enough, let alone being
confronted by her rapist or having to give evidence about intimate conduct before strangers,
and the perpetual invocation of her moral character to indicate consent to sexual assault.
Improving access to rights for nearly 50% of Pakistan’s citizenry should begin with increased
representation of women in the Police, on the bench and in the bar. Physical infrastructure of
the justice sector institutions should be made more women friendly with improved public
amenities, i.e., washrooms, waiting areas, women’s desks, etc. Legal aid mechanisms exist in
Pakistan and are state-sanctioned but their performance is abysmal. Making legal aid cells and
committees effective will play a crucial role in promoting gender equality. Increasing the
number of courthouses and judges or creating mobile courts will benefit women, as they
usually suffer from limited mobility and time and special courts and benches for women and
gender units within the judiciary will improve conviction rates.
The Lahore Gender Based Violence Court (GBC) shows a four times higher conviction rate
because of implementation of guidelines for sensitive trials, e.g., testifying in private chambers,
and other measures for victims (non-adversarial procedures in resolving disputes, special
waiting areas for victims, confidentiality and privacy, and simplified evidentiary requirements).
The then chief justice of Pakistan, Honourable Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, had announced GBV
courts in all districts across Pakistan. When established, they will be a game changer in
improving women’s access to justice.
Finally, it is imperative we change the way justice sector service providers feel about and deal
with women. That may be helped with increased and relevant gender sensitisation trainings at
all levels across the justice delivery chain not only to increase their awareness on legislation and
measures promoting women’s rights but also to help them understand the differential impact
of their actions on women, who cannot be helped with the “justice is blind” approach.
"The gender gap" by Anum Malkani
DURING a recruitment drive at a company I once worked with, my colleagues and I debated
which questions are appropriate to ask in an interview. I was of the opinion that personal
questions should be off limits. For example, a female candidate should not be asked whether
she is married — a common practice in job interviews in Pakistan. If she is not, the assumption
is that she will be soon and resign. If she is, the assumption is that she will soon have children
and resign. Either way, she is unlikely to be hired.
When I made my case, some of my male colleagues let out a sigh of exasperation: “everything is
not a women’s rights issue”. This is now a common refrain among men who are inexplicably
fatigued by the women’s rights movement. They believe that feminism has run its course and
women are now equal — nay, dominant. In this post-truth world, men are now victims of
misandry and gender discrimination.
Look up online career discussion forums and men — not just here, but all over the world — are
complaining that employers favour women. They are convinced that affirmative action has
gone too far and mediocre women are being hired over more deserving men. It does not matter
that the facts — gender ratios and pay gaps in most workplaces are abysmal — disprove this
theory. Nor does it occur to them that a woman’s skill and intellect may play a part when she is
hired over a man. The myth that prevails among such men puts on stark display their
unshakeable belief that they are better.
This also manifests in conferences around Pakistan. Panels — or ‘manels’ — are heavily male-
dominated. At a recent panel on an economic issue, the sole female panellist bravely began her
talk by calling out the lack of female representation. Rather than being applauded for her
courageous stand, she was severely denigrated.
The idea that feminism has overachieved is a dangerous myth.
While some belittled her — “just another woman throwing a tantrum” — and others
vehemently defended their right to hold a ‘manel’, they were all in denial of the systemic and
structural issues that prevent women from participating. Some insisted that they could not find
a woman with the relevant expertise (I could name several) while others said that if it had been
on a subject relevant to women (as though the economy is irrelevant to 50 per cent of the
population), they would have invited female panelists. But even this is not true. Even on panels
on women’s issues, men are considered the authority and women are excluded, as evidenced
by the initially proposed all-male panel on feminism at the Arts Council in Karachi.
Another common refrain in the wake of the #MeToo movement is “we can’t say anything
anymore” — as though women, high on their newfound power, are brazenly accusing men of
sexual harassment without any grounds. This too is defeated by facts.
First, the idea that women use false harassment claims as weapons against men belies reason.
The weapon would be a rather impotent one, given that women rarely win such cases and
often suffer serious personal, professional and reputational damage. Second, the idea that men
are being silenced and cannot say anything lest they be accused of harassment is dubious. I
have never found myself, while conversing with a man, uncertain about whether I am sexually
harassing him. The lines are clear. If in doubt, assume there is something wrong with what you
are about to say or do, and invest in sensitivity training.
The reality is that, while there has been some progress, the status quo prevails, and women
continue to lag behind. Professionally, women are suffering as workplace gender ratios are
abysmal and get worse further up the ladder. Financially, they are disempowered with a big
gender gap in financial inclusion. Health and literacy outcomes are worse for women. Violence
against women remains prevalent, and the abuse spewed against women on social media is a
revealing indicator of our misogynist society. Unsurprisingly, Pakistan performs miserably in UN
gender indices, and the World Economic Forum estimates that, based on current trends, it will
take 257 years to close the global Economic Participation and Opportunity gender gap.
There is a deep nostalgia among Pakistani men for the good old days when there were no
repercussions, no women’s marches, few women in workplaces and even fewer in positions of
power. The idea that feminism has overachieved and women now have too many rights is a
dangerous myth which only helps strengthen this status quo.
The Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik refers to such myths as “hierarchy stabilisers” diverting
attention “from the fact that there is someone above you who is either exploiting you, or
enjoying more unearned privileges than you”. The truth this myth obfuscates is that, with or
without male allies, there are many causes to fight and a long, difficult road to travel before we
can claim equality.
"Senate furore" by Dawn Editorial
TO denounce ‘honour killings’ while at the same time defending the concepts in which they are
rooted, is perverse, illogical and dangerous. But that is precisely what Senator Mohsin Aziz tried
to do on Friday during a discussion on the annual report of the National Commission on Women
when he said that “honour killings are a problem”, but honour and culture are important too. In
other words, he proved himself an apologist for this vile practice. Senator Aziz went on to
condemn the NGOs behind last year’s Aurat March — an event that has aroused much moral
panic for its display of women’s refusal to abide by their ‘prescribed’ role and conform to
society’s double standards. In fact, the senator disparaged the entire women’s rights
movement in the country as being led by an elite class that in any case already enjoyed the
rights they were supposedly agitating for. Fortunately, Senator Aziz’s reprehensible words met
with a fiery response from the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Sherry Rehman, who
denounced the view that cultural norms justify the oppression of women in any form. The
upper house, she said, must adopt a bipartisan approach to unequivocally condemn the
practice of honour killing. Senator Rehman also paid fulsome tribute to the women’s rights
activists who, she pointed out, fought not for themselves but for those who did not have a
voice to defend themselves against gender-based violence.
In a patriarchal society, culture is a convenient catch-all to justify keeping women confined to a

limited, stereotypical role. Most distressing of all, the notion of honour within that cultural
landscape demands that women pay the price with their lives so that men can ‘avenge’ any
perceived ‘dishonour’ to the family name. This category of murder — often even resorted to as
a ruse for achieving worldly objectives — is a tragic reality. In terms of legislation to protect
women from regressive social mores and ensure their rights as equal citizens, Pakistan has
come a long way, including enacting a law to deal specifically with honour killings. However, as
Friday’s exchange illustrates, there is still much ground to cover where cultural attitudes are
concerned. Progressive elements must continue to push back firmly. The prospect of female
agency and autonomy, particularly with respect to the right to choose a life partner, threatens
to upend the existing patriarchal norms of society. And patriarchy does not give up its privileges
easily.
"Improving parity" by Saddafe Abid
THE World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2020 is out, and the results for Pakistan
are dismal. Pakistan has consistently been placed amongst the bottom 10 countries and this
year it is ranked 151 out of 153 countries. WEF’s Global Gender Gap Index measures differences
between men and women in four key areas: economic participation and opportunity,
educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment, thereby providing a
yardstick for measuring gender gaps.
Why do we find ourselves here, and more importantly, what can we do to improve parity? How
can Pakistan accelerate the pace of change, innovate and create momentum towards parity?
Pakistan faces a critical issue with only 26 per cent female participation in the workforce, one of
the lowest in the region. Lack of women’s economic participation has meant a 30pc loss to GDP,
with the majority of Pakistan’s educated women not joining the workforce. Furthermore,
according to labour statistics, women are concentrated in low-paid, non-technical fields, mostly
in the informal sector with low chances of growth and job security.
How can Pakistan accelerate the pace of change for its women?
The challenges that women face range from the lack of safe and affordable transport that
makes many women dependent on their male family members, and family mindsets where
women’s careers are not seen as a priority, to non-inclusive policies in the workforce, poor
facilities and a serious absence of role models in the senior leadership. Public spaces tend to be
male-dominated and even today, business conferences abound with ‘manels’, a panel with only
men.
Developing and deploying only half its talent has a huge bearing on Pakistan’s growth,
competitiveness and future readiness. I have worked on women’s empowerment and
advancement involving efforts to promote financial inclusion, increase women’s access to
technological skills and enhance women’s leadership capabilities. Here are five ideas to move
the needle and disrupt past trends.
First, the commitment of the leadership is pivotal to addressing the gender gap. It is a moral
imperative to ensure that women have the same opportunities as men. It also makes business
sense to increase the number of women in the workforce. Diversity boosts the bottom line and
leads to stronger long-term performance. Research shows that diverse teams consistently
outperform homogeneous ones as they integrate diverse perspectives, values and reward. The
business leadership must see gender equity as a business imperative and drive it with clear
goals and metrics rather than view it as just a nice thing to have.
Second, policy incentives are important tools to address economic gender gaps. These range
from quotas, targets, wage equality legislation, parental leave policy, agile working, and a
sufficient care infrastructure to access to finance. Day-care options in government and
businesses are also important to encourage women in the workforce and to help them balance
their roles as mothers.These should be combined with reporting and disclosure requirements
as in the case of the United Kingdom. Furthermore, workplaces must be free of harassment and
laws addressing the latter must be implemented strictly.
Third, advancing women in leadership roles increases their visibility in positions of power and
normalises their presence in high-level positions, thus inspiring future generations. Boards need
to play an active role in gender-mainstreaming efforts that ensure developmental plans for
‘growing’ women in leadership positions as well as conducive policies. Progress will be stymied
without the representation of one-half of the population in national and local politics.
