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Being a woman in Pakistan

: BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan votes to amend rape laws

This was in 2006:

Until now rape cases were dealt with in Sharia courts. Victims had to have four male witnesses to the crime - if not they faced prosecution for adultery.

Now civil courts will be able to try rape cases, assuming the upper house and the president ratify the move.

Right I forgot the name Sharia courts.....so until 2006 this practice continued.....I am speechless....arn't this kind of Sharia law these so called Jihadis planing to impose all over Pakistan......

But Again ...whats the need of religion to provide any law....Law is a state subject while religion is not.


Now its you who is mixing religion and country .....

By the way what was the point of Painting the whole post red.....
 
Adolescent girls’ plight

Today is International Women’s Day. This day is a global celebration of the political, social and economic achievements of women. This year we are also marking 15 years since the fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, in September 1995 when 189 states, including Pakistan, came together and agreed to advance the goals of equality, development and peace for all women everywhere and to ensure the full implementation of the human rights of women and girls. In her statement, Pakistan’s prime minister at the time, Benazir Bhutto, highlighted the plight of the girl child in Pakistan. Looking back on the 15 years since Beijing, it seems as if we are regressing as a nation when it comes to the status of Pakistani women and girls.

Adolescent girls in Pakistan are an especially vulnerable section of the population. They are at risk of being subjected to violence in the home, school or community and, not only are they unaware of their rights, they have no support structure to protest abuses. With very little knowledge of their rights and a culture that discourages them from raising their voices against abuse for fear of social retribution or disbelief and marginalisation by the authorities, many young girls suffer in silence till it is too late.


Cases that have come to our attention in the past few months alone include those of two young girls who have been raped by their fathers, two young girls in domestic service who have been allegedly killed by their employers, and a young girl who was in a way handed over by her co-workers to be gang-raped.

Both incest survivors (aged 15 and 18 years) are asking for justice and punishment for the perpetrators. However, incest victims in Pakistan almost never receive legal recourse due to cultural stigma and commonly held stereotypes of girls and family relations that often tend to exonerate the perpetrator and blame the victim. There is no specific provision on incest in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and police, prosecutors and judges often have dismissive and condemning attitudes towards the victims. Perpetrators who stand in relation to the victim also exert influence to prevent the victim from reporting or even dropping charges once filed. A common strategy is to blame the victim’s mother and impugn her character. An examination of incest cases reported over the past 10 years showed that such cases are almost never decided in favour of the victim.


The girls in domestic service include Shazia, aged 12, who died in Lahore after being, apparently, physically tortured and abused by her employer, and Yasmin, aged 15, who was, allegedly, torched to death by her employer in Okara. Despite the examples of these two horrific cases, very little has been done in Pakistan to legally, structurally and institutionally safeguard such young girls from abuse at the hands of their employers. Pakistan’s labour laws prohibit children from working in certain jobs based on their harmful effects on children. Domestic labour, where young girls can live in slavery-like conditions with little or no recourse to education, healthcare and reporting of abuses, should also be classified as such.

Also, last month a young Daewoo hostess from Sialkot was not protected by a Daewoo driver and an armed guard — charged with her protection — against armed men who gang-raped her. The police car dispatched to rescue the girl ‘met with an accident’ and never reached the scene. While the rapists were finally arrested, to our knowledge, Daewoo has not accepted responsibility for its failure to protect an employee against sexual assault on the job.

What is needed, in these and similar cases, is a commitment by the government to systematically examine the lacunae in the legal and administrative system to address such violations and the obstacles faced by girls in accessing the system. A concerted effort must also be made to empower girls through rights education.

While Pakistani women have fought tirelessly for their rights, recent events in parliament are cause for concern. Female MPA Samina Khawar Hayat called upon the Punjab government to amend the existing family laws so that a man no longer has to ask his wife’s permission in order to commit polygamy. Restrictions on polygamy that were fought for by women’s groups in the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961, are being dismissed in the name of “women’s security and honour”, which this MPA sees as safeguarded through polygamous unions. Ironically, it is these very unions that have been shown around the world to result in deep violations of the rights of women and their children. The security and honour of Pakistani women and girls, as well as the development of the country, would be well served by education, employment and real political participation opportunities for girls and women.

