Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - Pakistani women, throughout history, have suffered discrimination on the basis of gender, experienced the high risk of rape, and faced brutal deaths. Incidents of this nature abound in the country. This is what father Mushtaq Anjum, MI, a Pakistani Camillian says to Fides. The archetypal case, continues father Mushtaq, is that of Mukhtar Mai, a symbol of many raped women. The woman broke her silence and became an icon of struggle for women's rights in Pakistan. In Pakistani culture, the idea of the supremacy of the male over the female is well embedded. Women and their 'honor' (izaat) are often referred to as man's personal property. Domestic violence, a widespread phenomenon, is not regarded as a crime but rather a 'private family affair', it is also not considered serious enough to be considered in the criminal justice system. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), 647 women were killed 'in the name of honor' in 2009, up to 13% more compared to the 574 in 2008. For more than a century in the Islamic world, continues the Camillian priest, the questions of what women should wear and how they should behave have been volatile issues for debate by men. Such questions are still being discussed today. Spousal murder, the burning of women, disfiguring with acid, beating and threatening is part and parcel of domestic violence. In Pakistan there is an average of more than 4 local cases of women being burnt weekly, 3 of 4 fatally. In Islamabad alone, 4 000 women are believed to have been set ablaze. Honor killings, kidnappings, custodial abuse and torture remain significantly alarming and the unbridled abusers mostly go unpunished. In addition, physical assaults against women are not prosecuted when perpetrated by male family members, as well as intrafamily murder. Father Mushtaq recalls another case, that of Hamida Bibi suspected of the 'crime' of falling in love, she was humiliated and made to dance naked as a 'prostitute' in the presence of her family members. She was buried alive by her own father. "Pakistan, Fr. Mushtaq concludes, is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for women, who often have no voice. Only very few women who have high education can stand and face other, but only to some extent. The country needs very stong measures which can cover all kinds of violence committed against women. The rule of law should be there for them in order to protect them". (AP) (Agenzia Fides 04/04/2012)
