Where war and women are dominated by men

Rakshanda Naz gives women legal recourse in a place where rights are considered an ideological matter.

PESHAWAR:

It was still easier in the 90’s when she started working for women’s rights, even though the term was synonymous with ‘foreign agenda’. “I could just jump into my jeep and travel to Landikotal jail without any fear that someone would physically harass me,” recollects Rakshanda Naz. As a lawyer and rights activist from Peshawar, Naz was fighting for women who were incarcerated under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR).

Twenty-four years later, Naz is at a loss of words to explain the current landscape of women’s rights, “Previously, they (men) might have beaten their wives according to a code of self-styled justice but they never mutilated their bodies and threw them on roadsides.”

In recent times, violence against women has taken on a more ferocious face, crossing all limits of “sanity” in an age of growing extremism. She explains, criticising the family unit today is “a battle against an ideology.”



And who would know it better than Naz, a survivor; she has been targeted for her work as an activist. But she now takes the threats seriously.

A pioneer of women’s rights in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, her work begins with marginalised communities and ends with unsatisfying success which falls short of an ideal solution. Her narratives about women she managed to get justice only exemplifies the vacuousness of the patriarchal justice system

Naz’s arc is high and neatly slices through perceptions about what women can and cannot do.

Her initial learning and studies focused on understanding customs and practices in what was then the North West Frontier Province.

This led to her work with the International Human Rights for Afghan Women, talking about which still animates the woman who has seen more than most. De Kundo camp—where Afghan widows were kept—was her area of concentration, and remains a cherished experience.

“Some of the women I helped are now in important positions in Afghanistan,” she tells The Express Tribune with pride. “Their posts on my timeline on Facebook are a source of inspiration.”

Where women don’t shine

Naz worked with Aurat Foundation between 1993 and 2009, when a difference of opinion caused a parting of ways. “You expect an organisation working for women would put women at the centre,” she says.

But people should bear in mind “being employed by an NGO and working as a defender of women’s rights are poles apart” she cautions. “A 9 to 5 job that does not have the spirit of activism is just another job.”

Her recent adventure has been establishing the Legal Aid and Awareness Services, where 10 women with backgrounds in law will be trained to assist women in real legal battles.

According to Naz, the last decade was one mired in procedural amendments, not real legislation as far as woman’s rights are concerned.

“There’s hope but it’s difficult to find.”

You can read other stories from this series here.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2014.