Bartering in bodies

A family on run in order to protect their little girls is reflective of how little progress we have made as a nation

An inefficient judicial system and lack of access to courts come with a high human cost. One of the many costs is the prevalence of a parallel justice system in the form of jirgas, where women and girls are often used as commodities to settle disputes between families, with seemingly little fear of consequences although there are laws which are meant to prevent such atrocities. Recently a jirga held in Ghotki district ordered a man to barter his two minor daughters and pay a fine of Rs500,000 to settle a four-year-old dispute between two families. One child was five-year-old and the other only three. The mere idea of little girls being taken away from their families and living in bondage that could include being used for forced sexual interaction is bone-chilling. Yet, this happens ever so frequently.

In this case, the family refused to give away their girls after which their house was occupied by the area’s landlord and the family forced to leave the village. A family on the run in order to protect their little girls is reflective of how little progress we have made as a nation. Women and girls were used as tools decades ago and this continues to be the case. This particular incident happened only days after another jirga in Ghotki ordered a man to give his teenage sister in marriage to resolve a free-will marriage dispute. There is no justice in these systems where not only is marrying out of will considered a crime, but a teenage girl is forced to compensate for her brother’s decision to marry out of choice. The sad truth is that many of these acts happen with cognisance of those who are meant to represent the rights of the people. Many parliamentarians exercise power not only as members of the legislature, but also as landowners and heads of tribes and villages. Yet, these informal justice systems that exploit the most vulnerable in society continue to exist and violate basic human rights. Even if one person is exploited in order to resolve a dispute, it is one too many.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th,  2015.

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