Fourth, the government must prioritise women’s participation in growing areas such as STEM to
take advantages of the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It must encourage
education and training to develop skills women will need in order to participate and succeed in
the increasingly technical future of work. Globally, women are under-represented in these
emerging roles with only 12pc of women professionals in cloud computing and 15pc and 26pc
in engineering, and data and AI.
Lastly, it is imperative to recognise that there is no magic bullet or a simple answer. This is a
complex, adaptive challenge which requires curiosity, experimentation, a change in attitude and
new partnerships involving the public and private sectors dedicated to advancing women’s
economic empowerment and overcoming the obstacles.
Will Pakistan tap into the potential and leverage talents of half of its population so that it can
prosper and build a more equitable society? The time is now and each one of us must play our
part.
"Disposable women" by Sulima Jahangir
IN an era of growing migration, hardening policies towards immigration and transnational

marriages, opportunities to exploit women with impunity have grown rapidly. The Casey
Review 2016 commissioned by the British parliament to improve integration of ethnic minority
groups in Britain found that the dependent immigration status of ethnic minority women made
them more susceptible to domestic abuse and also more reluctant to report it. The report
noted the vast number of British Asian men who marry women from Pakistan so that there is a
“first generation in every generation”.
Amongst minority communities Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are further isolated from modern
British society, preferring to follow restrictive interpretations of religious and culture. There is
widespread family pressure on British Asian men to marry wives from Pakistan. The expectation
from the wife is to serve the extended family, care for elderly parents and put up with abuse.
Their situation is exacerbated because of lack of financial resources, inability to speak English
and social isolation. In almost all cases known to the author, the dependent immigration status
of the wife is used to keep her silent. Where there are children, Pakistani national wives are
told that they will be deported given their lack of settled immigration status while their children
remain in Britain.
In one case, a wife after being subjected to violence over a number of years fled to the police
who sent her to a detention centre from where she was finally deported. Although immigration
rules allow a spouse who is a victim of domestic violence to make an application for indefinite
leave to remain in the UK if she is able to prove domestic violence, in the overwhelming
majority of cases, victims who are supposed to benefit from this rule are not informed about it
or are too afraid to report.
Numerous cases of mothers being abandoned in Pakistan have come before the high courts in
England and children who are resident in Britain are made wards of the court. In almost all
cases the wives are taken to Pakistan ostensibly for a holiday and once there, their husbands
remove their passports and return to England. In some cases the children are abandoned along
with their mothers but in most cases they are separated. Family courts have often been moved
by the plight of mothers and children who have been separated for years, in some cases,
permanently. But it is an arduous task for mothers to obtain visas to return to England to be
reunited with their children.
Numerous cases of mothers being abandoned in Pakistan have come before the high courts in
England.
Amina was abandoned in Pakistan while her young daughter remained in England. She was
drawing imaginary pictures of her mother who she did not know was alive. Tasleem has five
children in England who are living without her. She was unable to obtain a visa to return.
Rubina lived in a homeless shelter for five years while her four children were in England. Many
such mothers are left in impecunious circumstances. They leave their dowry items including
jewellery behind in England only to realise they will never be able to return home. Those who
manage to obtain specialist legal advice promptly find a pathway to return. Others continue to
wait hoping for a reconciliation or simply do not know what recourse they can take.
These cases are not just restricted to Pakistan although the largest number of cases arise from
there. A similar pattern emerges in India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kenya and Middle Eastern
countries. Other cases also crop up, where ethnic minority women are taken to home countries
to force them into marriages arranged by the family or simply to get rid of them. The murder of
Bradford-born Samia Shahid springs to mind but there are countless other young girls banished
to relatives’ homes in Pakistani villages so they can reform themselves and agree to an
arranged marriage. The highest number of forced marriage cases reported to the British Foreign
office is from Pakistan accounting for 44 per cent of all cases in 2018. Charity Southall Black
Sisters campaigned around the case of a woman who they felt was taken to Indian Punjab and
murdered there by her husband. They felt ethnic minority women are disadvantaged as per
British law since it is difficult for the British police to investigate a murder that is ‘exported’.
Some years earlier, Surjit Athwal was lured to India by her husband and mother-in-law who
drowned her there.
Another trend is to marry women from South Asia who are left with in-laws as unpaid carers. In
Indian Punjab this has become a business model. The eligibility of foreign national men allows
them to arrange quick, short-lived marriages for the purpose of extracting dowry. The National
Commission for Women in India suggest that it affects tens of thousands of women. There are
no figures on the number of women affected in Pakistan but in Mirpur and Jhelum there are
generations of abandoned women and children. Most recently I came across 21-year-old Saima,
the daughter of a corn-seller, who became the fourth wife of a much older British national, who
was childless. As soon as Saima gave birth to their child, she states she was pressurised to take
sleeping medication, the child was removed from her care and whisked away to England.
The disposability of women, be it their roles as child-bearers, honour-bearers or dowry givers

takes over basic humanity. They fall between two worlds: an anti-immigration sentiment in
their host countries and cultural taboos in their home countries. In most countries, be it
Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Afghanistan or India, policies to empower ethnic minority
women are the last on the agenda. Political parties are unwilling to upset the sentiments of
their vote banks — leaders of ethnic minority communities who are inevitably men imposing
traditional values at the expense of women’s rights. A fellow activist once said that women are
the last colony left. Within this colony, women from ethnic minorities will be the last to be de-
colonised.
Note: To protect the identities of children, some names and details have been changed.
Women on wheels - https://www.dawn.com/news/1530771?ref=whatsapp
ON Friday, hundreds of women were issued driving certificates and employment with a ride-
hailing service at a packed event organised by Women on Wheels in Karachi. A few months
earlier, these women had received training after the initiative was first launched in the city in
November 2019. And there are now plans to extend the programme to other parts of Sindh.
Since its inauguration in Punjab four years ago, WoW has tried to empower thousands of
women to ride motorcycles, along with offering them subsidised bikes, as a way to encourage
women’s mobility and normalise their presence on the roads. While Pakistani women have
made great strides over the years, and more and more women enter the workforce each year,
the mere sight of a woman riding a motorcycle to reach her destination is still seen as an
anomaly here. Typically, women sit at the back of the motorcycle, behind a male member of
the family, often nestling a child or two precariously in their laps, while their flowing dupattas
or abayas risk getting entangled in the wheels of the motorcycle — which is a common cause
for accidents.
Women riding motorcycles or bicycles — to get to work, to run errands, or simply for leisure —
are an everyday sight in many parts of Asia, including some Muslim countries. Unfortunately,
Pakistan lags behind the rest of the world in many regards, and the belief that ‘good’ women do
not leave their homes or have lives independent of men is still persistent. Hopefully, with the
continuation of initiatives such as WoW, the sight of women on wheels will become so
commonplace within a few years that it will not raise eyebrows nor lead to lewd comments and
leering — in other words, it will be a journey as comfortable as it is for men. After all, it is only
fair that half the country’s population receives its full right to occupy public space without fear
of harassment, intimidation and judgement.
"Gender empowerment backlash" by Syed Muhammad Ali
- https://tribune.com.pk/story/2147319/6-gender-empowerment-backlash/?amp=1
We live in a world where vast inequalities exist between the rich and the poor, within, and
across, most countries of the world. There are different categorisations whereby gaps between
the haves and the have-nots can be observed such as ethnicity or geographic location. Gender
is another major factor based on which disparities can readily be found. Because gender-based
disadvantages affect half the world’s population, gender inequality has rightly been termed one
of the greatest barriers to human development.
Despite decades of emphasis and efforts to bridge the gender divide, the glass ceiling for
women to achieve empowerment is slowed by persistent biases, as well as backlash. A new
‘social norms index’ recently released by the UNDP points out how a gender bias has grown in
recent years. At a global level, the UNDP estimates that only 1 man in 10 men, and 1 woman in
7 women, show no form of bias against gender equality. Back in 2017, the United Nation’s
Population Fund also found that 68 countries had larger gender gaps in 2016 than in 2015.
This is, of course, not to say that no progress has been achieved in terms of addressing gender
disparities. Girls around the world have been catching up on some basic indicators, such as
enrolment in primary school, and in terms of improved health and nutritional outcomes.
Violence against women is also now taken more seriously. Awareness concerning sexual
harassment is also being increased through legislation and through recent social movements
such as #MeToo.
However, progress on closing the gender disparities gaps is slow. Glaring inequality are still
evident in the power that men exercise at home, in the workplace and in politics. At home,
women do more than three times as much unpaid care work as men. Based on current trends,
it seems that it will take over two years to close the gender gap in economic opportunity alone.
Although women and men can vote equally in most countries, and many women now also hold
political office, gender difference increases at higher levels of political power. In South Asia,
several women – Benazir Bhutto, Indira Gandhi, Khaleda Zia and Shaikh Hasina – have made it
to the highest levels of power. Yet, all these women leaders rose to power via political
dynasties rather than through the backing of women or with the agenda to improve the lives of
other women. As a result, most of them tended to reinforce patriarchal norms rather than defy
them.
The rights-based NGO, Oxfam, has righty described the global economic system as being sexist,
given the way it continues to exploit the cheap and unpaid labour of women. A growing number
of women have joined the workforce as a result of globalisation, but this has not improved their
lives, as most of them work long hours for measly pay, just to ensure household survival. Often,
when women take on economic responsibilities, that does not lessen their burden of social and
household obligations. Instead, many women get trapped in what has been termed ‘the double
burden’ of earning money while continuing to fulfil traditional social roles.
Progress is not a straightforward path. Instead, change is often met with resistance. Change is
especially difficult to achieve when social and cultural norms, combined with the lack of
economic and political power, continue to preserve inequalities, which is what happens with
the issue of gender disparities. There is a broader backlash to change, in the form of the
ongoing surge in right-wing, authoritarian movements, which have spurred backpedaling on
women’s rights in countries like China, Russia, Hungary and Turkey. In Pakistan too, problems
such as gender violence and harassment are often cast as a product of ‘radical’ feminism or
western values. And gender rights is not thought of as an issue of social justice and equity, and
ensuring equal access to resources and opportunities, which is what this struggle is essentially
about.
