Clothes play no role, Mr PM

Contradictions in the Constitution, ambiguous laws, societal insensitivity and a desensitised approach towards women.

Pakistan is a Muslim theocratic country where most people live their lives under sharia laws. Although, under the influence of the international community and being signatory to international conventions and agreements, the Constitution recognises the worth of dignity and justice, and does not discriminate among its citizens based on sex, colour, creed and religion. Unfortunately, the reality is different when it comes to the implementation because there are contradictions in the Constitution, ambiguous laws and societal insensitivity and a gender desensitised approach towards women.

Moreover, people who are voted in by people to make better policies and laws are gender biased. No doubt, the clergy were never on the forefront in the protection of women’s rights, but one cannot expect the same prejudice from lawmakers and the head of government. Recently, Prime Minister Imran Khan, in an interview to the international media, without a second thought about his position, proclaimed happily that, “If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the man unless they are robots.”

The PM never probably heard of the term “rape culture” which defines a society where rape is considered normal and women’s rights and dignity are worth nothing and the idea is internalised by society and becomes a culture itself. Therefore, in his statement, the PM promoted rape culture and gave a clear-cut message to women that they are a threat to their own safety and honour. And in order to decrease the risk of rape, they should modify their behaviours or their dressing style. This misogynistic language, objectification of women’s bodies, and blaming women’s clothing for their rape victimization is a reflection of a patriarchal mindset that has been maintained and sustained for centuries. This thinking of the head of the government trivialises sexual assault by saying men are not robots. In other words, our PM means boys will be boys, and they can’t control their sexual temptations and urges. Instead, women have to cover their bodies from head to toe. This forced us to ponder: are we really living in the 21^st century or a prisoner of caves era?

The problem does not lie in women’s clothing for being too few or too short. In Pakistan, most women wear shalwar kameez, dupatta and even a veil. This is about an environment and the norms and values that support violence against women. In this regard, the results of a cross-section survey conducted by Kamal and Associates (2012) in Pakistan that studied attitudes and beliefs among 247 male and 257 female students of Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, regarding characteristics of female rape victims, male perpetrators and contexts in which rape occurs. The result was shocking and reflected mental bankruptcy of students pursuing higher education in Pakistan. According to the research findings, over 63% of males and 20% of females believed that women with a strong character and sense of fighting back did not fall victim to rape. Responding to the question that woman’s short cloths can tempt a man into rape, 158 of 247 males and 90 of 257 female students agreed to the idea.

Apart from women’s dressing, one may ask: what about innocent children? According to statistics by Sahil in August 2020, at least 1,489 children were sexually abused within six months. Did they sexually provoke their perpetrators? No, the problem is with patriarchal norms and values that are prevalent in Pakistani society. Usually, in reported cases we have seen the rapists are family members. In this situation, the role of power and control applies in the family system and males take advantage of it. In the case of children, they are raped as they are vulnerable and can’t protect themselves. The clothes play no role.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2021.

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