March 21, 2016 – Pakistan Gender News

March 21, 2016

Women treated as ‘second-rate’ parliamentarians, says Dr Nafisa

By Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD: Even in parliament – the country’s highest forum to safeguard rights guaranteed in the Constitution – women lawmakers feel that they are treated as ‘second-rate’ citizens.

Dr Nafisa Shah, the daughter of Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, represents the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on a seat reserved for women. One of the most active members of the lower house, Shah has vociferously raised her voice against the discrimination of women in parliament, supporting laws that ensure women get sizeable representation on general seats.

In an interview with The Express Tribune, Shah complained a number of women-specific laws introduced by her fellow lady lawmakers have long been pending before parliament, with some of them having lapsed due to not being passed on time. For instance, the anti-rape and anti-honour killing bills lapsed last year after the tenure of their mover, Senator Sughra Imam, ended. Her bills were passed in the Senate but could not make it through the National Assembly despite the former senator trying her best to make it happen before her term ended in March last year.

A bill on the protection of women similar to the one recently passed by the Punjab Assembly was introduced by PPP MNA Yasmeen Rehman. Though the bill was adopted by the National Assembly, it wasn’t cleared by the Senate and the mover’s term eventually expired, resulting in its lapse.

Shah claims she has been striving to muster support of all political parties over another important law: one that seeks more representation of women on general seats. During the last federal government’s tenure, when Shah’s party was in power, Shah as the secretary of the women caucus tabled a bill in the National Assembly that would have a fixed quota for women when political parties award tickets to candidates on general seats. The bill was sent to the Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which consequently approved it. However, parliament did not take it up even three years after the committee endorsed it. The proposed law was unanimously supported by all women parliamentarians through their caucus, a forum representing women parliamentarians across party lines.

“You cannot empower women politically, unless you give them a share in general representation. We have been demanding a quota on general seats. This government stopped funds of women parliamentarians elected on reserved seats. They (the government) say you do not have a constituency, thus you cannot be given funds,” says Shah, who also heads the human rights committee of her party. “This is not only discriminatory, it is also insulting. It makes women second-rate parliamentarians. It’s like treating us as secondary citizens.”

Shah claims the practice started when the incumbent government assumed power in 2013. Women parliamentarians have been raising the issue for the past two years, but their voice is not being heard, she adds. “It exposes their so-called liberalism. This did not happen during our government, or in Musharraf’s regime,” she said while firing a salvo at the PML-N government.

Male parliamentarians get discretionary funds on the pretext they have to carry out development in their constituencies. Even those nominated on seats reserved for minorities are given funds, based on the influence they yield in the government. This irks Shah. She says development funds should either not be given, or should be given to all parliamentarians irrespective of their gender.

“When it comes to voting in parliament, a woman’s vote is equal to that of her male counterpart. Be it the election for prime minister, voting on any bill or any amendment in the Constitution. The Constitution says there shall be no discrimination of the basis of sex. Yet, you are clearly discriminating against one-third of parliament,” laments Shah.

Woman lawmakers protested against discrimination last year and were supported by all opposition parties. They now plan to launch a combined protest movement once again. “It is not a matter of money. The issue is you are not treating women parliamentarians as equals. In principle, I am against constituency development funds. But if you are giving it, it should be strictly regulated and monitored. It could be some token amount, but it should be equal for all members. You cannot pick and choose and discriminate,” says Shah.

Shah lauded the Punjab Assembly for recently passing a bill on the protection of women against domestic violence, albeit with cautious optimism. She noted that the National Assembly was yet to pass such a law. “This is not the first time this law has been passed. The same law was passed in Balochistan and Sindh. I am not sure there was such a debate [when it was passed by those assemblies].”

Sindh adopted the law a year ago. Implementation, however, is lacking because the rules of business are yet to be framed. Shah blames a sluggish bureaucracy. In her view, such laws should first be introduced in the Centre, with provinces following suit.

Express Tribune

March 21, 2016

12 women teachers appointed in Lakki

LAKKI MARWAT: The Lakki Marwat District Education Officer, Female, Zubaida Khattak, has appointed 12 teachers against the vacant posts in government girls schools.

An official of the district education department said the new appointments included six certified teachers, two drawing teachers, two Arabic teachers and one each theology and physical education teacher.

He said the appointments had been made on merit as written test and interviews were conducted by the NTS.

“The teachers’ appointment will help overcome shortage of teaching staff in state-run girls schools,” the official quoted DEO Ms Khattak as saying.

