A good omen for the women of Pakistan is that the Sindh and Punjab assemblies passed laws for the protection of women from domestic violence. A bad omen in this regard is that although the Sindh assembly passed the law in 2013, it has not yet been implemented. The commission that had to be formed under this act has not been established, and neither has the Sindh government appointed protection officers. In Punjab the notification of the law was held back once the religious leaders objected and declared that the law was against religious and cultural traditions.
True that human rights bodies are disturbed that the provincial governments have not implemented the laws passed by their own assemblies. But there is a positive side to these developments, and that is that the two assemblies did pass the laws with the support of a large majority of the members. What does this show? It clearly indicates that there is a change in the mentality of the majority of people that women rights are human rights. Why?
Today, we know times are changing at a fast-forward pace. In the post-Second World War period, technologically, mankind has made much more progress than it did in the 5,000 years before that. Particularly, the inventions of the Internet, optic fibre, satellites and aviation technology has made communications between far-flung continents, developed and developing countries easier and less expensive. Today, we live in the post-Google era where knowledge and information has been democratised. Globalisation, whether we like it or not, has made the world a global village.
The culture of societies is positioned in a place and in time, and all societies are organic. A society grows and evolves with the development of science and technology, modes of communications, which gradually changes the relations between production and social relations. Attempts to preserve mediaeval religious and cultural ethos in the changing world of the 21st century are resulting in tension between inevitably dying systems and evolution of new social and cultural values.
But, nevertheless, women’s political, economic, social, civil and legal rights are denied, and the freedoms are curtailed in the name of culture and tradition. Such is the strong hangover of the cultural and religious traditions that have existed for many centuries that most women suffer the denial of their rights quietly.
The patriarchal society has created a mindset where many women believe that they are supposed to follow traditions and cultural values even if that comes at the cost of their personal subjugation. In many cases, we have seen, in everyday life, women in a household become the custodian of cultural values that suppress rights of their daughters and daughters-in-laws.
To protect the status quo the reactionary often take refuge in the theory of cultural relativism. They are the people who, to deny women their universal human rights, often cry that western cultural values cannot be implemented in our society. Of course, there are differences among various cultures, but that does not mean that some universally accepted norms and values that are directly linked to basic human rights of individuals could be overlooked. The equality of women with men is an inviolable human right, which is generally accepted the world over. Cultural traditions that infringe the rights of the individual have to be changed.
Many cultural and religious traditions have quietly changed in our society. These changes are dictated by shifting economic, social and political structure of the country, and also by popularity and endorsement of strong universal cultural values. Technology revolution has created widespread awareness about women’s rights across the globe. That is one of the reasons why we hear outrage against murders that take place in the name of so-called ‘honour’ even in remote villages. Advancement of technology has made the workplace conducive for women as the need for the ‘brawn power’ is declining. Today, we see a very high percentage of women in universities around the world. This also shows the changing times and how social relations in most societies are transforming, giving more rights to women.
As the woman is getting economically emancipated the nature of her relations with man is also changing. Women are no more the unofficial ‘domestic staff’ of the household but are economically independent individuals with their own distinct identity. All this is happening despite resistance by some champions of patriarchal society. Take, for instance, the practices of slavery, polygamy, having sexual relations with female domestic staff members under your protection, and marrying an underage girl — which was allowed in religious traditions — are today looked down upon. Similarly, tribal and feudal cultural values of buying and selling brides, wife beating, and murder in the name of so-called honour are despised by most people. Those who want to retain these outdated cultural and religious traditions have been outvoted.
The good thing is that even in developing countries there is a growing consciousness against the exploitative practices that target women. It is only the antiquated religious lobby that believes that they can sustain and implement a value system that is primitive and regressive.
In spite of being conservative Muslims, the people of Pakistan do not approve of the practices of the ISIS, one of which is the issuing of a fatwa on how to distribute women captured in war waged by them, and who can have sex with whom. At the same time, most parts of society are not supporting underage marriages and wife beating despite the contention of the Council of Islamic Ideology that Islamic traditions allow these practices.
There is a growing awareness and demand to accept that women’s rights are human rights. That means they have equal rights as human beings and should not be discriminated against culturally and legally. Appropriate laws have been passed, which is a great step forward. Now the implementation of the law is required.
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