The Sindh Assembly unanimously passed a resolution on Thursday to mark the 'International Day for elimination of violence against women'. The resolution was moved jointly by PPP and PMLQ. This was stated by Shazia Atta Muhammad Marri, MPA and Anchor at talk shows and interviewer on TV programmes, at a seminar on Thursday.
The seminar was arranged by 'Pakistan Press Foundation' (PPF) to mark the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)'Women's Day' programme. The topic was: 'How far will the recent efforts go in curbing violence against women'.
Shazia said that members of the Assembly express solidarity with women and paid tributes to women who have been victims of violence, both those who lost their lives and those who have suffered and emerged triumphant.
Shazia said she had presented the 'domestic violence bill' in the Sindh Assembly in May 2004. She lamented that Pakistan is not the only country that faces violence against women, it is going world-wide.
"Pakistan is an Islamic country where women's violence ratio is very shameful. Forty-two percent women are beaten up by their male partner; 90 percent accept it as fate; 33 percent are helpless or powerless, while 4 percent take action against the violence," she said.
"It is a shameful Islamic country where rape and karo-kari cases are increasing. The National Assembly passed a bill on 'honour killing', which is just a tool for wrong doing," she added.
Nuzhat Shireen, Co-ordinator for Legislative Watch Programme 'Aurat Foundation', said: "Our women MPAs and MNAs need a legislative training. Women are powerless in the parliament because of male domination influences in the parliament also. Ownership is the main hurdle in the house. The legislative women are sensitive and aware but it seems that male members do not want to solve the problem. There is lack or co-ordination among them."
She said that in Sindh PA, 17 different committees have been formed but many committees are working without women.
She said that the issue of 'honour killings' and crimes has for long been a matter of critical concern for all human rights activists. Though there are no comprehensive statistics on the subject, there is sufficient evidence to show that crimes in the name of so-called 'honour' take place across Pakistan, and that far more women than men are victims of these barbaric practices.
"But what is even more unfortunate is the fact that the law, which is supposed to ensure justice to victims, allows the perpetrators of these crimes to get away scot-free or with minimal penalty".
She said that to address these serious lacunas in the law, 'Aurat Foundation' in collaboration with other concerned civil society organisation, jurists, constitutional experts, lawyers, human rights and political activists drafted a legislative bill proposing a number of amendments in the Pakistan Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code.
"This draft bill was presented to all major political parties and the government for legislative action
"The two bills have been recently introduced the National Assembly--a private members bill presented by PPPP, and an official bill by government".
The PPPP bill, which came first, was extremely encouraging for civil society organisations, since it incorporated all amendments proposed by them, she added.
However, the official bill, despite picking up some points of the civil society bill, remains largely a cosmetic measure. It avoids the real issues and leaves a numbers loopholes which will continue to allow murderers to escape punishment for their crimes, she said.
The participants of the seminar called to eradicate all discriminations against women from the society to face the world challenges.
Member, Sindh Assembly, Shazia Marri said that women legislators were not satisfied with the present living standard of the women both in rural and urban areas. She said that women must come forward to bring changes in the society by improving their knowledge and co-ordination.
Nusrat Shireen of 'Aurat Foundation' said that women must be well equipped with the Islamic teaching, latest academic knowledge and information technology to make room in the challenging world to find their due rights in the society.
Other speakers, Aqsa Zainab of 'Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid' and Samia Shoaib highlighted the need to increase co-ordination among women to get their proper rights.
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