Pakistan’s lack of domestic abuse laws and implemantation is failing the victims
Every day I come across a news story which reports a man somewhere in Pakistan being violent towards his female family member because the food was cold/she was talking to a man/she brought ‘dishonour’ on the family/had the audacity to stand up for herself. Violence against woman is rampant in Pakistan. The disparity and lack of options to escape violence women in Pakistan face are obvious, and one of the worst propagators of this is the lack of laws to protect them.
In the United Nation’s ‘Global Gender Gap Index 2018’ report, Pakistan ranked 148 out of 149 countries, based on its poor record on women’s health, education, political empowerment, and economic status.
Domestic violence is described as physical, verbal, emotional, economic, religious, reproductive, or sexual abuse, by one person against another in a domestic setting. In Pakistan, domestic violence cuts through class and is experienced by women of all social classes. Lack of awareness and legislation makes it even harder to counter and many accept domestic violence as a norm in marriages.
Studies by international organisations and NGOs estimate the majority of women in Pakistan face some sort of violence. A study by the United Nations found that 50% of married women have experienced sexual violence and 90% have been psychologically abused.
Pakistan’s patriarchal society which upholds women as the ‘honour’ of men is one of the reasons for the rampant violence against women in domestic settings.
‘Honour pertains to a learnt, complex set of rules an individual follows in order to protect the family reputation and keep his/her position in the community… Males can lose honour and be shamed by failure to control women in their network’, states a paper that studied the impact of izzat on women.
Because of these beliefs propagated by society and religious clerics, violence against women has become a norm, and with the stigma attached to speaking against them and lack of laws, most women find it difficult to speak about it and suffer in silence.
The Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act was only passed in 2012. The Act prohibits violence in private spaces and mandates a quick resolution of cases within 90 days, but this act was not without controversy. The Bill was introduced and passed in the National Assembly in 2009 but could not get through the Senate after objection raised by some of the members. In 2012 the Senate passed the land-mark bill, paving the way for provincial domestic violence bill. The Sindh Assembly passed the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act on 8 March 2013. The Balochistan Assembly passed The Balochistan Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act on 1 February 2014. And the Punjab Assembly passed the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Bill 2016 on 24 February 2016.
Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) continues to argue against domestic violence laws, labelling them ‘un-Islamic’, which is the major reason why Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has not been able to pass a provincial domestic violence bill.
Because of the influence of religion-political parties in Pakistan, many women’s rights bills face difficulty in passing through parliament, including restrictions on child marriage and recognising marital rape.
Till 2006, rape laws in the country had an exemption for marriage where a husband could not be prosecuted for raping his wife. Before 2006 the law read: “A man is said to commit rape who has sexual intercourse with a woman, who is not his wife”.
However, later the removal of ”who is not his wife” recognised marital rape and brought it under the law. With the passage of the Women’s Protection Act in December 2006, marital rape could legally be tried as a crime and was brought within the ambit of the law.
However, due to lack of use of the word marital rape, specific laws holding men accountable for raping their wives, religious clerics stating marital rape does not exist and weak interpretation of the law and lack of education, marital rape is hardly ever reported in the country.
The recent high-profile case of actor and singer Mohsin Abbas Haider’s wife accusing him of being violent towards her during their marriage has brought to light the topic of domestic violence again, but it also sheds light on how difficult it is for women to go public. In most marriages, women are financially dependent on their husbands and even if they aren’t, divorce is still a huge taboo in society. Most women are advised to “deal with it” and due to lack of awareness about their rights, victims of domestic violence continue to stay in toxic relationships.
Mohsin’s wife, Fatema Sohail, received an outpour of support from actors and legislators including Sherry Rehman, after she went public. But not everyone has that privilege and unfortunately, Pakistan’s lack of education about laws and lack of access for women from lower social classes to resources and women’s rights organisations will see this menace continue.
Moreover, the space given to religion-political parties in Pakistan’s legislation will see a push-back on all bills that provide women some semblance of protection from violent family members. There also needs to be proper implementation, which is, unfortunately, one of Pakistan’s biggest failures when it comes to women protections laws. In 2016, Zohra Yusuf, chairwoman of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan rightly stated: “The change in law would only make a difference if there is effective enforcement and the legislature continues to engage with the issue and ensures oversight.”
The lack of domestic abuse laws in Pakistan used to be quite frankly, scary. While the country is making headway in legislation, unless proper education is imparted about and enforcement is practiced, the country will continue to fail the victims.