"Anti-women customs" by Editorial
WHEN it comes to changing patriarchal mindsets that perpetuate practices targeting girls and
women, Pakistani society is still stuck in the dark ages. Practices such as vani, swara and karo
kari are rampant across the country, and in fact, are ‘legitimised’ by jirgas and panchayats.
These parallel forms of justice, despite being illegal, wield considerable influence over rural
populations and are often patronised by political bigwigs. Yet another disturbing case of vani
surfaced in Mansehra recently where the local police lodged cases against 13 members of a
jirga that had ordered the marriage of a seven-year-old girl to a man whose aunt is said to have
been photographed by the child’s uncle. The police took action when they received information
from residents of the area, but it remains to be seen if those arrested will actually be punished
for taking part in an illegal jirga that bartered a little girl in order to settle a dispute.
Over the years, similar arrests of jirga participants have been reported in the country, but,
unfortunately, rarely have these detentions translated into severe punishment for the
offenders or led to a change in societal attitudes that continue to condone such abhorrent
customs. The question remains whether the passage of laws by the assemblies is enough to
curb such practices. The fact that almost 80 people, mostly women, were killed in Sindh in
different incidents of karo kari in only the first six months of 2019, shows that declaring
something illegal is not enough to deter crime. Moreover, in societies where the law is at best
only partially implemented, will attitudes change, especially if anti-women practices receive
political patronage? Without taking legal and criminal action against the religious and political
heavyweights who commit or condone such deeds, this menace cannot be curbed. The roots of
this poisonous mindset run far and wide in our society and it will take a lot more action on the
part of the government to address this problem than simply arresting those who violate the
law.
"Suicide watch" by Editorial
RECENTLY, the Sindh police released its province-wide data on the number of suicides that took
place in the past five years. According to their findings, nearly 1,287 people — including 586
women — took their own life, with the vast majority between the ages of 21 and 40. The
highest numbers of suicides were recorded in Mirpurkhas, with a total of 646 cases; nearly half
of them were women. This was followed by Hyderabad, which recorded a total of 299 suicides,
including 116 women. The apparent reasons behind the suicides varied: some were caught in
the cycle of poverty and unemployment; others were trapped in unhappy marriages or suffered
domestic abuse; and then there were those addicted to drugs. Many would have suffered from
mental health issues, but it is difficult to know the nature or details of it. In Pakistan, the issue
continues to be heavily stigmatised. As a result, many suffer silently and are reluctant to speak
about their ailments to those around them out of fear of judgement or cruelty. This has created
a climate where people repress, deflect or deny their psychological struggles. For the vast
majority of citizens, mental health treatment remains pricey, inaccessible and out of the
question.
Even with all these other issues facing the mental health debate, what is most shocking is that a
high number of these suicides were committed by members of the Hindu minority, according to
police, which form only a fraction of the total population. Whether suicide is to be attributed to
a history of severe mental health issues that are neglected, or as a means of escaping
oppressive structures — patriarchy, poverty or religious and caste-based discrimination —
people have little to no control over high rates of suicide, reflecting a failure of society as a
whole. Before we tell other countries how to treat their marginalised communities, we should
perhaps take a hard look at what it means to be a minority in Pakistan.
Asia
Marriage in Pakistan
Clawless clauses
How brides sign away their rights
Can’t read the small print
Hours before her wedding ceremony, Aisha Sarwari, then a recent graduate of an American
university, was called into a room full of men: her brother, her uncle, a marriage registrar and
her fiancé. The registrar asked three times if she consented to marry the groom. She said yes.
Then he told her to sign a contract she had never seen, with her name and a thumb-print. She
said yes to that, too. “It didn’t even occur to me that I should look at the document,” she says
now. That document, known as a nikah nama, is a marriage registration and a pre-nuptial
agreement all in one. It determines all sorts of things that may end up being of critical
importance to the bride, in particular, from the way in which she may seek a divorce to the
division of property if the marriage comes to an end.
Yet many wives-to-be in Pakistan sign their nikah namas without reading them. Plenty do not
know what they are signing. In Peshawar, a city in the north-west, nearly three-quarters of
women, many of them illiterate, say they were not consulted on their marriage contracts. But
asking for a say in the drafting would be fraught, anyway. At best, women who do will be
accused of bad manners (for not trusting their new husband) or of courting disaster (because it
is unlucky to talk of divorce before the marriage has even started). At worst, it would be seen as
inexcusable uppitiness that might put the wedding in jeopardy. In some cases, marriage
registrars, who are often imams, take matters into their own hands, simply crossing out bride-
friendly clauses on the contracts. Even though such changes are illegal, an analysis of about
14,000 nikah namas in Punjab province found that 35% had been amended in this way,
according to Kate Vyborny, one of the researchers involved. “It’s ludicrous,” says Ms Sarwari.
Yet when the nikah nama, an Islamic tradition, was incorporated into Pakistani law in 1961, the
government’s intention was to “secure to our female citizens the enjoyment of their rights
under Qur’anic laws”. In fact, the ordinance in question did not just enshrine Islamic practice in
law; it modernised it, modestly circumscribing a man’s rights and codifying those of women.
Men are still free to marry up to four women, but have to tell new wives about existing ones.
Men can still divorce at will, but have to register the divorce in writing, and so on. Husbands are
also required to state at the time of marriage, in the nikah nama, whether they concede their
wives the same right they have, to end the marriage whenever they want, without having to go
to court.
These rules are not as favourable to women as those in many Muslim countries. Wives who
have not obtained the right to divorce at will can still seek one in court but, by doing so, usually
forfeit their dowry, which they would normally be entitled to keep in case of divorce as a form
of financial compensation. That is not the case in Malaysia and Morocco. Nonetheless, the
reforms were controversial from the start. Boosters, such as Ayub Khan, the president at the
time, said they could “liberate Islam from the debris of wrong superstition and prejudice”.
Religious leaders denounced them as unIslamic.
Nearly 60 years later, the tension still festers. Feminists would like women to get more of the
family’s assets after a divorce. But Zubair Abbasi of the Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law, in
Lahore, doubts that will happen. “This is such a sensitive issue,” he says, “no political party
wants to take it on.” Instead, most activists are focusing on securing the freedoms already on
the books. Fauzia Viqar, former head of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women, says
there should be mandatory training for marriage registrars, most of whom, surveys suggest,
have none. When the commission helped sponsor a pilot training scheme, they found it
reduced the illegal meddling with nikah namas by about a third. There should also be a public-
awareness campaign aimed at both men and women, Ms Viqar argues.
Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, has already made it a criminal offence for registrars
to fill out the nikah nama incorrectly. But the bigger obstacle to securing brides’ rights may be
cultural. Ms Sarwari was lucky. Her husband had given her the right of unilateral divorce. The
dowry was generous. And the imam had not tampered with the document. But her own
relatives had urged her husband not to be too liberal, telling him: “Don’t give her any ideas.” At
the reception, an older female guest yelled at her for being too chatty, since the ideal bride is
shy and demure. Whatever the legal niceties, such entrenched expectations, Ms Sarwari says,
make it difficult for brides even to ask about their rights.
Sexual harassment
Editorial | February 29, 2020
IT may be too early to say the tide is turning when it comes to penalising sexual harassment,
but ripples have certainly been created. How far these ripples extend and whether they can
lead to a cultural shift can only be judged in time, but setting precedents and drawing clear lines
regarding what is and is not acceptable behaviour at the workplace is an important start. This
Thursday, the Sindh ombudsman for the protection against harassment of women at the
workplace imposed a fine of Rs100,000 on one employee of the Sindh health department, while
promotions for another have been stopped for three years. The two men were found guilty of
harassing a colleague of theirs. Similarly, just a few days earlier, three government employees
were fired from their jobs for harassing the women they worked with.
As more women enter the job market, employers will need to ensure that they are upholding
the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act in letter and spirit. Many
women struggle to even step inside organisations and are forced to fight battles both within
and outside their homes just to be ‘allowed’ a chance at financial independence — only to be
dissuaded by a needlessly hostile and sometimes dangerous work environment. According to
the law, all workplaces must prominently display the code of conduct; set up an inquiry
committee of three members, consisting of at least one woman; proceed with an investigation
within three days of receiving a written complaint; and then submit their findings within 30
days. For years, women have remained silent about the harassment, abuse and intimidation
they have had to put up with, fearing that speaking out will only make them more of a target,
or they will be made to leave their jobs, or be subjected to character assassination that will
haunt them beyond the workplace. That some are now speaking out and receiving support is
encouraging for others, and will help pave the way for a more equitable society in the long run.'
"Marching for women’s rights" by Editorial
THE citadel of patriarchy is once again in turmoil. Women demanding their rights are, by
definition, a threat to male privilege in such a milieu. When they do so en masse, as planned on
March 8 — International Women’s Day — it seemingly becomes an existential threat. The
reverberations from last year’s Aurat March have reinvigorated the self-appointed guardians of
culture and morality into dusting off the usual ‘obscenity’ and ‘vulgarity’ tropes. Maulana Fazlur
Rehman has openly threatened participants in the upcoming event, exhorting his supporters to
stop the march regardless of any “sacrifice” that might entail. A few days ago, a petition was
filed in the Lahore High Court asking for a permanent ban on the Aurat March for being an
“anti-state” and “anti-Islamic” activity. During its hearing on Thursday, the LHC chief justice
rightly observed that “freedom of expression cannot be banned”.
The women’s rights movement in Pakistan has come a long way from the days of Gen Ziaul
Haq’s misogynistic dictatorship, a time when rape victims who braved the courts but could not
produce four male witnesses were often jailed for adultery. Many incremental changes have
come about since then in terms of legislation, awareness and victims’ support groups. They are,
in part, a product of wider exposure to contemporary social movements and of increasing
female participation in the public sphere (ergo, their economic empowerment). These factors
threaten traditional notions of family and the society as a whole, where power emanates from
men. However, as every case of ‘honour’ killing, forced marriage, domestic violence, etc
illustrates, the struggle for women’s rights in this country remains at its core about their
fundamental, inalienable right to agency and autonomy. The chauvinistic resistance to the
upcoming march demonstrates that it is to be fought, not only in parliament and the courts of
law, but in the minds of men, and the women who have internalised the patriarchal narrative.
