Pro-women laws: poor implementation

THE Senate has finally approved the formation of the Commission for Protection of Women’s Rights in the country. Although it is praiseworthy to uphold the rights of women, everything is on paper rather than in practice.

Women are still being oppressed and deprived of their rights. Nothing credible and longlasting has occurred even since the arrival of the democratic government. Traces of the last four years barely possess any viable claim to be appreciated as our women are still leading a miserable life in the countryside.

Honour killing, harassment, rape and forced marriages, along with other anomalies, are prevalent in all parts of the country unabated by the laws which are mostly sold out at throwaway prices by those who are entrusted with implementing them.

This practice fosters financial and moral corruption along with erosion of noble principles upon which societies stand and grow. Enaction of a law requires a formal process and an implementation strategy, along with the capacity to make them fully functional, but things seem to be in the opposite direction inside the administrative machinery of Pakistan.

Similarly, the incapacity and non-cognizant to legal procedures make law enforcers unable to bring about any visible change in the mindset. Generally, in rural areas culprits are booked under the newly- devised legal tool but they rarely know the purpose behind that particular legislative wand. Hence, there is a strong need to disseminate the information through the media and other sources, i.e., educational institutions, to raise awareness among the people. This will prove to be the first stone in the stagnant water of our social mores which are acting as a formidable wall against all modern practices.

AMEER FAZAL
Khairpur Mir’s

Source: Dawn