Day: December 17, 2011

ISLAMABAD: Strong networking between women in rural areas can be the best option to overcome domestic violence.

“It is because a woman can understand the problem of other woman very well. Therefore, by sharing each other’s misery, they can support each other well,” said Uks Director Tasneem Ahmer at the launching of Uks Research Centre’s 2012 desk diary titled “Women of Pakistan: Saying NO to Domestic Violence”.

She added that radio too can play a significant role in creating awareness among rural people and can provide a platform for victims to speak their hearts out.

The diary looks at domestic violence through the eyes of the media, and especially the extent to which editors, columnists, reporters, photographers and cartoonists have acknowledged and taken up domestic violence as a major social disease.

Ahmar expressed her concern over the lack of space given to news on the prevention of domestic violence in the media and said, “Even though domestic violence is a very serious issue affecting society as a whole, the amount of news coverage on how to prevent it is abysmally low. News of domestic violence is only highlighted when an incident occurs and there are often no follow-ups, which kills the case.”

Quoting an example, she said that recent bills passed on women protection were not covered as well as they could have been. “No hype was generated, no debate moderated; they were only reported on,” she said.

Later, radio programmes produced by Uks on domestic violence were played. The programmes contained interviews with victims of domestic violence across the country.

They said that when a girl is married, she is told that her, life and death are in her in-laws’ hands.

She has to compromise in all situations. They shared the types of physical and psychological violence they were subjected to, and in some cases still face, from male family members.

One of the programmes was based on an interview with psychiatrist Dr Ambreen Ahmed. She said that both physical and psychological violence on women leaves a negative impact on their wellbeing.

She loses all her confidence and falls in to an inferiority complex, hopelessness, depression and anxiety.

About rape, she said that the act kills the victim psychologically and gives them the feeling that they have lost their identity, dignity and dreams. Survival in the society for them becomes tough because people treat them like pariahs instead of victims of crime. Unfortunately, a number of them lose the will to live and opt for suicide while others fall victim to mental illnesses.

Source: Tribune

PESHAWAR: A global feminist group has expressed deep concern over safety of family of Uzma Ayub, a rape victim, whose brother was also shot dead outside a courthouse in Karak District.

“In light of the murder and ongoing threats against Ms Ayub and her family. Equality now is deep concern for their safety,” a London-based Equality Now organization, striving for rights of women around the globe, said in an ‘Urgent Alert’ on Friday and calls on government officials to ensure the family’s ‘immediate protection; make certain that Uzma’s case is properly investigated and that all the perpetrators are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.’

The Equality Now said it was pursuing the case of 16-year-old Uzma from Southern Karak district, abducted by police and held hostage for nearly a year, during which time she was repeatedly gang-raped by men, whom allegedly included police officers and a civilian member of the Pakistan Army. On December 9, Uzma’s 25-year-old brother Alamzeb Marwat, who had been supporting her pursuit of justice, was hit by a car and shot dead outside of a Karak court house, while picking up legal documents with Uzma.

Source: Daily Times

By: Saher Baloch

Not even an 18-month-old infant is safe from the clutches of sexual predators who seem to be raping young children with impunity, as the indifferent attitude of law enforcement agencies gives such criminals a free hand to fulfil their perverted desires.

Sara Zaman, an official of the War Against Rape (WAR), says that the youngest rape victim she saw was an 18-month-old baby girl, who was assaulted a year ago. She adds that even if they are not killed by their rapists, children of such an age usually succumb to internal injuries suffered during the assault.

The most recent case of a child being raped and brutally murdered was that of six-year-old Alishba and it was not until the family protested vociferously outside the Edhi Mortuary after receiving her tortured body with an eye gouged out, did authorities bother taking them seriously.

The minor girl was abducted a few days ago “by a camel rider” from a playground opposite her house, according to the initial investigation and neighbours. The DSP investigating the case has assured Alishba’s devastated father that the perpetrators “would be arrested within three days.”

The father, Nazeer, was enraged over the fact that the postmortem was carried out without his permission, during which, he alleged, one of her eyes was taken out. The protest was against, what the family believed, a botched autopsy at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

As the police investigate, a number of questions have raised, but few have been answered. The question haunting the bereaved father is: what his daughter did to deserve such a fate?

“At home, it is complete chaos. I cannot think of what to tell my wife, who will ask questions the second I enter the front door,” Nazeer says, allowing his tears to roll off with the blink of an eye.

There is an alarming increase in child rape and sodomy cases, with three such incidents being reported in the last week alone. On all three occasions, the children were raped before being killed and their bodies were dumped in bushes.

According to data collected by WAR, from the period of January till June, this year, 41 cases of rape have been reported and the number of younger children being assaulted is on an alarming rise. The report reveals that 27 percent of the rape cases in the last six months involve children aged between six and eleven years.

In most instances, families lack the financial means to pursue the cases, but despite being a labourer, Nazeer is adamant to seek justice from the courts. Although FIR (2061/2011) has been registered with the Jauharabad police station, it will only count for something once the Challan is registered in court, Zaman points out.

But with 372 cases already pending in the courts, it seems unlikely that six-year-old Alishba’s case will come up for hearing anytime soon. Some cases are awaiting evidence, while others “lack an eyewitness willing to testify.”

