An unending tragedy

Never a day passes without reports of women being killed by their spouses or other members of their family

Never a day passes without reports, usually several, of women being killed by their spouses or other members of their family for reasons of so-called ‘honour.’ If they are not killed then they may find themselves raped in revenge for a crime or misdemeanor committed by a male relative, the ‘sentence’ of rape being delivered by a jirga or panchayat. It would be a mistake to believe that these acts of violence against women were committed exclusively in rural or poor and uneducated communities. They can happen in any strata of society rich and poor alike. They are of but fleeting interest to the various media platforms, rarely make the headlines and even if an individual case does rise in public awareness nothing changes after the ritual condemnations and hand-wringing.

Today there is ersatz ‘outrage’ at the rape of a teenage girl in revenge for a crime committed by her brother; along with a report that a woman was decapitated by her husband for refusing to give up her job as a labourer. Both are typical in their way and in the former case a woman is little more than collateral damage in a deeply flawed culture which is willing — indeed happy — to turn a blind eye despite jirgas being outlawed by the Supreme Court in 2006.

What is missing everywhere across the country, is a narrative that is powerful and driven by the state that counters the mindset — which is not only a part of the bedrock of male mental processes, women are a part of the wickedness and sometimes complicit — that allows ‘honour’ killings and prescriptive rape to flourish unchecked. Whether by design or crude neglect, the government is complicit as well, as in the last year local entities such as jirgas and panchayats have been empowered to resolve disputes in an effort to ‘free up’ a clogged legal system. Legislation by itself is worthless without effective enforcement, as well as a shift in the paradigm that nurtures the so-called ‘honour’ offences. There is no sign of that happening. The women of Pakistan are sentenced to an eternal victimhood, and the men of Pakistan are content to have it that way.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2017.

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