Day: December 12, 2011

Iftikhar A. Khan

ISLAMABAD: The Senate on Monday unanimously passed two landmark bills providing for deterrent punishment for anti-women practices and acid crimes.

Both the bills amend the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 and have already been passed by the National Assembly.

The prevention of acid crime bill provides for imprisonment of not less than 14 years and a minimum fine of Rs1 million for those who disable, disfigure or deface any person by throwing some corrosive substance.

According to the statement of objectives, throwing acid on women was becoming more common and recurring day by day. The main cause of it is the absence of proper legislation on the subject. It said criminal-minded people were constantly using it as a dangerous and devastating arm against women.

The moving spirit behind the bill, Neelofar Bakhtiar, while speaking after the passage of the bill, said the legislation was not women-specific and would be applicable irrespective of the gender of victims. However, she pointed out that 60 per cent of the victims were women, 20 per cent men and 20 per cent children. The prevention of anti-women practices bill prohibits several practices and customs in vogue in the country which are not only against human dignity but also violative of human rights and contrary to Islamic injunctions.

Under the amendments introduced in the law, those who give a female in marriage or otherwise compels her to enter into marriage as badal-i-suth, wanni or swara or any custom or practice under any name, in consideration of settling a civil dispute or a criminal liability, will have to face imprisonment which may extend to seven years but not less than three years and liable to a fine of Rs500,000. Same sentence has been prescribed for those who coerce or compel a woman to enter into marriage and those found guilty of arranging or facilitating marriage of a woman with the holy Quran.

Whosoever by deceitful or illegal means deprives any woman of inheriting a property at the time of opening of succession will be punished with imprisonment extendable to 10 years but not less than five years or with a fine of Rs1 million or both.

The passage of the bills was hailed by women rights activists as a great success. However, they called for setting up of an implementation commission to achieve the results. The women activists chanted slogans in favour of the landmark bills on the premises of the parliament house where they had gathered in a large number along with some victims of acid throwing. The rights activists were seen embracing Ms Bakhtiar and other women, and vowing to continue their struggle to get other pending pro-women legislation, including the domestic violence bill, get passed.

Source: THE NEWS

KARACHI: A workshop was organised to emphasise a code of conduct for the media with regard to violence against women, under the aegis of White Ribbon Campaign Pakistan here at a local hotel the other day.

Raana Malik of the University of Punjab Gender Studies Department conducted the workshop having several segments including multimedia presentations, roundtable discussions and group activities designed to train the journalists’ community for a sensitised code of conduct with regard to violence against women.

During the roundtable discussion, participants pointed out several lapses in the collective behaviour of the society toward women.

Participants discussed how the entire society particularly media exploited women for their vested interests.

Moot reached at a consensus that journalists’ community should educate the masses, instead of only delivering information. They stressed the need of positive portrayal of women, sensitisation and a firm code of conduct for the media.

On the occasion, Malik shared her analysis that the base of violence against women lied in the pure minds by basic institution of the society.

Source: DAILY TIMES

ISLAMABAD: Too many women are still serving short prison sentences, often for breaching community orders for crimes that do not themselves carry a prison sentence, according to media reports.

In the absence of a female probation officer, several juvenile offenders have had to stay in jail for far longer than they should have. This is a particular problem because most jails that house juvenile offenders do not have a separate section for females.

It is difficult for parents to maintain contact with their children while they are incarcerated. More than half of the incarcerated mothers do not receive any visits from their children while they are in prison. The single most significant reason for lack of contact is the children’s distance from their mothers’ prisons, many of which are located far from their homes. The government needs to do something to redress this issue.

Anam Hayat

Source: TRIBUNE

LAHORE: PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said women can play a significant role in changing the destiny of the nation.

Talking to a group of women party workers here on Sunday, she said Pakistan could not make desired progress because the talent of women could not be exploited in a proper way.

She said Pakistani women were not less able than women of other parts of the world but the need was to train them to contribute to nation building.

She said the Shahbaz Sharif government in Punjab was laying special emphasis on woman education and it had initiated a number of schemes for women.

Maryam said free education was being provided to poor female students in all educational institutions being run under the Mian Sharif Trust.

Source: BUSINESS RECORDER

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Lahore Women Wing organiser Dr Nosheen Hamid Miraj assured party workers on Sunday that the party would end all discriminatory laws against women after coming into power.

She was addressing a PTI women workers convention of PP-150 held at Awan Town.

PTI Lahore President Sadia Sohail, PTI Lahore Vice President Sobia Kamal and other women leaders also addressed the convention. A large number of party workers attended the convention which was aimed at bringing about change in the country through democratic means. They carried party flags and pictures of Imran Khan, the chairman of PTI.

Nosheen said that a wave of change had been started and that no one could stop it as a good number of people were joining PTI day by day, which was proof of its sincerity and the principled politics of its leaders, especially Imran Khan. She said that both the leading parties were looting country and that neither of them was being sincere with the country or its people.

Sobia Kamal said that her party was in favour of garnering more representation for women in parliament and that they would empower women after getting power in the country. She said that it was necessary to strengthen women if they wanted to strengthen the country, as this goal could not be achieved without uplifting the women in the country.

The PTI leader urged women to register their votes in the voter lists and also cast their votes in the next general elections if they really wanted change in the country. She said that her party would make every thief and looter of the country accountable after coming into power and would also establish law and order at every corner of the country.

Sadia Sohail, while addressing the gathering, said that both the major ruling parties of the country were busy introducing their heirs in politics to further their personal agendas and assets, adding that such a trend would not be acceptable for the nation anymore as the people of the country stood for change, especially in politics.

Source: DAILY TIMES