“Women Protection Act is an enormous step forward, symbolic of the changing mindset in Pakistan,” said former senator Javed Jabbar, at a panel discussion on “Women Protection Act” organised by Aga Khan University’s Working Group for Women, to mark the International Women’s Day.
Discussing the news of violence against women, he said that irrational acts take place in the most developed societies as well and legislation was no guarantee that deviance towards women will end, but expressed optimism that a process of change is taking place. He stressed on the importance of mass and compulsory education for women across the country.
Earlier, Justice (Rtd) Majida Rizvi gave a detailed historical overview of the Hudood Laws and highlighted important features of the “Women Protection Act 2006”. She informed that the new law has separated the section dealing with rape and returned it to the Penal Code, while adultery remains under Hudood Laws. She termed it the biggest relief offered by the Women Protection Act.
Justice Rizvi called it a promising development that undemocratic laws were amended by “a somewhat democratic process.” She said, “The best thing is the shattering of the myth that Hudood Laws were God made and could not be amended.”
Senior journalist, Ghazi Salahuddin, called it a matter of shame that such unjust laws were still in force until very recently. On an optimistic note, he said that this legislation has proven that we are still a moderate society and the influence of the extremists is over rated. However, drawing attention to the dark side of the picture, he asked “Dozens of women were released on bail when the Ordinance was amended. What became of them subsequently as a majority of them had been imprisoned on their families’ complaints?” He said that it was depressing that our society was still very unjust towards women.
Ms Afsheen Ahmed, President Pakistan Voluntary Health & Nutrition Association presented statistics to show that rape occurs every three hours in Pakistan and the number could be higher since most cases go unreported. Every third woman in Pakistan is subjected to domestic violence and in the year 2006, the number of women killed in Pakistan had increased from the previous year. She stressed that different sections of society should start talking about this issue.
On the occasion, the Working Group for Women website was launched. Working Group for Women (WGW) emerged in 1994 as a small group of committed men and women representing diverse professionals at AKU, working voluntarily for supporting and promoting women’s advancement. It has more than 600 members.
Ismailimail 