Unfortunately, it would not be wrong to say those who live in civilised societies compare life for Pakistani women to being in the Stone Age. When a woman elopes with a lover, or defies her parents and refuses to marry someone who has been chosen for her, she is in danger of being killed either by her own relatives or those of her potential husband. The male-dominated society thus blatantly defies her wishes.
Each day in my country, at least four women are either killed in the name of honour or are forced into committing suicide out of fear of being killed. Figures collected by human rights activists claim that around 3,540 women were killed and 2,860 have committed suicide in the last five years. I was told by the representatives of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan that seven women are being raped every day in this country. The commission’s figures further claimed that some 10,492 rape cases were reported during this period.
With these jaw-dropping figures, I have observed that thousands of rape cases go unreported in rural areas particularly of those in south Punjab. Being a part of the society where a majority of women have no say in who they will marry, I have met many families who adhere to old beliefs that women are essentially married to the scripture or, in a few rural areas of Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Loralai and Rajanpur, to inanimate pieces of nature, such as trees or rocks.
In 2011, our parliament passed a landmark bill to protect women but tales of spine-chilling honour killings continue to surface. Why is there no implementation on these laws? Why is the state so weak that hardliners defy these laws? Why are judges frequently threatened and the police bribed to allow killers to go free? These questions need to be answered.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2014.
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