WAF wants stronger law

Jillani stresses the need for clarity on the remedies proposed under the law

LAHORE: Members of the Women Action Forum held a press conference on Tuesday to highlight their reservations on recently passed Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence Act.

Lawyer Hina Jillani commended women rights organisations in the country and said that the International Working Women’s Day was an occasion to honour the struggles of these organisations.

On the law for protection of women against domestic violence, she said the WAF had no complaints about the Act but it wanted to propose changes to further strengthen it. She stressed the need to clarify some clauses in the Act. She said there should be clarity about the remedies proposed in the law. “It should be clear what the law can and cannot do for women,” she said.

She said similar laws in Sindh and Balochistan were more comprehensive than the law in the Punjab. She said more effective implementation of the law was possible in Sindh and Balochistan than in the Punjab.

She said the WAF was also concerned the law would not be coming into force immediately. She said the law stated that it would come into force whenever the government specified. “This is problematic. If a woman approaches me seeking relief under the law what do I say to her?” she said.

Jillani said the law was in violation of the Article 25 of the Constitution under which equal protection was guaranteed to all citizens. She said the protection mechamism proposed under the law was commendable but feared that the affected women might remain unaware about it. She said the system could cause confusion for courts and police. She said women could only seek relief under the law once an incident of violence had taken place.

She said family courts had been authorised to implement the law but considering their powers were equivalent to those of a first class magistrate, family courts could not relied upon to deal with serious crimes. She also stressed the need for reconciling differences in laws on criminal procedure courts and family courts.

She objected to the inclusion of DCOs and police officials in protection committees proposed under the law. She said the district government and the police officials were not known to have a good track record in such matters. “We should keep our expectations in check,” she said.

On the definition of a male child in the law as someone below the age of 12, she said she hoped it was a mistake and would be corrected soon.

Addressing those opposing the law, Jillani said similar laws had already been enacted in other provinces. She said there was no need to make an issue about the passing of the law in the Punjab. She said that they had insulted Pakistani women. She said that it seemed opposition to women development was the only agenda for some politicians. She commended women lawmakers for their role in the enactment of the law.

Farida Shaheed, the Shirkat Gah executive director, said that instead of creating parallel institutions under the law the government should have focused on strengthening existing institutions like Darul Aman and crisis centres.

Nabiha Mehr Sheikh said cyber crime and cyber stalking were mentioned in the law but there were no definitions for the terms. She said she was unsure how the government would deal with such matters as there was no law in the country on cyber crime.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2016.