It is ironic that the Federally Administered Tribal Areas’ (FATA’s) women — a population of 1.5 million — have no forum, commission, or tribunal to advocate and protect their rights. FATA women are treated as an invisible entity in Pakistan. In the state’s structure (jirga, Frontier Corps Regulation, national or provincial assembly, women commissions etc.), the female has no representation and no mechanism to address her issues and problems although she is often a victim. It is pertinent to give a voice to the non-combatant and the voiceless through devising tools such as forums and commissions. Despite the UN and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Conventions, the Pashtun women and children of FATA are the most vulnerable in the country due to the tribal areas’ administrative and cultural setup, thus leaving the weak at the mercy of the patriarchal ‘traditional’ system and other non-state actors. FATA women are not only ignored by the state but also by other humanitarian and advocacy groups (feminists’ networks, Amnesty International and human rights commissions) due to a fear of state and non-state actors.
In the last three decades, FATA has transformed due to various economic concerns and perpetual conflicts. Many men are serving and working overseas and are leaving women behind. In the recent conflicts, most of the women were widowed and are now heading their households (according to different official reports available, more than 40,000 families are now headed by females in different parts of FATA). These women are facing numerous problems due to an absence of proper forums to address or report their issues.
However, in the present situation, they cannot be ignored. The war inflicted population coupled with migration account for more than one million displaced of which approximately 60 percent are women and children. If there is no mechanism in place to address the concerned issues, it may develop into a serious human crisis. Besides being victims of war, FATA’s women are also affected by patriarchal structures that are robbing them of their basic rights to education, health and property. It is understandable that, due to political and military compulsions, FATA cannot be streamlined but to address the plight of women at war requires a body to highlight these serious issues and raise them at the national level.
Hence, there are several reasons and justifications for the formation of a FATA women’s commission. They are highlighted as follows: it is pertinent to form a body to raise a voice for tribal women who suffer perpetual conflict and a war like situation in their respective agencies. The FCR contains no tribunal or body that may be classified as a representative of the women of FATA regarding their issues and the problems caused by ongoing conflicts and migration. This is more important than any other luxury.
The jirga (tribal council) is a patriarchal space and has no place for women in it. In fact, Dastoor/Riwaj is all about men and their issues, legalising practices such as bride money, swara, badala and offering women no right of inheritance. Recently, we experienced that within the internally displaced persons (IDPs), the women were stopped from collecting food and other commodities by the jirga, making it difficult to survive for the families headed by only women.
Other Pakistani women are given representation in the form of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies. They have access to courts and counselling and other amenities whereas the tribal women who sacrifice their lives (many of them killed by the Taliban in military operations and drone attacks) are ignored by the government and the state. Since independence in 1947, there has never been any special treatment accorded to tribal women in the spheres of employment, government or politics. There are reserved seats but no quota for women. With the formation of a tribal women’s commission, the strength and weakness of FATA women can be assessed and advocated.
There is no tribunal/commission to record or take notice of cases of domestic violence (rape, honour killings, swara, forced abductions, trafficking) and violence by militants against the tribal women (including unreported rapes, killings, abductions, mutilations and forced marriages). There is absence of a body or forum to address any violence committed against a woman during war and similar operations.
All such problems faced by FATA’s women can be highlighted and advocated by a women’s commission and the government can consequently address them via the commission’s recommendations. It is important that FATA’s women be treated differently due to their vulnerabilities in terms of lack of access to education (hardly three percent literacy rate) and no representation in the National Assembly (there are reserved seats for Pakistani women in legislature).
The writer is a faculty member at the University of Peshawar