Promise vs practice

A girl was gang-raped by a group of four men, the crime brazenly filmed for the purpose of blackmailing her. The Supreme Court overturned a death sentence for a man convicted of raping a 10-year-old girl. A three-year-old girl was raped and murdered, her body delivered to her parents' doorstep in a flour sack. An 18-year-old domestic worker was repeatedly tortured and raped by her employer's son. All these stories are from Pakistan, from June alone. And this is why it's both logical and illogical that Pakistan hosted the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) 9th Ministerial Conference on Women, with the two-day gathering on July 12-13 discussing how to improve women's access to education and the economy.

Gendered violence may seem unrelated to women's role in their country's education sector, workplaces, politics and the economy - but that is far from the truth. When women are able to exercise their autonomy and selfhood, and men are indoctrinated with the basic idea that women, as well, are humans with goals and aspirations, society leaves far less room for such crimes to go unpunished and undeterred. It is thus logical for Pakistan to host such a conference: it needs to be outspoken, front-and-centre in the fight for gender equality.

But it may also look hypocritical. Pakistan currently ranks lowest among 148 countries in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report. Women earn 30 per cent less than men in wage employment, and female unemployment remains stubbornly high even with higher levels of education.

Pakistan has much ground to cover. The only way its efforts to fight for equality can seem sincere is if the conference produces some much-needed policies and suggestions that not only empower women but awaken men from their complacent slumber as well. What follows this conference will reveal whether we truly utilised our place as hosts or not.