Violence against women in Pakistan - so what?

Besides being a fundamental violation of human rights, violence against women represents one of the most critical public health challenges and is a major factor contributing to poverty

The magnitude of violence against women (VAW) has reached alarming proportions in the country. Social endorsement of VAW reflects in the heartless response many provincial assemblies and our national legislative bodies have adopted over execrable and horrendous cases of VAW. The reaction of many parliamentarians to the shocking incidents in Balochistan is a case in point: a few male legislators tried to justify burying women alive in the name of tradition in 2008and a majority of men and women legislators remained silent on the issue, with the notable exception of the Sindh provincial assembly, which passed a strongly-worded resolution against the incident. Particularly threatening is the widespread prevalence of physical violence. The statistics of reported cases of VAW epitomise the ugly face of a society deeply mired in the vicious cycle of violence based upon gender discrimination.

The issues of violence experienced by poor and socially disadvantaged women and girls remain unheard or unnoticed. Even if they are documented, they suffer from the elitist and patriarchal consensus of forgetfulness, marginalisation and selective prioritisation of issues in violence.

Without attempting to oversimplify an issue as complex as VAW in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which has, on record, 24,119 reported cases from the past three years, I would like to draw the attention of the readers towards some basic understanding.

What is violence against women? Lorie Heise, an internationally recognised authority on violence against women, defined it in 1994 as any act of verbal or physical force, coercion or life-threatening deprivation, directed at an individual, woman or girl that causes physical or psychological harm, humiliation or arbitrary deprivation of liberty and that perpetuates female subordination.

According to the UN declaration on the elimination of violence against women, the term ‘violence against women' includes any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivations of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life.

Hence VAW includes battery, sexual abuse of female children, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, violence related to exploitation, non-spousal violence, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women, forced prostitution and violence perpetrated or condoned by the state.

Besides being a fundamental violation of human rights, VAW represents one of the most critical public health challenges and is a major factor contributing to poverty. Consequently, to achieve most of the UN Millennium Development Goals, violence against women and girls must be reduced and prevented.

To any sensitive soul and empathetic mind, it is perfectly legitimate and logical to believe that VAW in Pakistan is a burning issue and its elimination must be the focus of attention for legislators and donors. VAW occupies a central position in noisy activism within the local NGO sector and adds the flavour that influences the ratings of certain talk shows on private (also known as independent) TV channels. Apparently sensible and high-powered decision making bodies consider it an even greater misplaced priority in a disastrous situation.

One of the conclusions of my study on gender based violence, which has recently been published by USAID under its gender equality programme, is that a vibrant NGO sector exists in Pakistan and a lot of emphasis appears on women and gender issues that are treated almost synonymously. However, as far as the funding initiatives specific to VAW are concerned, the information and interventions are fragmented, scanty and marked by lack of coordination.

Overall capacity to implement, operationalise and raise awareness levels regarding VAW is still very low and a strong need for policy advocacy is urgent. Coordination of responses to VAW in various directions, at all levels, is weak, and the women's movement driven by civil society organisations (CSOs), mainly NGOs, is imperceptible if at all coordinated, and its members are at times in competition with each other for scarce donor resources.

The critical question is: is VAW a genuinely priced priority in the agenda of the development sector and free and fair judiciary in this Islamic republic, or is it merely a catchy and catty slogan to gain media attention and fulfil the technical obligations of donor and development agencies?

Such write ups are made impressive, moving and convincing by inserting academic theories, shocking numbers and/or heart wrenching stories. I intend to do none of these. Experience has taught me that the power of compassion has its limitations, and in this corporatised world, all that matters is the economy.

There are at least over 50 donors present in the country, including multilaterals, bilaterals, UN agencies and independent international CSOs that have been shaping the face of aid in Pakistan over the last few decades. According to a donor mapping study undertaken by DFID Pakistan in 2007, the largest share of the budget among international donors belongs to the two main multilaterals, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank.

The bilaterals manage the remaining share of funding space in the country at 25 percent of the total financial aid, while the UN agencies comprise two percent of the total aid share. Some high-quality research done locally has clearly pointed out that the principal stumbling block to achieving women's fundamental rights to life, liberty and security remains discriminatory laws and harmful traditions/customs sanctioned in the name of Islam.

So what is the cost of VAW and can this cost be calculated in isolation from certain critical determinants of the well being of a society and maturity of a state? I certainly do not have definite answers but I am sharing two quotes from two male scholars and academicians from two different cultures and time zones who, to the best of my knowledge, were never a part of any NGO for women's rights and liberation.

“They (women) are therefore placed at the service of their husbands and (relegated) to the position of procreation, for rearing and (breast) feeding. But this undoes their (other) activities. Because women in these states are not being fitted for any of the human virtues, it often happens that they resemble plants. That they are a burden upon the men in these states is one of the reasons for the poverty of these states” — IbnRushd, 1126 to 1198, better known in the Latin West as Averroes.

“Almost all Muslim societies have elite regimes that perpetuate their rule and their privileges through lies and hypocrisy. We harp upon the glory of Musawat-i-Mohammedi [PBUH], but our societies are ridden by a range of cultural, social, economic and political inequalities. We ritually observe Imam Husain's example of holding on to principles even at the cost of his life, but routinely sacrifice principles for the sake of petty material gain. Our leaders orate about the rule of law, human rights and democracy, but these are merely subjects of drawing room discussions and political speeches by politicians and generals. Pledges are made about poverty eradication, but all anti-poverty programmes only enrich the already rich” — Dr Kaiser Bengali, well known Pakistani economist in a local English daily, November 28, 2001.

The writer is a violence victim turned survivor, researcher and non-elite gender practitioner