Distress signals: All for a sheltered life

Most shelters for women are run by private organisations. It is time the government stepped up.

KARACHI:

Sidra never got the right to choose a life partner. Her father forced her into marrying a man who was twice her age, and turned out to be abusive and physically violent. Every evening, 20-year-old Sidra would tremble with fear that her husband would beat her.

Sidra is one of the many destitute women of this country who was rescued at the last minute by one of her relatives. The next phase of her life began at the Darul Aman in Karachi where she was not only provided shelter but also given psychological support as well as free legal aid to fight against her oppressors and overcome her hapless past.

Despite the positive ending of her story, there is one simple reality which questions the efficacy of government claims of promoting women rights. Karachi, home to nearly 18 million people, has only one so-called state-run women’s shelter, but is actually run by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Panah, since 2009. Women like Sidra from all over Sindh and sometimes from other provinces also flock here.

The state has provided a building to Panah, which provides shelter to some 31 females and 12 children as of now. “The building was provided by the state but there is no state interference in any matter taking place inside the building,” said the secretary of the Social Welfare Department, Noor Muhammad Laghari. Thus the government has no active role in the maintenance of this shelter for helpless women.

According to the Social Welfare Department, over 150 females and their children have been accommodated in four Darul Amans in the entire province. At the divisional level, Darul Amans have been set up in Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur and Karachi, being operated by Panah. A Darul Aman has been inaugurated in Nawabshah recently.

Forty-five women and 22 children are residing at Sukkur, 14 females and nine children at Larkana and 26 females along with six children are housed at Darul Aman Hyderabad.

Things in Punjab, according to government claims, seem less gloomy. “Punjab has the best system of darul amans in Pakistan,” said Punjab Minister for Social Welfare and Bait-ul-Maal, Syed Haroon Ahmed Sultan Bokhari. “We have state-run Darul Amans in all 35 districts of Punjab.” He said that buildings and facilities provided to the women and children in Punjab are better than any other province, adding that lawyers, doctors, psychiatrists also assist the victims.

Darul Amans are the places where the most oppressed people come to live but unfortunately we don’t have a computerized system to maintain record properly, said Bokhari, who has recently been given this portfolio. “My first priority is to computerize the system so that we can make policies according to the data.” Bokhari said that computerization of the system would help in reducing many problems, including the record of number of people who come in and leave it afterwards. “Even the judiciary is not aware how many people have been sent to Darul Amans in Punjab because there is no record of it.”

Majority of the women married against their families’ will, and some who were physically abused or even given death threats, have been staying in the shelter house. They are waiting for the outcome of the cases they are involved in, being heard at the sessions courts in the city, said the administrator of Panah, Iftekhar. “Most of the cases are related to Khula.”

According to him, the doors of the shelter home are open for women round the clock. He confirmed that the shelter home was being run by the trusties and the government neither supports nor interferes in any matter. “No funds, no interference of government.” Minister for Women Development and Social Welfare, Sindh, Rubina Qaimkhani said that the government was in favour of public-private partnership but not at the cost of losing all control over the institution. “Supervision and monitoring should be in the government’s control.”

Talking about the absence of a proper state-run Darul Aman in Karachi, the minister said that the proposal of two new Darul Amans in district east and south of Karachi has been forwarded to the chief minister and hopefully they will be approved in the next budget. “This city alone needs at least three more Darul Amans,” said Qaimkhani, adding that two more have been under construction in Mirpurkhas and Jacobabad districts. “The projects would be completed in 2014 and 2015.”

Replying to the question whether these centres would play a role in decreasing domestic violence, Qaimkhani said that the mindset of the community has to be changed through education to decrease violence. “Build as many centres as you want but the incidence of violence won’t decrease unless the community is made aware. Without educating society, all efforts will go in vain.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2013.