Dawn

March 21, 2016

Pakistan determined to achieve women’s empowerment: Maleeha

UNITED NATIONS – Pakistan is determined to work towards achieving the targets set for gender equality and empowerment of women by the Sustainable Development Goals, Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi has said.
In her opening remarks at a side event organised by the Pakistan Mission to the UN during the 60th session of the Commission for the Status of Women, she said that Pakistan believes that there was an urgent need at this critical juncture to look back, see how far we have come, and how best to proceed from here with determination to fully achieve targets set by Goal 5 of the SDGs.

The Pakistani envoy said that violence against women was a key concern in the overall agenda of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

“Physical and sexual violence has been described as the most shameful of all human rights violations and one of the most intractable to eliminate fully,” she asserted. “And we agree,” she added.

The panelists at the event titled “Strategies to eliminate violence against women’ included Ms Raheela Durrani, Speaker of the Balochistan Assembly, Ms Aman Imam, Secretary of the Women Development, Punjab and Ms Rabeea Hadi, Director of the Aurat Foundation.

Ms Durrani, in her address highlighted the steps taken in Balochitan for protection and social and economic empowerment of women. She listed a number of legislative and administrative measures taken by the provincial government in this regard. While admitting that there were still challenges to be addressed specially with regard to violence and discrimination against women, she said “The winds are changing course.”

Speaking as a panelist, the representative of the Aurat Foundation, while appreciating pro-women legislation in Pakistan, especially in Punjab, said that laws on honour killing “need improvement”.
She said that the Foundation has been demanding more women’s voices and participation in decision making at all levels of governance.
Punjab’s Secretary for Women Development highlighted a number of pro-women legislation adopted by the province, specially the recently passed bill to criminalise violence against women.

Ms Imam said that policy formulation was just one step and that the government was taking measures to add depth to these laws by enhancing skills, awareness campaigns for legal and social rights and developing women’s leadership at various levels of governance.
In the interactive dialogue that followed, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador Mukhtar Tileuberdi appreciated the “indisputable achievements” of Pakistan and said, “We can learn a lot from the Pakistan experience.”

The participants in the dialogue generally appreciated Pakistan’s achievements and pointed out areas where further focus was required, particularly in implementation of existing laws.
In her concluding remarks, Ambassador Lodhi highlighted the critical role of the media in changing social attitudes along with education. She said that while “we have come a long way”, there were still a number of challenges to overcome.

The event was largely attended by diplomats, civil society organisations and members of delegation at the UN attending CSW session.

The Nation

March 21, 2016

Workshop held on women protection laws

LARKANA: Police officials were stressed at a training workshop to adhere to the laws concerned to protect the rights of women.

The workshop was held about special laws on women and organised by the Civil Society Support Program (CSSP) in collaboration with the Enhanced Democratic Accountability and Civic Engagement (EDACE) here on Sunday.

It was facilitated by Karachi South Senior Superintendent of Police (Investigation) SSP Faizullah Korejo and attended by 60 police officials — inspectors, sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors and writing head constables of Larkana and Jacobabad districts.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr Korejo said violence against women was rampant and interior Sindh witnessed many forms it that included domestic, honour killing, physical and mental abuse, rape, acid throwing, burning etc. But, he said, the police was oblivious of the latest laws that could protect women from such violations.

He said police stations acted as the pivot through which laws could be got implemented. Though it was quite unfortunate that public perception about gaining access to the police station was negative, there was no denying that it served as the place from where the criminal justice system formally originated or took its course, he said.

He observed that owing to feudal influence on society, weak investigation and prosecution system, practice of alternative way of dispute resolution was being taken place to decide the fate of women victim of violation.

He apprised the audience that Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Act 2013 prohibited the marriage of children, both boys and girls, below 18 years and declared marriage below the age of 18 punishable by law. Parents, facilitators and groom could be sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment and could be fined in cases of underage marriage, he added. But, regrettably, owing to the lack of proper knowledge on the part of police, occurrence of child marriages was widespread throughout Sindh, he added.

Mr Korejo said Sindh was the only province that had passed remarkable legislation on women after passing of Sindh Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2013. He said the act was invoking different sections on minor and major forms of violations against women.

Dawn

March 21, 2016

Disenfranchisement of women remains a hot issue in KP

By: Waseem Ahmad Shah

The issue of disenfranchisement of women in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a recurring phenomenon and continues to persist despite much hue and cry by civil society groups for giving them the right to vote.

