February 14, 2023

Call to devise code of ethics to bar hate speech against women

LAHORE: National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) organised the first out of the four conferences in collaboration with UNDP to devise a Code of Ethics to prohibit the hate speech against women in provincial capital on Monday.

Parliamentarians, members from the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), security agencies, civil society and media personnel attended the consultation.

NCSW has recommended and is pushing the Election Commission of Pakistan to bring provisions and restrictions to the code of conduct for political parties, media, political workers and bloggers to control the hate speech spewed against women. They also recommended severe consequences and disqualification for a person from contesting elections who commit any such violations. Moreover, the Code of Conduct will also cover ethical use of online spaces and have necessary measures to counter election related misinformation.

The participants of conference recommended that PTA should prohibit the hate material on social media against women and formation of a separate cell. The also recommended punishment such as fine, imprisonment, blocking of accounts for a certain period of time, public apology or de-seating of a politician; refer to Harassment Law, exemplary punishment to set a precedent, ban the entire party and financial sanctions for hate speech. They also stressed that these measures and punishments must be made mandatory for drafting Code of Ethics. NCSW Chairperson Nilofar Bakhtiar stressed that everyone irrespective of party affiliations and gender must discourage derogatory remarks and disrespect towards women in every way.

Source: The News

February 14, 2023

Rape suspect arrested

LAHORE: Sundar police have arrested a suspect involved in raping a mentally-challenged 55-year-old woman. The arrested suspect was identified as Suleman Khan. He, few days back, had lured the physical as well mentally unstable woman to a room in fields, raped her and fled. Police had registered a case against him. On Monday, he was arrested.

Source: The News

February 14, 2023

Sindh High Court (SHC) recalls pre-arrest bail in rape, attempted murder case

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has recalled and dismissed the pre-arrest bail of a man in a case pertaining to sexual assault, attempt to murder and harassment.

Mohammad Yaqoob Lakhar was booked by the Zaman Town police on the complaint of a woman who claimed that the land owner had trespassed the house, sexually assaulted her and issued threats of dire consequence over a rent-related dispute.

Complainant Alishah alleged that the applicant had barged into the house while she was alone with her sister in August 2022 despite her refusal, and manhandled and hit her, and tore apart the top she was wearing.

The applicant’s counsel said his client was the landlord of the premises and the complainant’s family did not leave the premises despite being told to do so. He said that a complaint about the woman had also been made to the police.

The additional prosecutor general and the complainant’s counsel opposed the pre-arrest bail of the applicant. After hearing the arguments of the counsels, a single SHC bench headed by Justice Omar Sial said the applicant’s counsel had not denied the incident.

The bench said that the applicant had no right to humiliate, hit or abuse a tenant and engage in violent behaviour in order to evict a tenant, and that too a woman, which is simply not permissible.

The court said that the complainant’s allegations will be determined by the trial court, but there appears to be medical certificates on record that support the complainant’s version. The bench said that the punishment for the offences with which the applicant is charged may fall within the non-prohibitory clause of Section 497 of the Criminal Procedure Code. Besides, added the court, violence inflicted upon a helpless woman is an exception that disentitles the applicant from the concession of bail.

The court said that it did not find any mala fide intention on the part of the complainant or the police to falsely implicate the applicant. The bench then recalled the interim pre-arrest bail of the applicant and dismissed the bail.

Source: The News

February 14, 2023

Stakeholders at IRC conference vow for girls education in Pakistan

Islamabad: Pakistan faces significant challenges in providing its citizens with quality education. The Gross Enrolment Rate (GER) for primary education in Pakistan was only 61 per cent in 2020, and only 51 per cent of children complete primary school. Thus, Pakistan has one of the largest populations of out-of-school children in the world. While the exact number of out-of-school children is difficult to determine, but estimates suggest that there are around 22 million children who are not in school. It is pertinent to note that the majority of out-of-school children in Pakistan are girls.

The Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) supported by United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) as a 12-year commitment to reach the most marginalised girls in the world.

In Pakistan, GEC funded International Rescue Committee (IRC) for the ‘Teach and Educate Adolescent Girls with Community Help’ (TEACH) project. Under TEACH, from 2019-2023 the project strived to support around thirty thousand out-of-school girls in Balochistan. During the last four years, through rigorous accelerated learning programmes the project transitioned of over 5,000 girls into formal public schools after completing primary education.

Moreover, around 7,000 girls were equipped with financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills along with a pool of teachers being trained and schools rehabilitated with adequate facilities.

To commemorate the success of GEC projects in Pakistan a close-out event was held in Islamabad with diverse stakeholders such as policy makers, academia, donor agencies, civil society representatives media and project beneficiaries, Shabnam Baloch, Country Director, IRC Pakistan, in her opening remarks noted that to eradicate the barriers to girls’ education, a collaboration of all the stakeholders- Policymakers, practitioners, academia, and civil society is imperative and calls for further investments such as the TEACH project. Speaking on the occasion Sarfarz Laldin (Country Director, ACTED Pakistan noted that Accelerated Learning programmes and Non-Formal Education has solutions for the million girls left behind due to pandemic, climate change and natural disasters in places those have been struggling to retain kids in school during normal circumstances. Through special initiatives by civil society organisations, donors, and government; the girls can be given a second chance to rejoin formal schooling.”

Adding to this Ian Attfield (senior education advissr, FCDO) opined that in collaboration with the provincial government of Balochistan and TEACH project partners, adolescent girls have overcome significant barriers to access credible learning opportunities, despite both Covid-19 pandemic and flooding disruption. It is heartening to see a cohort of young women teachers are now trained to continue girls’ education in remote border areas.

Deputy Director Programmes, IRC-Pakistan Zain-ul-abdin appreciated the recommendations from various stakeholders and stressed upon that girls’ education goes beyond just enrolling girls into schools.

Source: The News

February 14, 2023

Equal opportunities for women demanded

LAHORE: Women’s Action Forum (WAF) chapters from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Hyderabad, Peshawar and Quetta at a national convention on Sunday analysed key issues confronting women and others today.

WAF condemned the indifference of the power elite who have failed the people of Pakistan. This has led to the dire economic, social and political crises citizens are facing today, with women and other marginalised people bearing the brunt of the fall-out.

The 2022 floods demonstrate the urgent need to be prepared for climate change impacts and to reorient our inappropriate development planning that is extractive consumer-oriented and anti-poor. WAF demands the provision of immediate rehabilitation and support in consultation with affected people in a fair and transparent process.

WAF demands urgent reforms of systems and structures to avoid more detrimental borrowing. WAF acknowledges that the 18th Amendment helped decentralisation but it cannot be effective without empowered local government with adequate fiscal authorities.

Women’s Action Forum stresses the state’s irrevocable responsibility for upholding its citizens’ fundamental rights to life, liberty, security and dignity. WAF calls on the state to protect agricultural land as this is the only safety against food insecurity. Agricultural land must not be allowed to be taken over by housing societies or other private sector interests to the detriment of people. WAF demands that every woman be granted land ownership to ensure food security and livelihoods.

Source: Dawn