The WAR official said that while some families seek justice from the courts, a number of the cases are dropped by families as they fear the stigma attached to rape. The media pays a lot of attention to rape cases, but at the time of the actual court hearing, it fails to support the devastated families or surviving victims. In those cases in which the victim survives, the evidence is usually tampered with and this trend continues every step of the way.

Another major issue is the lack of medico-legal officers (MLOs) as there are only five in a city that houses a population of around 18 million people, Zaman says. She adds that these officers are “always in a rush as their job is not just limited to handling rape cases.

She highlighted the case of another six-year-old who was bleeding profusely after being raped. However, the MLO dubbed the case as a robbery and stated in her report that “the girl is at a menstruating age.”

There is also a huge disparity between medical examinations of rape victims and the number of FIRs actually registered with the police and this year told a similar story. The 138 medico-legal examinations compared to just 41 FIRs registered in 2011 “proves how many cases actually occur in the city,” Zaman adds.

Although Alishba’s family decided to come out and protest against the barbaric rape and murder of their six-year-old daughter, Nazeer says that other members of the girl’s family urged them to keep the incident under wraps. While he does not have the support of his relatives, the father is determined to seek justice for his daughter’s murder. “I don’t care if I am the only person protesting for what is right,” he says defiantly.

Source: The News

By: Ammar Shahbazi

She could write the names of all the family members, and would come running whenever her father called her to quickly jot down a phone number, which he often asked her to do while talking on his cell phone.

Six-year-old Alishba was the third in line of six siblings. When her family was informed by the police that a body that matched her description was found in the bushes near Karachi University and is lying at the Edhi Morgue, her father Nazeer Ahmed and grandfather Mohammed Siddique darted to the morgue.

“The moment I saw her body, I decided not to carry it home,” said Nazeer, sitting on a dressing table in a cramped bedroom at his house in Gorabad, Dastagir. “Her teeth were smashed, an eye gouged out, and the whole torso stitched.” He thought the women in his family won’t be able to bear the gory sight of her body.

“I put cotton on her vacant eye-hole, but the blood kept coming. She was like my child. She grew up in front of my eyes,” said Sayeeda Bibi, a neighbour, who washed Alishba’s body before the burial.

Alishba’s mother won’t talk. Her eyes are swollen from tears. She has been holding a picture of her child for the last two days and hysterically crying.

The family has been living in the area for the past 30 years. Nazeer Ahmed’s house was jam-packed with neighbours and relatives.

The voice of women emanated from inside, as neighbours gorge to pour in their condolences. The whole lane is practically filled with children and young men, as the case of Alishba’s murder became a national story — constantly being flashed on the electronic media for the past two days.

She was very mature for her age, says her grandfather. She went to take tuitions and regularly recited the Holy Qur’an with the Qari Sahb.

The park she went to play is a short stroll from her house — an everyday playground for the children of the area. But on that fateful day, a camel rider appeared from nowhere — a cause of serious excitement for the children.

After her disappearance, witness reports came one after the other. “One of my neighbour’s last saw her on the camel’s back, crying. The father came with his son to be a part of the FIR.”

Two other little girls also came up with the same account. “One of them claimed to have seen her screaming ‘I want to go to Ammi’ but the camel rider just took her away,” said Nazeer.

“The camel jockey was giving rides for Rs5, and the children were naturally animated.” Alishba’s seven-year-old brother had also gone along with her, but came home safe and sound. “She didn’t.”

Source: The News

A shocking report on the dismal condition of women in Fata, Impact of crisis on women and girls in Fata, has added yet more substance to the view that short-sighted security policies and political isolation have turned the tribal region into a grim place for its inhabitants.

It is true that discrimination against women is rampant all over Pakistan, but it is important to make the distinction that a woman in Fata is much worse off than the average Pakistani woman because she is a victim of double discrimination: even her most basic constitutional rights are denied because every citizen in Fata, regardless of age or gender, has been neglected by the Pakistani establishment for years. The colonial-era Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) 1901 that governs the region ensures that local leaders rely on the patronage of political agents to preserve their status and the state, in turn, uses the region as a convenient space to exploit interests in Afghanistan.

Traditionally weaker members of society, like women and children, suffer most under this system, as the report makes clear. And though the government has passed decrees that amend the FCR and allow political parties to operate in the region, much more must be done. Fata’s loosely monitored jirga system needs to be replaced with a judicial process that is consistent with practices in the rest of the country. The Code of Criminal Procedure needs to be applied to Fata. Eventually, the implementation of these measures will help women seek justice.

However, even then, we must account for the fact that women in Fata suffer not only from a lack of protection under the law – they have also borne the brunt of militancy and security operations. The resulting problems, such as internal displacement, make women especially vulnerable as they are more susceptible to exploitation and sexual abuse in camps than men.

The pitiable status of Fata’s women and the irony of current government practices can be gauged by this reminder: although the parliament recently passed several landmark bills upholding women’s rights, women in Fata will be excluded from being able to appeal to these laws for justice. It high time Fata’s residents were brought into mainstream society. Anything less throws serious doubt on the integrity of Pakistan’s lawmakers.

Source: Tribune