For all these reasons, and to endorse the Aurat March as a legitimate platform for women to
raise a collective voice for their rights, elected representatives from mainstream parties must
themselves join the rally on March 8. The event has become a lightning rod for regressive
elements to obfuscate the very real issues that the event highlights and the legitimate demands
it makes of government and society. Here the media can play a responsible role in keeping the
focus on the larger picture, rather than sensationalising the minutiae. Meanwhile, local
administrations must provide all possible security to the participants. No one should be allowed
to create a hostile atmosphere, and incitement to violence such as that by the JUI-F leader must
not go unnoticed lest it embolden others. It is the democratic right of women to challenge
gendered expectations in both the public and private spheres, and articulate them however
they may choose to do so.
"An unequal partnership" by Salema Jahangir
RECENTLY, our prime minister attracted wide criticism for blaming the rising divorce rate on the
influence of foreign media. Pakistanis usually pride themselves on their traditional family values
and the respect they have for the sanctity of marriage. Yet Pakistan is one of the easiest
countries in which to obtain a divorce, especially for men. Breaking up a marriage has minimal
consequences as there is no concept of joint or marital ownership or income; maintenance
awarded to children is usually paltry and a wife, even after a lifetime of service to her family,
has no right to claim a share in the assets or income of her husband.
The clergy in Pakistan has had a big influence on the formulation of laws governing marital
relationships. The Rashid Commission that was set up to formulate Pakistan’s family laws
merely recommended that a talaq should be registered but even this was unpalatable! Maulana
Thanvi, representing the clergy, stated that the registration of divorce or any intervention of
the courts was “ridiculous and repugnant to Sharia”. He reasoned that if a man’s right to
divorce was fettered in any way including through registration, it would prompt couples to
resort to “vice and adultery” to obtain a divorce, following which “Muslim society would sink to
the lowest depths of disgrace”. On this point only he was overruled.
Some 60 years later, we are at the same juncture. Judges rule according to their individual
perceptions of religious rules and some believe that under Islam a man has an unfettered right
to divorce. Despite judicial precedents, high courts have made inconsistent decisions, some
holding that for an effective divorce the talaq has to be notified to the Union Council and the 90
days waiting period has to expire, while others say that a talaq is effective even if it is not
notified.
The injustice to one half of the population, many of whom are dependent upon the goodwill of
the other half, is the most glaring example of social inequality but receives no attention. Each
commission set up to recommend changes to the law made known their concern about the lack
of any recognition of matrimonial assets or income. The Zahid Commission in 1993 stated that
“at the very heart of the vulnerability to which women are exposed is the lack of sharing of
assets and property upon termination of marriage”. The Zahid Commission went on to state
that this principle of sharing is in accordance with the principle of mata’a or kindness to a
divorced woman. Mata’a is also part of Islamic principles and is mentioned in the Holy Quran.
Several Muslim countries are recognising women’s non-financial contributions to a marriage.
In some Muslim countries such as Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Libya and Tunisia,
mata’a is paid to the wife in addition to dower and maintenance. In Pakistan, there is no
concept of mata’a. Similarly, in many Middle Eastern countries, there is a strong tradition of
adding conditions for financial maintenance and capital awards in the nikahnama as haq meher,
yet in an overwhelming majority of marriages in Pakistan the sum remains paltry as people
consider it a bad omen to speculate on a breakdown of marital ties at the time of marriage.
Pakistan is a signatory to Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against

Women and other international standards which stipulate that women’s non-financial
contributions to a marriage must be recognised to enable an equal standing between spouses.
The fact that women are entirely dependent either upon their fathers or husbands for financial
maintenance in exchange for their obedience is unworkable. Therefore, in several Muslim
countries more progress has been made to recognise women’s non-financial contributions to a
marriage. In accepting women’s right to resources acquired through the joint efforts of parties
to a marriage, these Muslim countries do not believe they are acting contrary to Islamic
principles.
In Malaysia, the court can order a division of matrimonial assets after assessing each party’s
contributions. Where a wife has not made financial contributions she would still be entitled to a
third share of the assets depending on the length of the marriage. In Singapore, Sharia courts
have the discretion to take into account the wife’s contributions to the family, such as caring for
the home and the children. Where a wife has made no direct financial contribution, she is
usually still entitled to about 35 per cent of the assets. In Turkey, revisions to the Civil Code
stipulate that the equal division of property and assets acquired during the marriage is the
default property regime. In Indonesia, women’s non-financial contributions are recognised and
the court has the discretion to split the matrimonial property upon divorce.
Ironically, while the concept of the family is usually touted as sacred, laws regulating family
relationships are the last to be brought in line with the changing global trends. In England,
divorce is still fault-based as the state is too worried to tread on a sensitive subject. In India, in
1985 the Congress government almost fell when the Muslim community were up in arms over a
supreme court judgement granting a 62-year-old divorced woman, Shah Bano, maintenance of
Rs179.20 per month from her well-to-do husband who had thrown her out of the house after
46 years of marriage. The Indian government quickly introduced a new law to override the
judgement and keep its voters happy.
Reforms empowering women within their homes become an emotive issue but until a woman
does not have some semblance of security within her home, it is difficult for her to make any
contribution to society or the economy. Many women stay in abusive marriages for fear of
finding themselves on the street. Regulations regarding violence, harassment and polygamy are
of course beneficial, but a man will only appreciate the sanctity of marriage and the value of
good behaviour at home when he has to share his assets and income fairly.
"On harassment" by Shmyla Khan

IN recent years, ‘harassment’ has become an integral part of our popular vocabulary. It is now
discussed in mainstream media — albeit often not with the nuance and sensitivity it deserves
— and fiercely debated in both private and public spaces. It is hard to imagine that, unlike other
types of sexual and gender-based violence, harassment is a relatively new concept, both as a
legal category and in the public imagination.
Developed as a legal concept in the 1970s by scholar Catherine MacKinnon, harassment was
conceived as a form of sexual discrimination. Laws on harassment were a triumph of second-
wave feminism and its engagement with legal instruments as it reifies social inequalities and
forces the law to acknowledge societal power structures.
While all subjects are equal under the eyes of the law, progressive laws such as those on
harassment force the neutral language of the law to acknowledge that society is, in fact,
unequal and this understanding needs to be taken into account. Workplace harassment, for
instance, acknowledges that workplaces are unequal and hierarchal, thus the ability of those in
positions of power to harass, intimidate and silence subordinates is quite likely. This, coupled
with the oppressions and structures of subordination inherent in patriarchal societies, makes
women more vulnerable to harassment.
It felt like a dam had burst.
In Pakistan, the movement behind the Protection against Harassment of Women at the
Workplace Act, 2010, is an example of successful advocacy. The Alliance Against Sexual
Harassment brought together women from all walks of life, and male allies, to work on the
issue of workplace harassment. It is one of several gains made by the Pakistani feminist
movement and its engagement with the law. The act makes it mandatory to have inquiry
committees in each workplace and ombudspersons at the provincial and federal level.
Recently, however, the efficacy of the law has been called into question. While it has become a
cliché to trace a shift from the #MeToo moment, it is not inaccurate to say that the issue of
harassment exploded in the public consciousness in the past three years. Testimonies of
women across the world, including Pakistan, were thrust into the public discourse. It felt like a
dam had burst. Suddenly, our newsfeeds were littered with the trauma of women who had
been violated and silenced.
While the #MeToo era has made leaps and bounds in terms of public awareness, the movement
has been noticeably absent in its engagement with the law and its accompanying justice
system. Many young feminists are either disillusioned with the law or view it as an obstacle
rather than a tool for engagement. In the process of this disengagement, the inadequacies of
the law have been laid bare.
Glaringly, the law on workplace harassment takes a very narrow approach to defining gender,
sticking to binaries of men and women to the exclusion of trans individuals whose bodies are
often the site of this very violence. Additionally, the provision in the Pakistan Penal Code on
Harassment (Section 509) only applies to women. These gender binaries reified in the law can
lead to structural exclusions for those not given legal recognition, rendering the violence they
experience as invisible.
Secondly, feminist approaches to legal theory posit that laws need to take into account the
lived experience of marginalised communities, and thus any law that places the burden of proof
on women to prove their harassment ignores the realities of the discrimination or violence they
experience. It is extremely difficult to provide cogent evidence in these cases because
harassment often rarely leaves behind a neat paper trail and usually takes place when the
victim is most vulnerable and isolated.
This question of standards of evidence often takes place in frantic tones and hyperbolic
warnings, where weary men warn of floodgates of false testimonies as if women are lining up
to pursue false cases in a system that already marginalises them. In fact, we need to have
important discussions that dismantle the patriarchal legal constructs such as the ‘reasonable
man standard’. Judges and lawyers need to develop precedents that place the lived experience
of women at the centre and speak to the ‘reasonable woman standard’ that incorporates the
positionality of women, and the intersectionalities that define their lives, when adjudicating a
case.
As women across Pakistan take to the streets this Sunday to mark International Working
Women’s Day, it is important to listen to experiences of the women who are marching — each
of them carrying a placard that has a story of harassment. The demands of the various Aurat
Marches include safer workplaces and public spaces, where harassment is not merely an
inevitability. Join them on March 8. Imagine what a safer, more just and equitable society could
look like, one in which all of us are free from discrimination and violence.
Vicious propaganda
Editorial | March 06, 2020
THE vitriol against the Aurat Azadi March is rising to a crescendo. A peaceful rally is being
brazenly threatened. Now the Jamia Hafsa, a women’s madressah affiliated with Islamabad’s Lal
Masjid, whose allegiance to extremist ideologies is on the record, has added its voice to the
growing climate of intimidation. A statement apparently signed by its students was issued on
Wednesday claiming responsibility for defacing a mural in the city designed in connection with
the rally. They also urged citizens to forcibly prevent the marchers from proceeding through
their localities. Earlier, a senior Lal Masjid cleric said that the defacement was the work of
members of the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, carried out with the blessing of the
institution’s chief cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz. The latter’s wife Umme Hasaan, in a video
circulating on social media, announced that the Jamia Hafsa women would launch a “counter
protest” at the same venue on the same day. The JUI-F has openly exhorted its supporters to
take the law into their own hands to stop the march. Two applications have been filed with the
ICT administration against the rally going ahead on the grounds it could lead to a clash between
the participants and opponents of the march. The Jamaat-i-Islami has also announced its own
Aurat March at the same venue on March 8.
