The rising number of physical and sexual crimes against the fairer sex in Pakistan is shocking, if not downright terrifying. As stagflation and crippling taxation erode the purchasing power of the consumer, the rampant increase in gender based violence is fuelling the misogynistic and patriarchal leanings of society. According to the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund), 28% of the women aged 15-49 in Pakistan have experienced physical violence and 6% sexual violence.
This statistic is by no means an accurate depiction of the rising violence against women in the Land of the Pure (where the people are not so pure!), considering that a large number of crimes go unreported for fear of the shame attached to them.
Women who are raped or sexually assaulted are discouraged from reporting the crime and are compelled to brush it under the carpet as family honour is irrevocably attached to the fairer sex. Those who do are subject to intrusive and invasive questioning which acts as a further deterrent and is meant to discourage women from coming forward to file a report.
Marital abuse/rape and domestic violence is also hardly ever reported until the situation becomes irreparable and unsalvageable and things come to a head. Even then, women are pressurised to stay quiet and even so-called empowered women like Jasmeen Manzoor, a prominent public figure or Ayesha Jehanzaib, to name another, have been at the receiving end of physical, verbal, emotional and financial abuse. There are numerous other examples which only highlight the deteriorating and worsening law and order situation in the country, especially for the fairer sex.
Honour killings and acid attacks also abound in this regressive and patriarchal society which Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy highlighted in her documentaries which went on to win numerous accolades at the national and international level.
However, in most cases of domestic abuse and sexual exploitation, the perpetrators are men known or related to the women in question. According to a statistic, conviction rates are abysmally low at below 2 percent for some of the reasons mentioned above.
The situation only appears to be worsening with every passing day as with the arrival of social media and smartphones, recording and reporting crimes is just a matter of pressing a few buttons.
Whether that is an advantage or not varies as a number of societal dynamics and factors come into the equation. But it definitely makes it easier to report the crime and hopefully, at least identify the culprit.
Social media definitely exercises a lot of power and influence as it is a platform that unites people and allows individuals from all walks of society to express an opinion. In a large number of cases, social media campaigns have been instrumental in bringing the accused to justice and if not, at least raising awareness about the issue in question.
Justice delayed is justice denied. How long does it take for the wheels of justice to be set in motion? A glaring example is the Zahir Jaffer case where the accused attempted to seek presidential pardon, citing his unstable mental health as an excuse.
An extremely well-known lawyer of Lahore agreed to defend him in the Supreme Court and a bench was appointed to assess his physical and mental health, which declared him physically and mentally fit.
This is a typical example of how in the Land of the Pure, the wealthy and affluent can literally get away with murder as everything including the lawyers and judges have a price tag attached to them.
Noor Mukadam hailed from an influential family and hers was an open and shut case where she was brutally raped, murdered and beheaded by an individual who belonged to an extremely wealthy family and was a family friend.
When this gruesome incident took place, the entire country was in an uproar and several social media campaigns were launched in an effort to bring the perpetrator to justice. When the High Court upheld the death sentence, a plea was filed in the Supreme Court, which has upheld the verdict of the High Court and awarded the death sentence to Zahir Jaffer. However, the entire process has taken four years in what was a straightforward case of rape and murder!
Ayaz Amir’s son’s case (Shahnawaz Amir) was another case in point where the journalist’s son hit his wife with a dumbbell, killing her instantly. He too was awarded the death sentence by the High Court. Both these cases prove that the law and order situation is this country is appalling and the richer and more influential you are, the easier it is to evade the clutches of the law. Women, whether they are educated and independent like Sara Inam (Shahnawaz’s wife) or Noor Mukadam or hail from the lower strata of society, are seen as soft targets and convenient scapegoats.
What is even worse is the victim shaming that takes place whether it is Noor Mukadam, Sara Inam or the woman who was gang raped on the motorway a couple of years ago. Instead of naming and shaming the culprits and ensuring that justice is served, more time and effort is devoted to the character assassination and defamation of the women in question. Why was she out at this ungodly hour? Wasn’t she just calling for trouble by doing so? Why was Noor living with the man in question? And so on and so forth…
In a nutshell, women in this society are viewed and treated as inferior beings (definitely children of a lesser God), irrespective of their standing in society. The cases cited above were open and shut but still, speculation was rife about whether the perpetrators would be brought to justice, taking into account the appalling law and order situation in the Land of the Pure and the financial standing of the culprits! With a female Chief Minister at the helm of affairs in Punjab, more concrete measures should be adopted to curb and quell gender based violence and perpetrators of acid attacks, honour killings, domestic violence or any form of sexual abuse should be dealt with in a befitting manner. Reprisal should be swift and deadly in order to deter and minimise gender based violence and make this a safer country for the fairer sex who make up more than fifty percent of the population.
The writer is an educationist and can be reached at gaiteeara@hotmail.com
Header and thumbnail illustration by Daily Magazine.