The one positive development over the last 15 years is the establishment of a vibrant and active civil society that does not shy away from taking on difficult issues such as incest and rape, which have immense stigma attached to them. Chief among these is War against Rape, which works with victims of incest, rape and sexual abuse, the Nasreen Foundation Trust, which provides free legal aid to victims of such abuses and Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), which works for the protection and promotion of child rights in Pakistan. The way forward is clearly encouragement and better resourcing of these and other similar groups so that they can serve their watchdog function and form meaningful partnerships with government institutions so that reforms are informed and enriched by their experience.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
 
Right I forgot the name Sharia courts.....so until 2006 this practice continued.....I am speechless....arn't this kind of Sharia law these so called Jihadis planing to impose all over Pakistan......

But Again ...whats the need of religion to provide any law....Law is a state subject while religion is not.


Now its you who is mixing religion and country .....

:disagree:

Firstly, when did I advocate mixing religious law with the judiciary and the executive? Can you quote any of my posts? :rolleyes:

Swallow the bitter pill that the law has been amended since 2006, cases are heard in civil courts, and the CJ can take su moto notices of such incidents.

Secondly, and what may i ask qualifies you or anyone else to determine what is best for a nation and it's people. :angel:

Moreover, indeed religion is a personal issue but we come back to the issue of preaching to the converted... And my point still stands, what qualifies one to preach to the other on what "S/he" feel is preferable?

Like i said in a pervious response to brother Jigs, society has a role to play in all this and they are doing so... War Against Rape, Google it. Rozan the NGO Google their work...

It's easy to paint a canvas to with one's personal pallet, however with such a narrow observation of a larger socio-religious-cultural subsystem, you miss the bigger picture?

It is very easy to take all the ill's in the world and blame Islam for them, where is societies role in all of this? There are many who would act as ardent defenders of what they perceive as "righteousness" but then Mr. A's understanding of "righteousness" and Mr. B's understand of what is "righteousness" will be very different.

People are different, countries are different. Stop trying to impose your own interpretation of civil society on the world.
 
Firstly, when did I advocate mixing religious law with the judiciary and the executive? Can you quote any of my posts? :
You replied to my post that was asking a poster who was defending religion...and you replied using country specific law...so what do I make of it....


Swallow the bitter pill that the law has been amended since 2006, cases are heard in civil courts, and the CJ can take su moto notices of such incidents.

Good for Pakistan....

Secondly, and what may i ask qualifies you or anyone else to determine what is best for a nation and it's people. :angel:
My being an educated and sensitive Human being gives me a right to comment on anything in the face of this earth.

Moreover, indeed religion is a personal issue but we come back to the issue of preaching to the converted... And my point still stands, what qualifies one to preach to the other on what "S/he" feel is preferable?
As I see it you are the one hard selling your believes here ...not me...

Like i said in a pervious response to brother Jigs, society has a role to play in all this and they are doing so... War Against Rape, Google it. Rozan the NGO Google their work...

Again ...good for Pakistan

It's easy to paint a canvas to with one's personal pallet, however with such a narrow observation of a larger socio-religious-cultural subsystem, you miss the bigger picture?

Yes there is always a bigger picture to everything....even if the picture is blackboard.

It is very easy to take all the ill's in the world and blame Islam for them, where is societies role in all of this? There are many who would act as ardent defenders of what they perceive as "righteousness" but then Mr. A's understanding of "righteousness" and Mr. B's understand of what is "righteousness" will be very different.


blaming Islam is an overstatement..i would rather question... followers of Islam.....and now please don't start that holier than thou debate.....In my opinion if the religion is honest,....I have a right to question the religion... ...here its about treatment of a Sex almost a half of Pakistanis population .....

People are different, countries are different. Stop trying to impose your own interpretation of civil society on the world.
Humanity is same all over the world....and civil society is about fair treatment to all ... nothing more....
 
:tdown::disagree:

You replied to my post that was asking a poster who was defending religion...and you replied using country specific law...so what do I make of it....

You asked of Sharia, i corrected you that Pakistan used English Law... :cheers:

Good for Pakistan....

Bitter to swallow is it not!


My being an educated and sensitive Human being gives me a right to comment on anything in the face of this earth.

Educated? So if i were an illetrate, would i not have the same rights? :no:


As I see it you are the one hard selling your believes here ...not me...

Again care to quote any of my posts where i have defended Sharia? :disagree:

Yes there is always a bigger picture to everything....even if the picture is blackboard.

So is this what you meant when you said "My being an educated and sensitive Human being gives me a right to comment on anything in the face of this earth" educated. sensitive :lol:


blaming Islam is an overstatement..i would rather question... followers of Islam.....and now please don't start that holier than thou debate.....In my opinion if the religion is honest,....I have a right to question the religion... ...here its about treatment of a Sex almost a half of Pakistanis population .....

