Day: August 30, 2012

BUREWALA: A woman accused her husband of raping her daughters at Chak-517/EB. The Saddar Police have registered a case and started investigation.

Haseena informed the police that she was married to Muhammad Mansha. She said that she had three sons and two daughters and alleged that her husband had raped her daughters, 22-year-old Robina, and 20-year-old Kausar.

She further said that Robina was married to a youth in Arifwala and her husband divorced her due to domestic issues and lived with her family.

The other night, when she along with her family members was present at the house Muhammad Mansha entered in the house and attempted to rape her daughter Kausar, she alleged. The Saddar Police have registered a case against the accused.

The Nation

By: ANAM HAYAT

In the developing world, the menace of poverty is deep-rooted, especially in the rural areas, while Pakistan is no exception to this. The United Nations identified rural women as a catalyst for change if the objective of eradicating poverty is to be attained. Invisible and industrious, neglected and undernourished, she is the major contributor to the agricultural labour force, producing more than 50 percent of the developing world’s food.

She is the one who tends, sows, reaps, gathers crops, cares for animals, plants herbs, and looks after the family but is hardly ever recognised in the statistics of production while easily made a target of cultural malpractices that not only hurts her dignity but even takes her life. It is very important to bring women’s issues into the limelight so that policymakers could design their development interventions in a way that could financially empower them enough to make a difference in their living conditions and that of their families.

Today’s globalised world offers many opportunities and challenges while demonstrating the need for having a level playing field for men and women; this can only be established if we shun prejudices and isolationism. We need to explore innovative ways to overcome the formidable obstacles to the empowerment of women and gender equality. There is a need to focus and devise strategies to enhance women’s role in decision-making and power sharing in all tiers of government.

Keeping in view all the above, I would like to stress the need of women/mother’s health as an unavoidable reality of our society, which relates to child marriage, harmful traditional practices against women and other cruel treatments prevailing in our society, which need to be worked against.

Daily Times

By: MUHAMMAD UZAIR NIAZI

The police department in Pakistan experienced a gender audit in 2009-2010 in order to determine the gender sensitivity of police organisations in Pakistan. This audit played a key role in forecasting a clear picture of women in this department. The main theme of this audit was to ascertain the presence of female police nationwide, and to figure out how the police organisations intended to implement women-friendly policies at the workplace and in police services.

The results generated from the gender audit methodology helped in setting a benchmark for mainstreaming the gender equality perspective in the police service. Among the police organisations, the motorway police was ranked high with 61 percent, followed by AJK police 59 percent. Railway police, Punjab and KPK scored between 57-50 percent. The ranking of Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan police ranged between 44-40 percent, while Islamabad police was positioned at 37 percent. The women police constitute less than one percent of the police service and they are less represented at mid and senior level police ranks. The audit was a joint initiative of the National Police Bureau Pakistan and GIZ (German Agency for International Cooperation), with facilitation from GRP (Gender Responsive Policing) project.

This gender audit helped in gathering updated information, which reveals that there was a significant difference in opportunities, resources, responsibilities, and acknowledgment of women’s role. The audit findings propose that the perspective of women police is rarely represented, with little say in decision making and lacking career development opportunities. The little field exposure and irrelevant work assignments limit their skills and opportunities for growth.

The organisational culture of the police as identified in the audit reflects the traditional patterns of our police department, showing biases towards working-women and women victims. It is evident that the women issues are not taken seriously and women officers often find it difficult to affirm their position. The audit report revealed that the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that were formulated to deal with women affected by any type of violence were not practised across the capital and provincial police organisations.

Daily Times

Karachi: The body of a 15-year-old girl was found in a graveyard in Shah Faisal Mollah, said Orangi Town police on Wednesday.

The body of Reema, daughter of Fayyaz, was shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed for a post-mortem. An MLO at the hospital said the girl had suffered two bullet wounds after being raped. SHO Naeem Khan told The News that they had received an anonymous call about the incident.

The victim was kidnapped by one Ikhlaq on June 26 from the Mangopir police jurisdiction and an FIR against him was earlier registered, he added.

Body of woman found

The strangulated body of an unidentified woman was spotted by some passers-by in bushes near Korangi Crossing, said Ibrahim Hyderi police. The body of the woman who appeared to be 25 years old was shifted to the JPMC for a post-mortem. A lady MLO said the woman was tortured. She looked like a Bengali.

The News

By: HASHIM ABRO

Indeed, women are considered as the real backbone of any nation, any country, and our constitution provides for equality of women; however, these provisions often are not applied in practice.

It is disconcerting to think of the vast majority of Pakistani women, and in particular, women in rural Sindh and Balochistan provinces, who suffer in absolute misery and wretchedness instead of becoming a backbone to anyone. In rural Pakistani society, women are little valued and appreciated. Their spirit and will are shattered by neglect and indifference, and the daily reality of domestic violence, illiteracy, sexual exploitation, underage marriages, lack of education and grinding poverty.

However, the incumbent rulers are requested to show their practical commitment towards the elevation of rural women in Pakistani society, who have always given them their support freely and democratically, for an equality-based Pakistan. The rulers must get the votes of women of remote parts of Sindh registered and launch women-friendly projects so as to improve their socio-economic conditions in today’s Pakistan.

Daily Times