The speakers at the Women’s Right to Inheritance briefing said that women were often either emotionally blackmailed or forcibly deprived of their inheritance share. They said women’s share of inheritance should be equal to men’s.
WWH secretary general Bushra Khaliq said that practices like honour killing, exchange marriages, withdrawal of dower, forced marriages and dowries were used to curb women’s right to property, land and inheritance. “All these practices are linked to economic factors. If women are given their share in inheritance, they will become independent and get over these problems,” she said.
When asked why the issue was being raised now while the country was hit by the worst floods in its history, Khaliq said women had been suffering for years. “The oppressive and derogatory customary practices against women must be ended for gender equality. It is the need of the hour to ensure the provision of sustainable and equal economic opportunities to women.”
Rabia Bajwa, human rights activist and lawyer, said that Pakistan’s inheritance laws had several loopholes. The government should launch a campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of giving women equal inheritance shares instead of dowries. “Being deprived of their due inheritance and property rights contributes to women’s misery in public and private life,” she said.
WWH chairwoman Azra Shad said discriminatory property laws must be revised to allow women to pursue sustainable economic growth. “Pro-women laws, just social structures and a violence-free society are a pre-requisite for the overall development of women and for a social change in the country at large. Government must take immediate steps to stop customary practices based on inequalities and provide social and economic justice to women through progressive laws,” she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 13th, 2010.
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