The democratic right to protest is contingent upon doing so in a peaceful manner. In this case,
regressive elements, using specious faith-based arguments to obfuscate the demand for
women’s rights, are laying the groundwork for an ugly and possibly dangerous confrontation.
Law-enforcement agencies have a critical role to play if the self-professed ‘morality brigade’ is
not to create mayhem on March 8 — and then perversely claim it was ‘provoked’. The open
threats, such as those levelled by Jamia Hafsa and JUI-F, are complemented and reinforced by
the venom being spewed on mainstream and social media against women speaking about what
the feminist movement stands for. In one egregious instance, a playwright who may have the
dubious honour of setting the benchmark for misogyny in a deeply misogynistic society, rained
down a barrage of filthy abuse on women’s rights activist Marvi Sirmed. Some talk show hosts
have with conviction and clarity expressed a nuanced understanding of why the march is so
important. Given the weight their opinions carry, many more such personalities must also nail
their colours to the mast.
Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2020
‘Righteous’ women
Aasim Sajjad Akhtar | March 06, 2020
The writer teaches at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

‘TIS the season to be righteous, or so many prominent Pakistanis on TV and social media along
with the religious right would have us believe. Pakistan suffers from hypocritical moral policing
at the best of times — in homes, colleges and universities, places of religious worship, and the
workplace — but the trigger for the current frenzy is the impending Aurat Marches in many
cities of the country. Given that these marches only began three years ago, one can only marvel
at how rapidly they have gotten under the proverbial skin of their highly agitated opponents.
Enough has been said and written about the wider context of the marches and why they
threaten the fragile male ego in a society that is, by any and all accounts, amongst the most
patriarchal in the world. There is considerably less discussion, however, around the primary line
of argument of the haters; that the Aurat March is the preserve of a ‘particular’ kind of woman:
loose in her morals and not representative of the chaste majority of Pakistani wives, sisters and
mothers.
Why Pakistan needs the Aurat March
dailytimes.com.pk/362570/why-pakistan-needs-the-aurat-march/amp/
Many remember the television serial Humsafar as a game-changer for the Pakistani television
industry. In addition to winning the hearts of its audience, it generated unprecedented
revenue, popularity and opportunity for our local media houses. Of course it did not matter
that Humsafar reinforced some of the most vile and misogynistic plots in the Urdu drama viz a
viz women conspiring against other women; the female protagonist (Khirad) being safe only in
the confines of her home; the woman (Sara) open about her love projected as hysterical and
evil, and a wife losing her husband as a result of her decision to pursue education. The fact that
Humsafar dragged women back to a metaphoric Chaadar and Char Deewari, fashionably
wrapped in toxic romanticism, was overlooked.
The discourse on women in Pakistan has become a glaring question mark. The entire
conversation has regressed, and instead of debating issues of legal rights, freedom of choice
and equal representation, women are still resisting backlash to their mere presence and
visibility in public spaces. They are still fighting to be accepted as an individual, not only
products of their association to men. To be more than just a mother, sister and daughter.
As though these challenges were not enough, movies, television serials, literature and even
school textbooks have been propagating skewed ideas of womanhood, femininity and
masculinity. It is perhaps not a surprise that this generation echoes bigotry, from ministers
promising to have dancers clad in burkas, to college administrations imposing fine on female
students for covering themselves differently from their ideal of covering up. In a society
plagued with misogyny, policing of women’s choices and sensibilities is creating further
problems.
In this hostile environment, it is crucial to revisit, over and over again, the F word.
Feminism. What is feminism in Pakistan, other than a grossly misunderstood term?
Feminism is the spirit of freedom, equity and inclusivity. It stands for all those who are
discriminated against based on gender, sexual orientation, race, class, ethnicity and age.
Feminism strives to create positive change by ending all kinds of exploitation and oppression. It
stands for all those who are victims of patriarchal norms, which includes men and women. To
identify as a feminist is simply to acknowledge that the world, as it stands today, is unfair,
unjust and unsafe for a lot of people. And it is the promise to make it better.
Feminism strives to create positive change by ending all kinds of exploitation and oppression. It
stands for all those who are victims of patriarchal norms, which includes men and women
The stigma attached to women’s presence in the public sphere and in the public’s imagination
needs to be corrected. This stigma not only dehumanizes women but also limits their agency
and participation in key social, political and economic activities. It creates the very environment
where all-male committees deliberate issues concerning women and all-male panels discuss
works of female artists and writers. On the other hand, the notion of treating public spaces as
the exclusive domain of men normalises sexual violence as well as leering and jeering in public
spaces. And not unknown to anyone, in most cases, the blame of such violence is casually
ascribed to women who are attacked. Why blame the victim? Because for women to be seen or
heard in public is deemed as trespassing. Tragically, stereotypical thinking has become so
deeply embedded in our collective psyche that any attempt to displace or challenge this myopic
mindset has resulted in deep distrust for women movements and a strong backlash against
them.
It appears as though in a stiflingly conservative society like ours, the ideals of feminist
emancipation can only be achieved through persistent defiance. The dream of justice, fairness
and opportunity can only be achieved after fighting years and years of internalized misogyny
and sexism. If so, then Aurat March is one such fearless effort in defiance. A voice for the fifty
percent of Pakistan, that was silenced for way too long. And a resistance that demands unity
and solidarity among all segments of society.
The first ever Aurat March was concurrently held in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to celebrate
International Women’s Day 2018. Although the movement is part of a larger pushback by
women across the globe, Aurat March has distinctly spurred from within. It has a vernacular
character and an organic link with other domestic social movements.
Women of all ages and their allies march in solidarity with women all across the country.
Participation of women from diverse backgrounds shows how ubiquitous the core demands
are. These demands include an end to physical, emotional and sexual violence against women,
labour rights, wage equality, reproductive rights, fair political representation, equal
opportunities, equality for the transgender community and an end to child marriage. This
march also underscores the idea that women’s liberation is intrinsically tied to the liberation of
all marginalised groups and minorities.
Among other things, one of the most significant aspects of Aurat March is the reclamation of
public spaces.
For such lofty goals, the movement merits support from all quarters. If, after years of
oppression, women can stand for the betterment of every single one in this society – why can’t
the public extend support to them? Leaders, celebrities and public figures should come out and
be a part of this march. Men also need to be a part of the solution-not out of some sense of
entitlement or some misplaced urge to rescue women-but because it’s the right thing to do.
Men should examine themselves and show solidarity with the movement. They can ask
questions, widen their perspective, call their own perspectives into question and most
importantly, they can listen. Men have been conditioned by patriarchal society to conform to
gender roles rooted in toxic masculinity for too long.
Dismantling toxic masculinity would help keep in check male privilege and those who have
exploited it, in turn, helping the mental, intellectual and emotional progress of our society. The
nature of male privilege is such that those who are benefiting from it the most are also least
likely to recognise it. Aurat march is an opportunity to join forces and work towards a more fair,
peaceful and productive world. The world of women’s rights is not just the progress of one
gender, it is the progress of the society as a whole. Join the Aurat March on 8th March to
challenge stereotypes, push new boundaries and stand up against patriarchy.
The author is Lahore-based human rights activist and freelance writer
Published in Daily Times, March 8 2019.
Pakistani women hold 'aurat march' for equality, gender justice
aljazeera.com/amp/news/2019/03/pakistani-women-hold-aurat-march-equality-gender-
justice-
190308115740534.html
NEWS / Pakistan
Karachi, Pakistan – Thousands of women from a cross-section of society are rallying in cities
across Pakistan as part of the "aurat march" (women's march) to mark the International
Women's Day.
"I am here to march for the person I used to be, the person who was victimised by patriarchy,"
said Ghousia Ahmed who attended the Karachi march, along with nearly 1,000 women.
"I'm here for all the women who didn't survive. I hope this is something we can keep doing, if
there was a time we needed to march, it's right now."
The "aurat march" was first launched in the southern port city of Karachi last year when a group
of women decided to expand the feminist movement beyond the upper-class of the society.
The decision led to a growing number of working-class women joining the initiative to help
facilitate political action on women's rights and gender justice. Lady Health Workers Association
(LHWA) with a membership of about 90,000 women from across the country was one of the
first to have endorsed the initiative.
"When we formed our association in 2008, we were intimidated by family members, male
colleagues, neighbours, and many others to not make a collective," said Bushra Arain, the head
of the LHWA, the largest collective of women in Pakistan's recent history.
"Last year when the aurat march organisers asked us to speak on the stage, we felt validated."
The march is organised by a women's collective called "Hum Auratein" (We the Women), who
conduct community outreach programmes for women.
"The impact of collective forums is that it creates awareness and makes them political and
unites them as one," said Moneeza Ahmed, one of the organisers for Karachi's "aurat march"
and member of Hum Auratein.
Younger generation
"Upper-class women can speak for fisherwomen but the intent is for every woman to speak for
herself and women can speak more if they are given support," she told Al Jazeera.
In 2018, nearly 5,000 women, children and men took part in the women's march in Karachi.
But this year, the march has expanded to other cities such as Lahore, Islamabad, Hyderabad,
Quetta, Peshawar and Faisalabad, as people from the younger generation joined the movement
for gender justice.
"This younger feminist movement is enabled by the older feminist movement of the 1980s, but
this has a different energy, a different face," Moneeza explained.
"The issues facing women today are about equality in public spaces, right to work, safety in the
workplace, and most importantly, infrastructure support, while the previous generation fought
for political rights," she said.
Nighat Dad, organiser of the Lahore "aurat march", said the older generation laid the
foundation stones for the new feminist movement.
"We are demanding economic justice, equal labour, acknowledgement of work in the home,
equality at work, sexual harassment and access to equal justice as men," said Dad, an activist
and lawyer who heads the Digital Rights Foundation. But she lamented lack of implementation
of law regarding the protection of women.
"Afzal Kohistani was just killed days ago for speaking up against honour killing, and Qandeel's
father is left penniless and an outcast of society for supporting his daughter's investigation,"
Dad said referring to the honour killing of Qandeel Baloch, a widely popular social media
influencer.
