A woman wronged

The gang-rape and humiliation of a woman in Lahore some days ago, allegedly by an assistant sub-inspector of police, is shameful and an unfortunate reminder of just how easily members of the police are able to get away with their misdeeds. The woman says that not only was she raped, her three-year-old son was assaulted as well, and a video tape was made of her ordeal to blackmail her into not pursuing a case against the police official. As if all this wasn’t enough, once she managed to earn her freedom, the woman was rejected by her husband as well as her own family — for an act that violated her sanctity and of which she herself was a victim. The latter, in particular, bears testimony to the fact that women are still not accepted as human beings by a large section of society.

Until Pakistan allows half its population basic human rights, it should forget about any other kind of progress. Women, who form the backbone of the agricultural economy and hold an increasing number of jobs, should be able to venture out of their homes without fear of being raped and then thrown out of their homes. Victims should be able to see their rapists arrested, prosecuted and given stiff punishment. Of course, this will not end such acts but at the very least it will send a much-needed message to would-be rapists that they will face the law if they act on their urges. Society needs to shed its attitude towards victims of rape – which is grounded mostly in a virulent strain of misogyny and patriarchy – and be more supportive of women who are wronged, in the manner that this woman has been. Most of all, people who read reports of horrors committed simply because women are still secondary citizens should not be able to shrug it off as just another example of where our society has gone wrong.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2010.