“A man is like a piece of gold, a women is like a piece of silk. If you drop the gold in mud, you can clean it. But a piece of silk is ruined.”
– Elaine Storkey
Even after seven decades of freedom, the condition of our women remains among the most backward in the world. It is reported that 90% of Pakistani women suffer from domestic violence almost everyday. Yet, the government has repeatedly let the people down. Stories of prosecutions, harassment, rape, martial oppression, honor killings etc have become so commonplace that they hardly cause popular uproar anymore.
A few victims of oppression that do struggle through their ordeals (unpleasant experience) and gain international commendation are actually censured rather than celebrated back at home. A young girl is not a particularly wanted child, and her father decides all the important matters of her life like education, marriage etc. After her marriage, her matters are decided by her husband and in laws. Afterwards when she grows old, her matters are decided by her sons.
Murder in Purdah: Showed how casually women are killed in Pakistan.
License to kill: Showed how State of Institutions endorse such killings and allow the killers to escape without any punishments.
A tribal chief opened an Islamic School for boys where they learn to recite Qu’ran in Arabic; a language they don’t understand. In this society, children grow up knowing only those aspects of Islam which confirm their own feudal values. Many illiterate believe that Islam gives men the right to hit rebellious women, something that is forbidden in almost every religion.
Promises made by our government that all “honor killings” will be treated as murders has yet to be converted into reality. Poor and uneducated women must struggle for their basic rights, recognition and respect. They must live in a culture that defines them using male figures in their lives.
Slowly and gradually female empowerment is coming in Pakistan. NGO’s and charitable organizations have been set up, but unfortunately not all women manage to take advantage of these resources. Either they are too uneducated and illiterate to know their rights, fear their husbands to take a stand against them, or they are simply unaware that these resources exist.
“Killing in the name of preserving honor only brings dishonor to the family and largely, the country.”
– Kamna Arora, India.
The law on honor killings has been reformed several times throughout the years under international and domestic pressure, Pakistan enacted a law that made honor killings punishable by prison terms or by death penalty. However, women and human rights organizations were not convinced of the law’s impact, as it allowed killers to make a monetary payment as to compensate the victim’s relatives. This is even more problematic as most of the honor killings are committed by close relatives. However, in 2016 the law was reformed so the murderers of honor killings cannot avoid the punishments of the crime by seeking forgiveness from the family members and end up being legally pardoned.