Social media conversations have generated a narrative regarding the rights of women and their
space in the patriarchal society, with artists using creative ways to bring awareness.
Shehzil Malik, an award-winning illustrator based in Lahore, created the artworks for the
march, and many other illustrators came together to make their own versions of the "self-
expression" of women.
"The posters are meant to show Pakistani women as strong, opinionated and loud," Shehzill
said.
"Aurat march is to unite women across Pakistan to demand their social and economic rights
and demand an end to gender violence and discrimination. It's about women taking charge of
their own destiny and paving the way for their daughters," she said.
"I want viewers to see the women on the poster to be unlike the representation of women we
usually see - pretty, docile, subservient, sweet. These women mean business and that should be
celebrated. I wanted the artwork to reflect this resolve, reflect this bold stand."
Wajeeha Abbassi, an illustrator from Karachi, began her own set of illustrations, which she
made open source downloadable for people to print and carry into the march.
Women across social media have come forward to share their stories under the hashtag
#WhyIMarch to support the aurat march on International Women's Day.
Regarding enforced disappearances across Pakistan over the years, women who have had
husbands, brothers, and fathers held without trial or locations are unknown: The organisers of
"aurat march" say that they wanted to make sure every woman was represented, from women
who work in domestic labour laws to student rappers, and celebrated musicians.
"We (my family) have been working on the roadside for over 70 years in this location. We sell
on commission and the city officials kick us and throw away our goods whenever they feel like
it," said Laxmi who attended the Karachi march. "We've been driven away from our livelihood
and all because some man decided we couldn't be there any more," she said.
Security for Aurat March
Editorial | Updated March 08, 2020
The brave and resolute women of this country are marching today to demand the justice,
equality and respect they deserve.
To mark International Women’s Day, participants of the Aurat March are demonstrating in
several cities, calling for an end to violence, abuse and discrimination against women.
In the past two years, this movement has attracted thousands of protesters and has remained
peaceful and well-organised. Armed with placards, posters and an unflinching determination,
women are taking to the streets in a public show of power, despite the hatred and vitriol
spewed on them by their detractors. It is clear that for some critics, the notion that women can
take ownership of their bodies and their lives is a triggering factor.
In previous years, the post-Aurat March days saw photo-shopped images of marchers carrying
provocative posters which were not written by them go viral — images that are still used to
discredit the movement.
The swelling backlash and abuse directed at women advocating Aurat March this year is
unprecedented.
On social and mainstream media, the atmosphere created by those who feel threatened and
insecure about women marching for their rights is a cause for concern.
Death and rape threats have been hurled at activists posting about the march online. In
Islamabad, a mural painted on a wall to show solidarity with the women’s movement was
brazenly blackened and defaced by vandals, reportedly in the presence of the capital’s police.
A Lal Masjid spokesperson said the vandalism had Maulana Abdul Aziz’s blessings, while Jamia
Hafsa students have vowed to launch a ‘counter protest’.
The JUI-F’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman, too, has gone as far as to threaten that the march would
be stopped at all cost.
In light of this highly charged and toxic environment, it is incumbent upon the federal and
provincial governments to ensure that the Aurat March participants are provided security and
that those threatening intimidation and violence are stopped. The authorities will be held
responsible if any violent confrontation occurs at peaceful demonstrations where citizens are
exercising their democratic rights.
On unpaid labour
Tooba Syed | March 08, 2020
The writer is a member of the Women Democratic Front and visiting faculty at Quaid-i-Azam
University.
ACCORDING to the World Bank, women make up only one quarter of the total workforce in
Pakistan. Among the primary reasons for this are deeply entrenched societal norms (such as
chardiwari) and gender segregation. In a classical patriarchal setting, women are confined to
the private sphere and their role is limited to providing the unpaid care work that enables men
to work outside the home.
Even if women work outside the home, most (for instance, those working in the fields) are not
accounted for in the documented economy. In urban centres, the concept of purdah is a major
factor preventing women’s participation in the formal economy, which is especially true for
migrant women on whom the burden of her entire community’s sense of ‘honour’ rests.
The system of patriarchy sustains itself by hiding the economic and social inequalities it creates.
In a deeply patriarchal society like Pakistan, women are seen as the cultural reproducers of the
nation, and any role for them outside the home is considered irrelevant and insignificant. It is
due to this that many women stop working as soon as they marry.In Pakistan, around 60 per
cent of women MBBS graduates do not go on to work as doctors because of the expectation
that they must now dedicate their time to caring for their family.
Women who, whether by necessity or choice, do step into the public realm and seek
employment are not considered worthy of the same social standing as those who observe
purdah. Nonetheless, for neither woman is her unpaid labour acknowledged.
According to some estimates, the total cost of women’s unpaid care work is almost a fourth of
the country’s GDP. It is this unpaid care work which forms the basis of the paid work done
mostly by men. According to the ILO, on average, men in Asia and the Pacific region spend only
28 minutes per day on unpaid labour, which is just 8pc of their total working time.
Patriarchy sustains itself by hiding the inequalities it creates.
Meanwhile, women and girls are made to assume the bulk of the responsibility for unpaid care
work — ie, child rearing and education; caring for elderly, sick or disabled family members;
cooking and cleaning; fetching water and fuel supplies — working on average anywhere
between 12 to 16 hours a day. This gender inequality in care work is directly responsible for
women’s low economic participation.
Women, who assume most if not all care responsibilities, are more likely to be engaged in
informal economy — ie, as piece-rate, home-based or domestic workers. Without the labour
protections afforded by formal employment, women’s informal labour results in lower and
more precarious incomes, as well as vulnerability to other forms of exploitation.
Women from marginalised backgrounds, particularly migrants, suffer the most within this
informal economy. According to UNDP, Pakistan has one of the highest rates of urbanisation in
South Asia, which means that people from across the country move towards the cities in search
of better livelihoods. Inequalities in land distribution and dispossession is one of the key
reasons for this migration — with women owning less than 3pc land in Pakistan — which then
reproduces the same spatial inequalities in urban centres.
These dispossessed women move to the cities to work as domestic labour, with no social
guarantees or benefits. Middle-class women who can afford to pay for care work shift this
burden onto them — exposing them to abuse, occupational hazards and horrible working
conditions — all the while perpetuating the gendered division of labour.
For women who do enter the formal workforce, this rarely results in a more equitable division
of labour at home. Moreover, working women are mostly limited to ‘respectable’ and
‘acceptable’ occupations that mimic care work; undervalued, underpaid and further reinforcing
women’s primary gender role as a caregiver, even in the public sphere.
The lack of recognition of women’s unpaid labour also enables the state to abdicate its
responsibility to provide essential public services. For example, if only a fraction of people with
severe disabilities receive effective care from the public sector, this means that women are
filling the gap left by the state not providing basic universal healthcare. The state thus performs
a double disservice. On the one hand, it fails to provide public services; and on the other, it fails
to remunerate women for the endless hours of labour they contribute towards the country’s
economic and social well-being.
There is no disputing that the care economy is maintained and run solely by women. And it is
time that this unpaid labour is recognised through effective legislation. However, this alone
cannot solve the issue of women’s low labour participation. For that, men must start assuming
their fair share of nurture and care responsibilities at home and in society.
The writer is a member of the Women Democratic Front and visiting faculty at Quaid-i-Azam
University.
Twitter: @Tooba_Sd

Irked by a slogan alone?
Abbas Nasir | Updated March 08, 2020
The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
THE most tense, bitter and intense of moments are made bearable by clowns in every society
who have an incredible sense of timing in providing comic relief when it is direly needed. But
the underlying issue remains.
Against the backdrop of a pretty odious and noxious anti-Aurat March campaign, which has
been filling me with rage, I saw PTI Senator Faisal Javed being interviewed on TV by one of our
ever-increasing crop of mostly uninformed, and yet highly opinionated, anchors.
The anchor asked if there was really a need for this women’s rights campaign when, “apart
from a few women in rural areas”, Pakistani women were now enjoying equal rights and
working in all fields, including the military, and even had a cricket team of their own.
The senator paused to think and reached deep into his intellect to respond: “There does not
seem to be any issue. Why do they march to ‘mera jism, meri marzi’? Have they ever bothered
to protest why people do not pay zakat when Allah so orders? They should do a ‘meri daulat,
meri zakat march’.”
Making a dent in the status quo is not easy. If you aspire to overthrow it, your task becomes
that much more onerous.
I could not believe my eyes and ears. Thanks to the availability of the TV content online, I
played and replayed the clip many times to shake off my state of disbelief. He was actually
saying what I thought he said. (I am hoping to join the senator if he himself leads a ‘meri daulat,
meri zakat’ march).
Some 24 hours later, he changed his mind and told another TV anchor, this time an informed
one, that women did have issues that warranted a march. However, their messaging needed to
have clarity and “even women I have talked to find the ‘mera jism, meri marzi’ slogan ‘behooda
[obscene]’”.
The PTI was not alone in finding fault with this slogan and PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan
is reported to have said on the floor of the upper house that the slogan was an invitation to
fahashi, or vulgarity, and, therefore, should be abandoned.
Then there were journalists too who said a sinister motive, a conspiracy, appeared to be behind
the slogan and the Aurat March organisers needed to clarify their position.
Addressing a conference in Karachi, retired Justice Nasira Iqbal did — if anybody was prepared
to shake off their biases and listen. She said 89 per cent of the Pakistani women were subjected
to domestic violence and abuse.
She also said that owing to aborted foetuses, malnutrition and disease-driven infant mortality,
some five million girls are missing from the country’s population according to UN statistics.
For its part, the World Economic Forum, which our leaders rush to attend each year with
seemingly no other purpose than to further their sense of self-importance and massage their
egos, places Pakistan in the gender disparity index at 151 out of the listed 153 nations.
Our ranking in the disparity of healthcare with regards to women puts us at 149 of 153. That is
our sad reality. This systematic exploitation and maltreatment of women does not touch our
conscience. What is too much for our sensibilities is a botched and perverted interpretation of a
slogan. So much so that the march organisers are being demonised for it no end.
