It seems that no law can protect women. It is we, the individuals, who can protect them.
KARACHI: The Aurat Foundation reports that violence against women has risen by 28 per cent in Punjab. This is despite the many laws passed to protect women. This is but the tip of the iceberg as 80 per cent cases of violence against women are not reported. How can a law come into force when there are no complainants? It seems that no law can protect women. It is we, the individuals, who can protect them. Give every girl as much respect as is given to a boy. Train her to be independent so that she will know how to protect herself.
The problem lies in our culture. We are not happy when a girl is born. Boys often get preferential treatment at home. For a girl, the sense of a being a secondary human being is in-built in our traditional upbringing. Such outdated traditions have to be demolished. Just see how we treat a girl in this society. A newly-wed girl is initiated into the kitchen as soon as she is married. Then a child adds to her responsibilities and she is suddenly a mother. She continues to toil and to serve all family members. She suffers hardships but people ignore her because this is thought to be her ‘duty’. Nobody remembers what the Holy Prophet (PBUH) said, “The best of you are they who behave best to their wives.” In fatigue and distress, she longs for her youth and her home. In her marriage, she might be an equal partner with her husband, but she bears the greater burden in the partnership.
In childhood, a girl is made to believe she is inferior to all male members of the family. She is taught right from a tender age to attend to family chores, which include serving the boys and men of the house. This is her first lesson. From then onwards, all domestic chores are directed towards her. This routine becomes a habit and then it settles deep in her sub-conscious. At a very young age, she learns that her job is to serve others. Her education is not a priority. After all, she is there to make a home and rear children only.
Mohammed Hanif Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2014.
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