Day: February 11, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Feb 10: A total of 482 women candidates are in the field for the 188 reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies.

Of them, 150 are for the National Assembly and 332 for the provincial assemblies.

About 1,000 women had filed nomination papers, of which 528 were accepted. Later, 46 candidates withdrew their candidatures.

The rejection percentage of nomination papers for women candidates was high in the case of the National Assembly, around 43.3 per cent. The highest rejection percentage came from Sindh (48) followed by Punjab (44.5), the NWFP (41.7) and Balochistan (22.7).

In the case of provincial assemblies, 700 candidates had submitted their papers, of which 48.8 per cent (342) were rejected. Punjab had the highest percentage of rejected candidates at 58.6 per cent, followed by Sindh (38), the NWFP (36.10) and Balochistan (30.10).

The legislation granting 33 per cent representation to women in the assemblies had been welcomed by all political parties. But, a study conducted by an NGO, the Centre for Civic Education, shows that women have a very small share in the executive committees of the parties. The central leadership is entirely male dominated and very few women make it to the top of the political leadership.

Another survey shows that more women than men are unregistered on the draft electoral rolls. The highest percentage of unregistered women was observed in Sindh, followed by the NWFP, Balochistan and Punjab. The women may not have been registered due to lack of political awareness, social pressures regarding their political involvement, or for not possessing a valid National Identity Cards.
Source: Dawn
Date:2/11/2008

KARACHI (APP) – Caretaker Sindh Minister for Women Development Department, Nadira Panjwani has asked officials to be compassionate in their approach towards cases pertaining to surety and fine amount for convicted women prisoners.

Presiding the llth meeting of Female Prisoners & Committee in her office here Saturday the Women Development Minister hoped that by the end of current financial year all Women Prisoners at jails in Sindh would be turned eligible to the facilities planned to be offered by provincial Women Development Department.

Sindh Women Development Department under a revolving fund of Rs.20 Million is currently engaged in arranging surety or bail amount for the convicted female prisoners who are unable to pay the same and therefore exposed to delayed release.

The Minister expressed her satisfaction that the department since December 2007 has also extended this facility to juvenile prisoners and that this has been done with the consent of competent authority. It was through the efforts of Minister Nadira Panjwani that the surety amount was raised from Rs.50,000 to Rs.100,000.

Nadira Panjwani appreciated the good work being carried out by the committee members and expressed her confidence that applications of women prisoners already placed before the committee would be decided soon.

Earlier, the participants of meeting were informed that the sum of Rs. 839,470 have been paid by Women Development Department as fine amount for the release of 22 female prisoners confined in Karachi Jail, two in Larkana and one in Sukkur respectively.

No juvenile prisoner was noticed to have benefited as the provision has been notified only recently during the tenure of caretaker Chief Minister of Sindh (retd) justice Abdul Qadir Halipoto.

The members of the committee were informed that currently there were 182 prisoners confined in various jail of Sindh including 114 in Karachi, 40 in Hyderabad, seven in Larkana, 21 in Sukkur while there are as many as 93 juvenile prisoners in various Jails of Sindh.

The committee members further informed that there are 10 female foreign prisoners viz four from Cote-D-Ivorie, two from Zambia, and one each from Ukraine, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania respectively and require dues to be paid by June 30.

Juvenile prisoner Zahid s/o Rajab Solangi presently confined in district jail Dadu was also said to be released on payment of fine by June 2008.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Women Development Department, Subhan Memon, I.G. (Prisons) Yameen Khan, CPLC Chief Sharafuddin Memon, Additional Secretry Law and Home Department, Deputy Secretary Finance and by representatives of A.G Sindh, Social Welfare Department and of NG0s besides other officials.
Source: The Nation
Date:2/11/2008

At a time when five-year old Rohan Aslam and three-year-old Reva Aslam should be going to school, they are instead watching TV at the home of their grandparents, locked inside a room with a maid to watch over them. Like thousands of other children across Pakistan, Rohan and Reva are the real sufferers of a marriage gone wrong.