This is not surprising at all. Rights campaigners have always faced untold challenges.
Making a dent in the status quo is not easy. If you aspire to overthrow it, your task becomes
that much more onerous.
In recent times, Nelson Mandela’s example stands out. As does the example of suffragette
champion Emmeline Pankhurst who has chronicled her struggle in My Own Story. I wish to
share a couple of quotes from her book which was finished just as Europe and the rest of the
world was poised for the death and destruction of the First World War.
Manchester-born Pankhurst served several jail sentences. My Own Story is truly inspirational.
Every line appears quotable, but I choose just a few quotes to give a taste of the book to those
who may not have read it:
“The militancy of men, through all the centuries, has drenched the world with blood, and these
deeds of horror and destruction have been rewarded with monuments, with great songs and
epics. The militancy of women has harmed no human life save the lives of those who fought the
battle of righteousness... Men make the moral code and they expect women to accept it. They
have decided that it is entirely right and proper for men to fight for their liberties and their
rights, but that it is not right and proper for women to fight for theirs.”
Elsewhere, she says: “We have to free half of the human race, the women, so that they can
help to free the other half.” It was after braving jail sentences, police batons and hunger strikes
during which she and other activists were force-fed that she finally triumphed in winning
women the right to vote in Britain.
Her journey was one filled with nightmarish obstacles. Our own women’s rights champions’
struggle is no less. They risk life, limb and liberty as they call for equality and an end to
patriarchy and bigotry that use tradition or, worse still, faith as a crutch to justify the
oppression of women.
So, are the bitter critics of the march, in particular men, who are ostensibly only objecting to
the slogan, saying that they have no issues with the women’s right to equality as such, really
committed to women’s emancipation? I have repeatedly asked myself this question.
If I or anybody else for that matter were to answer that question in the affirmative, we would
need to get our heads examined. As Pankhurst’s and Mandela’s lives show, the battle for
equality and dignity is hard and long and can often be lonely. But it is worth fighting
nonetheless.
The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
Violence against women
Sara Malkani | March 08, 2020
The writer is a lawyer.

VIOLENCE against women in Pakistan is both a crime and a socially accepted norm. While we
have laws that protect women from violence, the state has absolved itself of the responsibility
to enforce these laws. This means that women have an inherently paradoxical relationship with
the state: with one hand the state gives women rights in the form of constitutional guarantees,
international treaty commitments and some progressive legislation; with the other it takes
away these rights by refusing to implement these laws or take measures to create the
conditions under which these rights can be realised.
The guarantee of formal equality and the obstinate refusal to grant substantive equality mirrors
the behaviour of an abusive spouse who somehow convinces you that you need him even as he
abuses you. When he suspects that you are about to leave him, he promises to change — and
may even behave well for a few days, before going back to his old ways.
Similarly, in response to daily reports of brutality against women and abysmal gender equality
indicators, our state authorities will take certain measures periodically. There is widespread
rhetoric about the integral role of women in the development of a nation; laws seeking to
protect women are enacted; entire departments within the government are set up exclusively
devoted to the development of women. When it comes to effectively protecting women against
violence rooted in patriarchy, however, these same state authorities become either apathetic
or complicit.
This is not to say that formal equality is insignificant. It is crucial in a context where social and
cultural norms relegate women to subservient roles and render them highly vulnerable.
It is valuable particularly in view of the fact that there was a time in Pakistan’s history when
discrimination against women was official state policy. During Gen Ziaul Haq’s era, the state
pursued an active agenda to preserve the subservient status of women. This period saw the
enforcement of discriminatory policies and the imprisonment of women under Hudood laws.
Zia’s overt discrimination against women depended on conflating the suppression of women
with tenets of Islam, and the portrayal of demands of gender equality as anti-religious. This
insidious discourse continues to impede the movement for gender equality long after Zia is
gone, and even after some of the pernicious laws passed under his time have been substantially
chipped away. The association of equal citizenship of women with an ‘antiIslam’ agenda
continues to haunt the women’s movement. The fact that today the slogan ‘mera jism, meri
marzi’ is deemed an insult to the religious and cultural values of the country is, in part, a result
of Zia’s legacy.
Thanks in large part to the women’s movement galvanised during Zia’s era, as well as a
powerful global movement for women’s rights, subsequent governments have not pursued an
overtly misogynistic state policy. Instead, the last few decades have seen a slew of policies and
programmes aimed to prevent violence against women.
In 1995, Pakistan became a party to the Beijing Platform for Action, thereby committing to a
range of policy measures to end all forms of discrimination against women. Some years later,
the National Commission on the Status of Women was set up to monitor the state’s response to
the progress of women. To respond to violence against women, the government proposed the
establishment of women police stations. A number of initiatives to provide shelter and safe
accommodation for women were rolled out — crisis centres, safe houses and working women
hostels. Recent years have also seen the enactment of progressive laws to protect and punish
violence against women, including laws prohibiting domestic violence and sexual harassment in
the workplace.
The execution of these laws and policies, however, belies the complete lack of interest of the
state to respond to violence against women. Neither budget nor personnel are allocated to
enforce laws intended to protect women. There is impunity for law-enforcement authorities
refusing to prevent and punish crimes against women. Institutions designed to address gender
inequality, such as women development departments and women police stations, remain
woefully de-prioritised.
The persistent gap between laws on paper and their practical implementation can be attributed
to dysfunctional government. It should also be attributed to the resistance of the state to pose
any real challenge to patriarchy. Violence against women is one of the most powerful tools of
patriarchy and therefore effectively curbing violence will mean a big blow to one of the most
important power structures of our society.
This begs the question: do policies and programmes exist to allow the state to portray an image
of being ‘woman friendly’ while avoiding responsibility for taking truly effective measures? Are
these measures really just smoke and mirrors, intended to deflect attention away from the
unwillingness of the state to challenge patriarchy by taking effective measures to end violence
against women?
Those struggling for the rights of women, however, are put in a difficult position as they cannot
risk rejecting the superficial measures taken by the state or pretending that they do not exist.
Even knowing that the state has no intention to implement laws and policies aimed to protect
women, we must hold it to its promises no matter how insincere they may be. Effectively, the
burden is again on women to motivate the state to enforce its laws, allocate funds toward
protection mechanisms for women and ensure accountability for law enforcement and judicial
officers who are derelict in their duties towards preventing and punishing violence against
women.
Without a doubt, this is truly exhausting. Aurat March is an extremely powerful expression of
the outrage at the apathy of the government towards pervasive discrimination. It is just as true
now as it ever was that the state will not give women anything without a fight.
The writer is a lawyer.
Women’s work
Nikhat Sattar | March 10, 2020
IN her funny and groundbreaking book Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner? – A Story of Women
and Economics, Katrine Marçal explains how women’s work is grossly undervalued and often
ignored. An 18th-century Scottish philosopher, Adam Smith is considered the father of modern
economics and responsible for the spread of capitalism across the world. One of his most
famous quotes is, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that
we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest”. Marçal explains that Smith
had forgotten to add the most important factor responsible for bringing dinner to his table: his
mother, Margaret Douglas, widowed at 28, who never remarried and spent her life looking
after her son. Despite his total dependence upon her, Smith’s economic philosophy excludes
her altogether.
Over the centuries, a free-market economy with its dogma of self-interest has shaped our
world. It has brought about invasions, fought wars, created global powers and concentrated
wealth in the hands of a few. But almost all of this game-changing process is based on the
perceived economic prowess of men.
While a man’s work is valued and counted and the GDP of countries measured on this basis,
women’s work is invisible, although it is essential for the economy. It is taken for granted and
remains unmeasured. Women spend considerable time in care of children and relatives, as well
as looking after the home, even if they work outside. Men come home after work and relax. In
Asia, women spend four times the amount of unpaid work as men: an underestimated figure.
The value of the billions of hours spent on unpaid care work globally is about $10.8 trillion a
year, or between one-third and one-half of a country’s GDP.
Of 189 economies assessed in 2018 by the UN, 104 have laws that restrict women from working
in specific jobs, and in 18 economies, husbands can prevent their wives from working. While
women are employed in informal and unpaid work, their labour force participation is far less
than men. For the same type of job, they are paid less. More women are illiterate than men,
although women’s education and subsequent involvement in economic work can boost a
country’s GDP dramatically. Women are more socially vulnerable and bear the brunt of poverty
and lack of social services the most. Women’s participation in the labour force increases
economic productivity, as is evident from the economies of East Asia where the gender gap is
only 15 per cent. South Asia, which way behind in development, has a gender gap of 50pc.
Smith’s economic philosophy excludes women.
When analysing the economic opportunities and systems in the country, questions about
balancing a career and home responsibilities are raised inevitably for women. It is the woman
who must either give up her job or work part-time in order to look after her home.
It is also the woman who must cook, clean, wipe the noses of her children, wash them and help
them with their homework. Women are deemed fit only for some careers, and their ultimate
happiness lies in marriage and raising children. Poor people tend to have large families. One oft-
cited reason is that many children die and frequent pregnancies are an ‘investment’ for the
future (provided that most offspring are not girls). Even in this, the woman suffers the burden
of bearing and rearing children. Large families will result in poorer health of the family as a
whole — as well as of the mother in particular — and an increased probability of uneducated
families, poor productivity and loss of economic growth.
Many will argue that the order of the world is based on division of responsibilities for women
and men. Women are born to remain unseen and uncounted, sacrifice and tend to the men,
while men work outside, buy and sell and provide for the family. The fact is that differences of
work based on gender has led to increased inequalities and a deep rooted system of patriarchy
that consistently bars women from being able to make decisions that impact their lives,
including about their physical selves.
The results are for all to see: an increasingly divisive and unequal world in which a few people
(men) own as much wealth as the rest of the world. An economically and socially just and
sustainable world calls for a system that responds to human values, feelings and aspirations,
focusing equally on realising the potential within both women and men. Gender biases and
prejudices need to be removed from our minds and a reformed system needs to be put into
place that deals with all work, whether visible or invisible, done by woman or man, in a neutral
and equal manner.
As Marçal says, both halves of economics need to be addressed. Adam Smith had mentioned
only the half that enables the animal to be slaughtered and marketed. He had forgotten the
other half — his mother cleaning the meat, cooking it and putting it on the table.
