The motorway incident has, yet again, exposed the facade of safe spaces for women in Pakistan.Women constitute about half of society, yet, they remain subjugated in many segments of life. The alarming increase in crimes against women has largely been normalized by the misogynist elements within society. The patriarchal norms at large either blame women themselves for the crimes perpetrated against them or term it as “western agenda” spread to sabotage our cultural values. The common woman keeps suffering while society keeps debating upon the legitimacy of basic rights being demanded by Aurat March.
Consequently, the feminists continue to face harassmentfrom keyboard warriors while the situation of governance is deteriorating steadily. The deeply troubling aspect of the current rape episode was not the crime itself but the way it was portrayed by careless statements of officials involved. Women are facing genuine issues which are being sidelined in the name of social norms. The stigma faced by women is real, be it in the field of education, employment, access to justice or healthcare facilities. The global ranking places Pakistan as sixth most dangerous country for women, however, it is largely brushed under the carpet and termed as a misconception. This depicts an overall callous attitude towards well-being of women in society.
Illiteracy is one of the most troubling aspects hampering women empowerment in Pakistan. According to 2017 census statistics, the female literacy rate stands at a meager 46.47%. As compared to that, male literacy rate is about 71.12%. This gross difference suggests that education of girls remains a tough nut to crack. Despite of several initiatives taken by successive governments and awareness campaigns launched by civil society, the local patriarchal structure maintains a toxic rigid approach on said matter. Although the situation is improving steadily, especially in urban areas and metropolitan cities, the problem is largely ignored in rural peripheries. The more troubling aspect of this disastrous situation is that the number of females opting for higher education drops down to a mere 8.32% across the country. Suchhorrible figures of UNESCO call for immediate attention of higher authorities.
The toxic and suffocating patriarchal norms form the basis of a society where women are considered inferior in every segment of life. Their narrative is largely ignored and their opinions remain overlooked
The rule of law remains a foundationof good governance in state institutions. However, in Pakistan, access to justice remains a problematic endeavor, especially for women. Although the constitution of Pakistan provides protection to women in both domestic and private sphere, yet lax implementation of law coupled with the tag of familyhonourgenerally dissuades them from perusingany legal case. The situation worsens with negligible presence of women in legal institutes. The first women police institution was inaugurated in 1994, yet, National Police Bureau’s report states that women constitute less than 2% of police force. This is one of the most significant factorswhich contribute towardsunderreporting of crimes, especiallycrimes related to sexual assault.
Political empowerment is another substantialmilestone of women empowerment which remains a dream owing to male dominant dynastic local politics. Although 17% quota is reserved for women in provincial and federal legislature, the mechanism for filling these seats remains flawed. The women representatives are selected, rather than being elected, by the leadership of political parties. Additionally, local cultural norms bar political participation of women as voters which leads to exclusion of women from decision making bodies, thereby causing absence of women centric policies at national level. The figures released by ECP depict a voter gender gap of whooping 12.54 million in 2018 polls which has increased from 10.97 million in 2013 elections. Although both media and ECP are playing a significant role in providing a conductive political environment to women, the rigid patriarchal traditions are bent upon keeping women away from administrative legislative groups. The continuousupward trajectory of voter gap in official statistics suggest that serious efforts are required by government institutes to tackle with this issue.
The incidents of violence against women including sexual harassment, domestic abuse and rape are also on a rise. SSDO has reported a sharp spike in rape cases during February and March 2020. The police record suggests that during first 60 days of 2020,about 73 incidents of rape happened in Lahore alone which included 5 incidents of gang rape as well. Government officials also confirmed 25% increase in cases of domestic violence perpetuated against women between months of March and May. Additionally, official statistics reveal that more than 100 women were killed for honour in Sindh in 2019 alone.
Overall, these statistics paint a gory image of miserable conditions being faced by Pakistani women on daily basis. The male chauvinism prevalent within societal structure coupled with the apathy of governance institutions has only added fuel to the fire.Men and women are both essential pillars of a community and the absence of anyone of them could damage the roots of society.The plight of Pakistani women is real and their issues need to resolve the issues of women on priority basis.
Although many laws have been enacted in past as well for resolving women issues, however, they have not been effective owing to patriarchal mentality. The toxic and suffocating patriarchal norms form the basis of a society where women are considered inferior in every segment of life. Their narrative is largely ignored and their opinions remain overlooked. Until and unless some steps are taken to reform the patriarchal societal norms, any law passed would remain ineffective. Here, governance institutes could play a contributory role by increasing awareness on misogynistic norms and their contribution in increasing sexism.It is high time we need to take these issues seriously and work collectively for gender balance and gender equality within our society.
The writer is a Project Assistant SDPI