Recently, I came across the story of Sara (Saartjie) Baartman. Her life and death provide a stark reminder of the power and outreach of the patriarchy, even today.
Born in South Africa, Sara was sold into slavery before being trafficked to Europe in the early 19th century. Once there, she became part of a freak show popular with British and French high society, which leered over her body shape. Even her death in Paris in 1815 — at 26 years of age — proved insufficient to end the humiliation. For the Musée de l’Homme (Museum of Man), in the French capital, publicly displayed Sara’s body parts until 1974.
Thus the history of scientific racism targeting people of Black African ancestry has been a long and tortuous one fuelled led by western imperialism. Yet Sara’s story reminded me that, in the post-colonial world, patriarchy has picked up where Empire left off.
Pakistan, like much of the world, celebrates International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8. The state media shares stories of women and the positive contributions they have made to the country, for example, a woman fighter jet pilot is celebrated for promoting the soft face of Pakistan. Yet when it comes to women manual labourers, like those tilling the soil or working in brick kilns — their voices and struggles go unheard.
The history of scientific racism targeting people of Black African ancestry has been a long and tortuous one fuelled led by western imperialism. Yet Sara Baartman’s story reminded me that, in the post-colonial world, patriarchy has picked up where Empire left off
In 2017, the #MeToo movement shook both offline and online social structures, globally. This prompted women around the world to mobilise. Here, in Pakistan, the Aurat March was born a year later when women took to the streets of Karachi, crossing ethnic and class divisions. Successive years have seen this diverse outdoor collective draw participants from all major urban centers in the country.
Women, usually forced to live in a world of glass ceilings, gender stereotypes and toxic masculinity, often sidelined or worse, stonewalled, decided to march not only for themselves but also in solidarity with women across Pakistan and the rest of the world. The one-point agenda is to resist patriarchy until women are provided equal treatment and opportunity by the state. Indeed, women have set the pace for conversations around fundamental rights, including: an end to violence against women; labour and reproductive rights; environmental justice; anti- sexual violence legislation; wage equality; fair political representation and opportunity; education equality; transgender rights; an end to child marriage and honour killings.
The year 2020 was an exceptionally difficult one for women, due to the global Coronavirus pandemic. This prompted Aurat March Lahore 2021 to table a Manifesto on Female Heath, seeking an increase to the health budget. Street activism was organised under the banner of ‘Patriarchy’s Pandemic’. From stress, lack of access to health facilities, job insecurity, domestic violence, unpaid labour within the home, to earning a living — women in Pakistan have faced it all. In November 2020 alone, it was reported that 11 women were raped per day. Additionally, more than 22,000 rape cases were reported to police over the last six years. As if all this was not enough, the DRF Cyber Harassment Helpline Report 2020 showed a 70 percent increase in online harassment, highlighting how the patriarchy has rapidly spread to digital spaces. Unfortunately, no software or state institution appears equipped to counter this virus.
Nevertheless, the nascent Aurat March has managed to gain momentum, despite the fact that certain quarters are not only trying to push women back into the ‘char dewari’(the home) — but have also accused the organisers of blasphemy, a tool all too commonly used to endanger lives in Pakistan. Those behind such moves are emboldened by the state’s inefficiency in implementing its writ in these areas. While Prime Minister Imran Khan often talks about the importance of social media, he and his team appear to have missed these serious threats. Or maybe, as some have suggested, those at the helm are too busy inciting trends against the organisers.
The World Economic Forum’s ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2021,’ shows that Pakistan slipped two spots over the last year to rank 153 out of 156 countries. The findings run contrary to the positive image of the country that our Prime Minister is so keen to project. The government needs to address these issues instead of focusing all its attention on mudslinging matches with the opposition. Women, children and the transgender community need justice, protection and rights, which the constitution guarantees but where enforcement is sadly lacking.
Kamala Bhasin, an Indian women rights activist, poet and author, summed it up beautifully in a recent interview: “Patriarchy is the virus, Constitution is the vaccine.” Pakistan’s constitution stipulates that all citizens are equal yet it seems that some are more equal than others. With COVID-19 inoculation programmes rolling out across Pakistan, women are hoping that a vaccine to immunise them against the deadly effects of the patriarchy will soon be in the offing. It really cannot come fast enough.
The writer is a freelance journalist and contributes to local and international platforms. She tweets @UmaimaBlogger