"What when a woman dies?" by Pervez Hoodbhoy
THE powerful loudspeakers of my neighbourhood mosque have just announced a death. The
introductory words never change: “Hazraat, aik zaroori ailaan sunyeh” (respectable sirs, hear
now an important announcement). The ‘sirs’ doesn’t surprise because I’ve heard such
announcements all my life. It’s always men — and only men — who need to be informed of any
significant happening. Lest ‘haya’ (modesty or propriety) be violated, women cannot be
addressed directly.
The rest follows a well-established pattern. Had the deceased been a man, I certainly would
have learned his name. But this time it was a woman and haya required she remain unnamed;
indeed, the later part of the announcement identified her as somebody’s wife. If unmarried, it
wouldn’t be different except that she would be joined to either her father or a brother.
Mothers and sisters don’t count.
To see where women stand in the pecking order, I suggest the reader tour any graveyard. You
will walk past hundreds, perhaps thousands, of stories now silenced. In these sombre environs,
every tombstone marks the final resting place of some individual. Their inscriptions record the
passage of someone who shall never stir again.
Though six feet under, all males hold on to the name they used along their life’s journey. The
male’s identity has been literally etched into stone — a stone that’s expected to stay.
Sometimes the father’s name appears as well but, of course, never the mother’s.
To see where a woman stands in the social order just walk through a cemetery and read the
gravestones.
And the female? Some tombstones do carry her name but many do not. Whether the end of
the woman’s journey shall be marked or remain unmarked is not for her to decide. That too is
up to some man, or possibly men. Even if named, she is invariably identified as somebody’s wife
or as her father’s daughter.
Not all women lament their marginalisation or resent loss of control over their bodies. On the
contrary, many accept it either stoically or gladly. But some, such as the female militants of Lal
Masjid’s haya brigade, actually celebrate their inferior status in the society.
During last Sunday’s Aurat March, as we stood on opposite sides of the Islamabad Press Club, I
listened closely to their speeches. For them men and women have separate, non-overlapping
roles. They have willingly accepted a status lower than men’s in all crucial aspects of life —
freedom of movement, freedom of dress, freedom of association, and freedom to seek
employment.
This lack of freedom stares you in the face all across our society but even more in poorer
sections. The majority of Pakistan’s young women cannot choose their life partners and,
instead, are ‘given away’ by their parents. Divorce and child custody overwhelmingly favour the
man over the woman. Nor is marital rape recognised as an offence. Inheritance laws are sharply
skewed against women, as are employment opportunities. Nevertheless, for the haya brigade
and supporters, restricting a woman’s freedom is both natural and divinely ordained — and
hence to be welcomed.
People who value freedom find the haya brigade’s position unacceptable but actually it is quite
logical. Countless examples exist where individuals have voluntarily traded their freedom for
security. Notably, prisoners released from jails have sometimes pleaded to be taken back. Or, as
another example, after slavery was declared illegal in America, many black slaves petitioned
their white owners to keep them on the plantations. So, if jailors and slave owners can provide
more security than the wilderness, then why not? More to the point: whenever a woman
accepts patriarchy in exchange for lessened freedoms she buys security for herself and her
children.
The erudite Yuval Noah Harari asks in Sapiens why patriarchy has tenaciously weathered
political upheavals, social revolutions and economic transformations. Over thousands of years
why have there been so few alpha-women like Cleopatra, Indira Gandhi, or Golda Meir? Is the
reason lesser muscle power, lack of male aggressive genes, lesser social networking skills? After
much discussion Harari concludes: we don’t really know.
But, wait! We do know something very important — modernity is corroding patriarchy; laws of
the old world are sliding into irrelevancy. For example, the Book of Deuteronomy instructs
Christian soldiers that if they “find a beautiful woman” among captives taken in battle then if
“you desire to take her, you may”. Notwithstanding this sanction, even staunch Jews and
Christians today recoil in horror at the idea of sexual slavery. Instead, gender equality is now
the West’s new mantra; even CEOs and presidents dread accusations of gender discrimination.
Muslim countries are also rushing to catch up. Even if some decry gender equality as a Western
imposition, nevertheless fewer and fewer women remain shuttered in their homes. In spite of
deadly opposition from Taliban-like forces, education for girls is expanding in Afghanistan and
Pakistan. Although the Pakistan government has pledged to uphold religious values, it refuses
passports unless a burqa-clad woman agrees to a mugshot. Just as significantly, though
generally banned from visiting cemeteries, you can see more and more women grieving over
their loved ones.
The stalwarts of patriarchy are trying to stop a battle tank with a musket. It’s not working and
so they froth and fume. But technology’s relentless push is also willy-nilly changing them.
Remember those weighty scholars who 20 years ago gave fatwas against photographing human
faces or depicting humans pictorially? Today they scramble for TV time and gleefully pose for
selfies taken with their smartphones!
As the old order disintegrates and traditional arguments become manifestly unreasonable, the
misogynist stocks up his arsenal with abuse and vilification. Behold the crude assault upon the
brave Marvi Sirmed by one of machoism’s prime defenders, the playwright Khalilur Rahman
Qamar. And behold the chorus against ‘mera jism meri marzi’, a slogan maliciously
misrepresented as women demanding permission to sell their bodies for material and sensual
gain.
Whether in the graveyard or out in the living world, Pakistan’s women are denied dignity and
equality by those who claim to know God’s will. In the struggle for justice they have a long road
ahead — longer than in most countries. But time is on the woman’s side. It is for us men to
march alongside them.
"Muslim women’s struggle" by I.A Rehman
LAST Sunday, on International Women’s Day, women from various sections of society marched
for their rights and freedoms in all important cities of the country. The heavens did not fall but
there is great disorder on earth. The controversies started by the misogynist lobby have forced
Pakistani women, and Muslim women elsewhere in the world, into a new struggle.
But we must first take note of the fact that the city lords in Punjab chose to align themselves
with the denigrators of the Aurat March. In Islamabad, they did not take action against those
who were threatening to disrupt the women’s rally. These elements were trying to prevent
peaceful citizens from doing something that was wholly legal and legitimate and every person
granted the privilege of wearing a police uniform should have known that any such interference
in citizens’ rights is a criminal offence. As a result of the police failure to proceed against the
vigilante squad, the capital of the republic proved to be the only city where unarmed women
were subjected to brickbats and a barrage of stones, and quite a few of them were injured.
The custodians of power in Lahore strove to prove that their city, known at one time as a
leading centre of culture and liberal values, had become a stronghold of reaction. They
succeeded beyond anyone’s calculations. Using their power to grant an NOC, they interpreted
the Lahore High Court’s order in a one-sided manner to the disadvantage of Aurat March
organisers. The conditions suggested by the courts are always supposed to be reasonable but
the police viewed them as a licence to impose unwarranted restrictions on citizens’
fundamental right to assembly. Their decision to limit the procession route to a segment of
Egerton Road was grossly unfair but the hard-pressed march organisers had no option except to
surrender to such unreasonable diktat.
The Lahore city lords were even more niggardly while dealing with the Jamaat-i-Islami request
for an NOC. In principle, the JI had every right to celebrate patriarchy and women’s subjugation
by men. The participants were told to march from Gol Bagh to the district courts and from the
north-western tip of Gol Bagh to the south-eastern corner of the district courts; the distance is
perhaps less than 250 yards. That was a cruel joke.
Muslim women the world over and their allies among Muslim men continue to face a challenge
from extremists.
The attempt by women-baiters to use a single slogan from last year’s march — ‘mera jism, meri
marzi’ (my body, my control) — to damn any demand by women for their rights continues
unabated. The critics of this slogan insist on interpreting it whimsically and don’t wish to
understand what its authors mean, which is what is said in most of the articles of the
Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women, a treaty duly
ratified by Pakistan. (It is not impossible that this and other international conventions may
someday be struck down by our traditionalist edict factories.)
In any case, there can be hundreds of situations in which a woman may refuse to surrender her
body — such as a kidnapper’s attempt to rape his victim and a woman’s bid to resist marital
rape. Be that as it may, the slogan has been under discussion by the Aurat March leadership
and they are quite capable of answering their critics, without compromising on women’s
control over their body and reproductive functions.
However, the Aurat March participants have given clear indications that they are moving
beyond personal interests and raising the banner of the community’s rights and freedoms. Even
last Sunday, the slogans raised during the Aurat March included denunciation of bondage to the
IMF, threats to life, liberty and security of all citizens, enforced disappearances, soaring inflation
and lawlessness. They also called for an end to extra-legal killings, violence against the
vulnerable members of society, and war-mongering. All these are demands for giving relief to
the people, including male chauvinists.
Here was a moment to celebrate the maturity of the women’s movement and the fact that
rural, peasant women were marching and singing along with and sometimes ahead of ‘the
urban, Westernised women’. They had gone beyond the impugned slogan, which might survive
only in the sick minds of small men who are afraid of women’s success in securing what has
always been their due.
The theory that the misogynists’ hostility towards the women’s movement for freedom was not
due to their assertion of control over their bodies, and that the slogan under reference was
merely an excuse to repudiate the concept of gender equality, has been confirmed by police
violence against women processionists in Istanbul and Algiers. The women of Turkey and
Algeria were not raising slogans that have infuriated Pakistan’s anti-women lobby. The only
significant problem that Pakistani women share these days with their Turkish and Algerian
counterparts is the threat from extremist militants who want to impose a most inhumane
version of belief on all Muslim countries of the world.
The ground reality is that Muslim women the world over and their allies among Muslim men of
goodwill face a challenge from extremists, and at stake are all the rights and freedoms human
beings have won after thousands of years of struggle. Although present-day Muslim scholars
are less open to conversion than their predecessors 100 years ago were, who at least accepted
those belonging to different schools of fiqh as Muslims, they must be told that they cannot turn
the wheel of change backwards. And also that if they can block Muslim women’s progress here
and there they have no right to do so and their victories will be illusory and short-lived.
For Pakistani women the immediate priority is to put on the government whatever pressure
they can muster to persuade it to honour its commitment under the Sustainable Development
Goals to achieve gender equality by 2030. That will be the route to women’s self-realisation in
an environment of love, tolerance and peace.

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