Their mother, Aneela Parveen, is a victim of domestic violence, for which, under the law, she has currently no recourse. A bill on domestic violence which could have guaranteed her protection but it continues to be delayed with the result that women suffer endlessly.

While the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890, says that “a divorced mother is entitled to custody of her children, until seven years for males and puberty for females”, 35-year-old Aneela Parveen cannot take custody because in the eyes of the law, she has no case.

After being viciously beaten up by her husband, she has made the rounds of different courts narrating her ordeal over and over again just to prove her case. The police refuse to lodge an FIR citing legal loopholes and have, to date, been unable to give her any protection or help.

Aneela is one of the several victims of domestic violence who are made to suffer every day as the police refuse to cooperate since there is no law to protect them. The amended Protection of Women (Criminals Laws Amendment) Act, 2006 only provides ‘relief’ and protection to women against misuse and abuse of laws relating to Zina and Qazf (Enforcement of Hudood Ordinance 1979), and the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939. However, the issue of domestic violence under this law remains unaddressed. Numerous cases are reported every day but the police officials refuse to intervene terming it as a ‘private affair’ of the complainant.

An effort to address the issue was, however, made by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Women Development on April 26, 2007 when a bill called ‘Domestic Violence Against Women and Children (Prevention and Protection) Bill, 2007’ was submitted to the cabinet for approval. However, despite the passage of seven months, there was no progress and the then government’s tenure ended in November 2007.

Today, Aneela Parveen stays with her parents in Gulistan-e-Jauhar away from her children. Her husband, Farhan Aslam, an AVP at a reputed private bank, is understood to have physically tortured her for refusing to give him consent to remarry. What added insult to injury was that he was intent on marrying Aneela’s best friend.

After several failed attempts to reconcile with her husband and save their marriage despite the beatings, Aneela has now decided to part with her husband and has recently filed a lawsuit to gain custody of her children.

Aneela, who comes from a well-educated Sindhi family, says she is particularly disappointed with the justice system that does not guarantee protection to the victims of domestic violence.

The police, in her case too, refused to intervene because it is supposedly a ‘domestic affair’. However, Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi, who is also an advocate for human rights, argues that “once the matter is reported to the police, it no longer ‘private’ and it is their duty to register an FIR against the concerned family member.

But the opposite has been the case with Aneela. According to her family, on the night of January 15, 2008 after being subjected to severe physical abuse by Farhan Aslam at their residence in Defence Phase 6, Aneela attempted to register an FIR against her husband. But the police refused and instead sent her to the Women’s Police Station located near the PIDC roundabout.

When the battered woman went to register her case there at around 2.00 a.m. along with her brother, the female police constable, who was the only one present at that time, also refused to register the case. She advised her to go back to Defence Police Station as “it was not their jurisdiction.”

When Aneela returned to the Defence Police Station, the SHO advised her to report the matter to the Medico-legal Officer (MLO) of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) first and only on the basis of that medical report would they register her case. “My sister was bleeding and her injuries and torn clothes did not require ‘medical’ proof, but she was made to run from one place to another for two days just to register her complaint,” lamented Aneela’s elder brother Dr Muhammad Ali.

Aneela’s tragedy, however, did not end at the MLO office where there was no female MLO to examine her. “They asked us to return later, but after my brother persisted that at least a report be prepared based on the external injuries, he agreed to do so,” adds Aneela. She appeared more shocked at the attitude of the police and ML officials than that of her abusive husband.

Dr Ali added that the police and ML officials refused to prepare a report in her case “as there was no reported fracture nor were Aneela’s wounds deep enough to expose the bone” and the law does not permit them to prepare a report in case of domestic violence unless the torture is severe. However, after much ado, a report was prepared.

But Dr Rohina Hasan, a female MLO at Civil Hospital denied the presence of any such law. “There is no such law and the officials have to prepare a report regardless of the reason of violence,” she says. The legal procedure, explains Dr Hasan, is to register a police report first. “However, there are times when the female victim does not have a male to accompany her to the police station and is hesitant to go alone. In such a case, we call the police officials of the concerned area to the MLO office so he can report her case at the hospital itself based on which we prepare a medico legal report,” she explains.

