That a woman is raped every two hours in a country taking great pride in its family-oriented values has been hammered to the point of repetition in our collective conscience. But the heart-wrenching sight of padlocks on the graves of females is enough for the entire society to hang its head in shame and never dare to look at the so-called vessels of honour. This is being done as a desperate bid to ensure the sanctity of dead bodies in case some randy monsters cherry-pick them to satiate their lust. Considering the rampant rise in necrophilia, one can’t help but understand the urge to protect loved ones.
After all, what is the worth of a woman in a sexually frustrated society other than an easily accessible toy whose limbs can be twisted at the pettiest of whims?
Just a few days ago, a scorched body of an 18-year-old suspected to have been killed with an axe was found lying near Indus Highway. Elsewhere in Islamabad, Zahir Jaffer, the poster boy for sexual violence, is trying every trick in the playbook to escape his death sentence. However, neither the handful of cases that make it to television headlines nor Pakistan’s appalling ranking on gender indexes have managed to jolt the complacent state. It is still comfortably perched atop a few toothless legislations, carefully-worded placards and lipservice in press conferences. According to National Commission for Human Rights, more than 40 per cent of Pakistani women have experienced some form of violence at least once in their lifetime.
While this alone should call for a rejuvenated drive to establish gender parity and protective mechanisms, the situation becomes all the more convoluted when we realise every one out of two victims chooses to let the horrors slide. These women need their law, their representatives and their institutions to stand in their corner. May it be through enforcement of the historic bills already introduced or extensive discussion to employ the full force of law against anyone who dares take an untoward step in their direction (let alone lay a finger), there is a lot that those sitting in the government can focus on. *