So is that not what i said when i said, society has a role to play?! :cheesy:


Humanity is same all over the world....and civil society is about fair treatment to all ... nothing more....

And yet there is injustice the world over...
 
When millitary talks about fighting insurgents and their extensive list of hardware request, I sense a feeling that GOP had enough with these ***** tribal warlords and they seek to silence them once for all!
 
You asked of Sharia, i corrected you that Pakistan used English Law...
Who governs the society ...the so called shriya driven mindset or the law.....4 yrs are not enough to change the society.

Bitter to swallow is it not!
No it is not....


Educated? So if i were an illetrate, would i not have the same rights? :no:
You can ...if you understand whats in it for you. I was speaking about me.

Again care to quote any of my posts where i have defended Sharia? :disagree:
Did I say that you defended shariya anywhere ....


So is this what you meant when you said "My being an educated and sensitive Human being gives me a right to comment on anything in the face of this earth" educated. sensitive :lol:

Pointless....swipe...

So is that not what i said when i said, society has a role to play?! :cheesy:

Who makes a society...people like you and me.. more concerned about religion than anything else....




And yet there is injustice the world over...

Pity
 
Who governs the society ...the so called shriya driven mindset or the law.....4 yrs are not enough to change the society.


No it is not....



You can ...if you understand whats in it for you. I was speaking about me.


Did I say that you defended shariya anywhere ....




Pointless....swipe...



Who makes a society...people like you and me.. more concerned about religion than anything else....






Pity

:tup:

Much better! Well i must say i have enjoyed our little Tete-a-tete on the matter, but i resided to the fact the only way to make changes in society is at the grass-roots level.

There is far too much gas floating around in our nations, i do play my part to make Pakistan a better place for our children, for you see i too have a baby girl and i too want great things for her.

There are other Pakistanis like me, eventally we will out number those who dewll on the negatives, so lets part with a glimmer of hope shall we?
 
Much better! Well i must say i have enjoyed our little Tete-a-tete on the matter, but i resided to the fact the only way to make changes in society is at the grass-roots level.
Same here.....

There is far too much gas floating around in our nations, i do play my part to make Pakistan a better place for our children,
All the best for that....hope to see a better looking neighborhood soon.

Wish the same for our side as well...

for you see i too have a baby girl and i too want great things for her.
Just make sure that you give her good education so that she plays her part in making this society a better one.


There are other Pakistanis like me, eventally we will out number those who dewll on the negatives, so lets part with a glimmer of hope shall we?

Try looking across the border....people here are fighting a similar battle..
 
Just make sure that you give her good education so that she plays her part in making this society a better one.

Thank you, but that is already a guarantee since mom is an educationalist. I’m one of the few men who enjoy boasting their wife is more qualified then me.

Her a Doctorate Vs. me a lowly Masters... :lol:
 
Thank you, but that is already a guarantee since mom is an educationalist. I’m one of the few men who enjoy boasting their wife is more qualified then me.

Her a Doctorate Vs. me a lowly Masters... :lol:

Your job is over than.....your better half is anyways better than you...
 
the women in Pakistan is rising. She is in far better condition than what used to be in year 2000. Wait for me to become a President of Pakistan. I will make sure all women get equal rights and stand side by side with a man :pakistan:
 
I'm following this Thread, some user talking about Islam and "honour Killings". I don't think that "Honour Killings" have anything to do with Islam, in my Opinion it's relatet to Tribal Societys. For example in the kurdish populatet Area in southeatern Turkey Honour Killings and Violence against Women are widespreadet, the same occur by Immigrants from south - east who live in Cities like Istanbul. In the kurdish Populatet Areas tribal Society Structures are widespreaded, I think Pakistan face a similar Problem. I can not Imagine that Honour Killings are widespreadet in Sindh, but I could Imagine in tribal Areas mainly Populatet by Pathan this is a great Problem.
 
Its culture not religon get it out of your head ... islam teaches a man and women have equal rights ... these mullah or honor killings are not muslims they are kaffir and their punishment is death ... so stop blameing religon blame the people and culture

MOD EDIT: Unnecessary line removed
 
Discuss the topic, not who brought in what.

As far as I am concerned these cultural practices are thought of to be religious practices too by others. Religious laws have been used to victimize women, however this is not a debate about religion. Refrain from bringing in and discussing Islam
 

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