Pakistani Women Face Steep Climb Toward Achieving Equal Rights
In a chilling video out of Pakistan, three men pin a struggling, screaming 17-year-old girl down while a fourth beats her because a neighbor said she exited a house with a man who isn’t her husband.
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A Pakistani review says the recording was faked, an attempt to discredit the government’s controversial acceptance of Sharia — Islamic law — in some districts in February if the Taliban ended their military campaign in the Swat Valley. Since the agreement collapsed in April, the Taliban and Pakistani military have continued to fight; leaving most residents to flee the combat zone.
Nonetheless, the alleged flogging was justified if the girl was “wayward,” according to Muslim Khan, the Taliban spokesman in Swat. He has previously called female education a crime “against Islam.”
The video illustrates the dire situations faced by many women in Pakistan. ActionAid is working in communities to combat violence against women here, and the situation is improving, but discrimination remains rampant and rapists often go unpunished.
As part of a campaign to prevent female education in the Swat Valley, the Taliban destroyed more than 180 schools, forcing the government to close the remainder in January out of safety concerns. They later re-opened, but with very limited enrollment. After intensified fighting forced locals from their homes, children had virtually no opportunity to attend class until organizations like ActionAid provided students with teachers and school supplies.
“The Taliban didn’t want girls to get education,” said Bahk Jan, a 13-year-old girl from Swat. “I am glad the army is killing them. But I only hope our homes and schools are not bombed and we go back to our beautiful village.”
The blow to education further strains a country where only 36 percent of women can read and write, compared to 63 percent of males, according to a 2005 CIA estimate. Often, girls have no time to seek an education because they must look after their siblings while their mothers work. Without the opportunity to receive an education, women’s chances for self-advancement are stunted.
Outside the conflict-ridden northwest of Pakistan, barriers are often less explosive but just as powerful.
Many women face discrimination at work, where they are paid less than men. Yet for women in many rural areas, employment is impossible because of societal restrictions that keep some women out of the workplace — or, among some tribes, religious restrictions keep some women out of the sight of any male who’s older than 14 years old.
By law, female children inherit half as much as their brothers and wives are entitled to one-eighth of their husband’s estate. In reality, women often receive far less.
Saima Sain Khan, 20, an electrican trained by ActionAid, stands in her workshop in Dhaki Marvania.
Copyright © Warrick Page/ Panos Pictures/ ActionAid
The prime example of Pakistan’s progress is the Women’s Protection Act of 2006, which replaced a system that prosecuted rape only if four men testified to it. Under the Hudood Ordinance, if a woman said she had been raped but failed to produce four witnesses, she was sometimes punished for sex outside of marriage.
Even after the bill’s passage, however, rape convictions are rare. The crime is reported about 10 percent of the time because of societal stigma and fear of repercussion, according to an estimate by the U.S. State Department. Furthermore, police will often refuse to investigate or will even rape the woman bringing the accusation.
Domestic violence is not specifically outlawed, and 80 percent of wives in rural Punjab said they feared violence from their husbands. Even in developed, urban areas, nearly half of women report that their husbands beat them.
Yet, there is hope.
ActionAid, which helped repeal the Hudood Ordinance, works with women in Pakistan to explain their rights and fight for them.
We’re in Islamabad, fighting for fair wages and rights for working women.
We’re in the camps for people displaced by Swat Valley fighting, where we provided 32 teachers for eight schools and school kits for 1500 children. Besides offering food and medical supplies, we’re continuing to support the psychological needs of women and others by keeping them involved in the process.
We’re bringing women’s issues into mainstream Pakistani society, overcoming taboos so that equality can be reached.
In Punjab, the first-ever women’s organization, called “Treemat Sanjh” has formed with ActionAid’s backing. Groups such as this bring women together on one platform and unify their voices so they can bring about a positive change to their lives though educational and leadership trainings.
“First an educational center, and now an organization-Treemat Sanjh is a ray of hope for us women," said organization Secretary Fouzia Khanam. "As secretary of this organization, I will strive to bring the same hope and positivity into other women’s lives as I acquired from being part of Treemat Sanjh center.”
We’re getting closer to a day when women, rather than fearing beatings, will live in security and happiness.
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