A judgment of the Peshawar High Court delivered on March 10 ended the jubilation of different organisations and individuals that had started after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on June 2, 2015 declared a by-election void in the provincial assembly constituency PK-75, Lower Dir, as no female voter had cast vote there.

The high court bench comprising Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Qaiser Rasheed overturned that judgment and allowed a writ petition filed by a candidate of Jamaat-i-Islami, Aizazul Mulk, who had challenged the ECP’s order and a subsequent notification issued by it for holding by-elections in the constituency. The petitioner had obtained the highest votes during by-elections held on May 7, 2015.

The bench has ruled: “Nothing is available on file to show that the female voters were restrained either by the elders of the locality or male voters of the constituency.” It further observed: “No person including any voters of the area made any complaint either on the day of election or thereafter to the election staff or the Election Commission of Pakistan.”

The court pronounced that there was no provision in the Representation of Peoples Act that the election staff would at all cost compel a voter to come to the polling station and cast his/ her vote. “This is the choice of a voter whether to cast his/her vote and no punitive law is in the field to compel such a voter to cast his/her vote by all means.”

The court observed that ECP under Section 103 AA of Representation of Peoples Act (ROPA) could declare the election of a constituency void and could also ask for re-poll in some of the polling stations, but in the present case such powers had been exercised on a hearsay evidence without any positive evidence to the effect that either the polling arrangements were not made in the constituency or the contesting candidates/elders of the locality barred the females from casting their votes.

The most important development in such controversies took place in 2000 when the military government of retired General Pervez Musharraf introduced reserved seats for women in the local governments. Initially, six seats were reserved for women in a 21-member union council across the country.

When the first LG elections were held under that scheme by the end of 2000 and in 2001 in different districts of the province the conservative forces openly came out to stop women from contesting on those reserved seats and also from casting their votes during polling. Written agreements were signed by elders and representatives of different political parties especially in Dir districts.

It was on May 29 and 30, 2001 when baton-wielding workers of religious groups and political parties were roaming around the premises of district courts in Lower Dir Lower to stop any female candidate from filing her nomination papers. Due to such practices majority of reserved seats for women remained vacant there.

The Tehreek Nifaz-i-Shariah-i-Muhammadi had gone a step further and had convened a meeting on May 26, 2001 and directed people not to offer funeral prayer of those females who would participate in the LG polls. It was also announced to start social boycott of all such families whose female members would participate in the elections.

Several female voters had then moved the high court in 2001. Those petitioners had alleged that they were stopped from voting through different coercive measures in Swabi district, including agreements reached between the contesting candidates. The petitioners had requested the high court to declare polls in those union councils as null and void.

A two-member bench of the court had dismissed those petitions on March 17, 2004 on technical grounds related to jurisdiction of the court, but it clearly pronounced that the practice of barring women from voting was unconstitutional.

“As a matter of fact, employment of such means by any person irrespective of his status and stature in the society will not only be void and illegal, but criminal as well which can well be punished under the law. We strongly deprecate all such means, devices, threats and even agreements aimed at restraining the female registered voters from participating in the electoral process,” the bench had ruled.

Almost a decade later on Aug 22, 2013 then PHC chief justice Dost Mohammad Khan (now a judge of the Supreme Court) took suo motu notice of the issue when it was highlighted by different TV channels regarding barring of women from casting votes in different polling stations in NA-5 Nowshera and NA-27 Lakki Marwat during by-elections.

The court had then directed the ECP not to issue gazette notification of the successful candidates. The initial reports showed that there was zero per cent result in at least 54 of the female polling stations whereas in many other stations the percentage was nominal.

On Aug 26, 2013, a two-member bench asked the ECP to conduct re-polling in several women’s polling stations in the said two constituencies. The court had left it to the ECP to decide at how many polling stations re-polling should be held.

The bench ruled that barring women from casting vote was a detestable act which could not be approved by court.

However, to the utter disappointment of civil society groups a three-member bench of the Supreme Court had set aside that judgment of the high court on Sept 17, 2013. While the bench did not touch the factual points involved in the case, it touched the suo motu powers exercised by the PHC’s chief justice and placed certain restrictions on it.

Activists dealing with such issues believe that with the passage of time the forces involved in disenfranchisement of women had changed their modus operandi. They said that instead of written agreements they had now been trying not to leave behind any evidence.

It is evident from these developments that to curb such practices changes are required to be made in the relevant laws, including the Representation of Peoples Act, 1976, to introduce punishment for those who deliberately or indirectly restrain the female voters from polling their votes.

Dawn