Two months ago, Justice Qazi Faez Isa of the Supreme Court had quite courageously taken a stand that does not sit well with an overwhelming majority of his brotherhood. By bluntly calling into question which aspects of Islam–a religion practised by around 97 per cent of those living in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan–allowed the representation of women in an inferior manner, he had raised the hopes of many whose lives were in constant danger. Maybe now that Lady Justice had decided to stand in their corner, the wolves in sheep’s clothing they were surrounded by would think twice before raising fists, cricket bats, vials of corrosive acid and even handguns at them. To their great misfortune, however, you can’t move mountains by mere whispers. A 17-year-old lost her life in Bahawalnagar because her father could not stand the thought of a woman standing in defiance however egrocious his illicit chronicles may be. Tragically, women have been killed for much, much less–serving cold food, seemingly innocent demand for new clothes, refusal to iron clothes and the list goes on. A year after the gruesome beheading of the daughter of an eminent diplomat, another daughter of Eve was bludgeoned to death only because she wished to raise her children in a country she was a native of. Considering the international uproar and the embassy of a relatively humane country involved, the father-in-law would most likely see the consequences of his crime but how many such instances of “justice being served” can we actually take pride in? Violence against women is apparently in vogue because cases of physical and sexual violence keep mounting up. In a strange contrast, however, the smallest of media coverage is given to the skyrocketing frequency of gendered slaughter. With the exception of a few high-profile cases, these murders are of no utility to the rating system and therefore, not much space is wasted on even naming the victims. A groundbreaking conference here and a vigil set up there cannot magically rid a thriving country of an evil that refuses to give a final bow. Instead, the continued impunity sanctioned in the name of familial honour and getting the legal drama done with encourages innumerable others to go down the vile road. Our unacceptably high rates of domestic abuse (between 70 and 90 per cent) and the dismal three per cent conviction rate give much credence to the generally-accepted notion that while the world around us might achieve gender equality in around 136 years, closing the gender gap has been declared a forbidden fruit to the hapless women of this country. No matter how many placards are raised in the parliament, the law enforcement agencies have to lock the beasts, make them serve their due time and start rooting for the victims (for a change) for the change to kick in. Anything else and we better get prepared for another 75 years of death-dealing patriarchy. *