Aneela said that she later sought help of a few human rights organisations for legal aid but was turned down too following which her family decided to register a case with the lower court.

Her four-month-old son Rohain Aslam was also with the Farhan after the incident. However, Aneela took custody of the minor on January 22, 2008 and is hopeful of the same for her other two children. Aneela and thousands of women like her suffer in silence as the government delays the bill despite the fact that it has been signed and sealed by the parliament.

Source: The News
Date:2/11/2008

KARACHI – The five per cent quota of jobs allocated for women in the federal and provincial governments has remained unfulfilled for last many years due to lack of capacity, level of education, required skills and flaws in policies.

This had been disclosed in a report of Women Development Department of Sindh Government, prepared under the banner of “the role of women in the development of Sindh”.

The report highlighted the issues facing women in Sindh such as health, education, finance, social behaviors, environments, poverty, violence against women, victim of tribal conflicts and other related problems that had been discussed with recommendations to higher authorities.

More than 70 per cent of rural women work in agriculture including livestock while more than 75 per cent women in the urban areas work in the non­formal sector such as domestic servants and labourers, report said.

The report suggested that there was an urgent need to pay atten­tion not only to advocacy but to provide input for gender sensitisation of all national level polices, programmes and projects to work closely with all the other ministries and departments. It was necessary to en­sure the adequate employment opportunities identified and allocated for women.

Elaborating the economic op­portunities, report said the National Commission for Human Development had planed to create nearly 304,000 jobs from 2005 to 2011 for their programmes which include universal primary education for women. The Commission had proposed the need to work closely with SMEDA, SME Bank, Khushhali Bank, ZTBL, Small industries and organizations to ensure proper allocation of resources and micro credit for women owned operated SMEs in the rural and urban areas.

A comprehensive women employment strategy needs to be prepared and incorporated in Sindh Poverty Reduction Strategy Programme, report recommended and recalled that the last such effort was made by the National Manpower Commission in late 1980s. Many of the recommendations contain in the report of national manpower commission for employment of the women are still valid.

Bringing a change in social attitudes towards women, report says a large scale motivational campaign are required to be launched for educating the general public at large and in particular parents, teachers, children, employers, employees, men and women to take equal part in the process of economic development. The campaigns should aim at changing the traditional attitude of the society towards work of men and women in the social welfare organizations working at the grass root level can play a major role in this respect while tremendous growth in electronic media needs to be tapped for this campaign, report maintained.

Raising the education and skill level education is the basic tool for improvement of the status of women as well as fulfillment of their role as members of the society. It is an important tool for developing of occupational capacity so discrimination of all types of occupations is limited.

Elimination of discriminatory practices, training promotion and hiring and myths against women have to be eliminated, report stressed adding that the malpractices of employers against women workers should be stopped and help of electronic media should be solicited for this purpose.

Improving of working condi­tion regarding provision of maternity benefits, washrooms and toilets facilities, childcare facilities, protection against health hazards and working hours should be reduced.

Report said that a detailed study should be conducted to identify the problems faced by professionally qualified women. Since a lot of cost has been incurred by the economy on their training it is necessary that steps be taken to resolve their problems so that professionally qualified women reenter their professions without much difficulty.

Income generating projects for women in handicrafts and other home based activity (such as paper bag making, bottling of pickles and jams) that have profitable markets, have to be identified and implemented for women in the formal sector and women have to be trained to take part in them.

Feasibility studies to identify suitable and profitable projects for women must be conducted using experts. SMEDA may be asked to create separate sector for women entrepreneurs.

Support services must be provided to ease employment conditions of domestic servants. Training must be provided to the team of development workers in community development and cooperatives. Further motivational campaigns to encourage women to take part in community development and social welfare activities should be started and implemented on a regular basis over the next 10 to 15 year to help reduce bias against women, the report said.
Source: The Nation
Date:2/11/2008