Domestic violence bill

PPP has been active passing pro-women legislation at the centre but now it needs to mobilise its members in provinces.


Editorial December 12, 2012

The domestic violence bill for women’s rights has fallen prey to a combination of unenlightened conservatism, procedural wrangling and constitutional changes. The original version of the bill was passed by the National Assembly in 2009 but lapsed when the Senate expressed disagreement with many of its clauses and didn’t pass the bill in the requisite 90 days. Meanwhile, the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution came into effect and human rights became a provincial subject. Thus, when the Senate did finally approve the bill earlier this year, it only took effect in the Islamabad Capital Territory. Now, it is up to the provinces to pass this vital bill, although none seem to be in a particular hurry to do so.

Activists in Sindh have called on the provincial assembly to immediately pass the bill. Doing so should not be a problem since the Sindh Assembly is dominated by the PPP and the MQM; two parties who were most eager to introduce and pass the bill at the centre. Passing the bill may be trickier in other provinces since parties like the PML-N have expressed some objections over its contents while religious parties like the JUI-F have denounced it as the handiwork of the West and secularists. If there is any problem with the domestic violence bill, it is that it does not go far enough. Punishments for those found guilty of domestic violence range from a minimum of three months to a maximum of three years, which is relatively lenient compared to other countries.

Right now, domestic violence is routinely treated as a private matter when it should be treated as the crime that it is. The right-wing parties will never come around to accepting the need for this bill so the provincial assemblies should hurry to pass it in case they lose their numbers after the next elections. The PPP government has been quite active in passing pro-women legislation at the centre but now it needs to mobilise its members in the provinces to ensure that its good work is not undone.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2012.

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