President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the Government has decided to appoint women judges in the judiciary as part of its efforts to take social, economic, legal and constitutional steps for the empowerment of women and for their protection from all kinds of exploitation and violence.
Addressing the concluding ceremony of "One million signatures campaign to stop violence against women" here at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Friday, the President said that discrimination against women was deeply routed in all spheres of society-social, political, economic and legal.
He said women issues were not limited to Pakistan alone but other countries in the region were also facing similar issues. He said there was a need to bring a positive change in the attitudes of men towards women. A traditional mindset, he said, took time to change but positive actions were being taken to bring about the desired change.
The President said that violence against women was a fundamental violation of human rights and one of the worst forms of discrimination against women. He said it undermined women's dignity and self-esteem and deprived them of their right to full participation in all aspects of national life. The President said the democratic government was inspired and guided by the vision of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto to end exploitation of women and to empower the women in the true sense.
He said it was during the tenure of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto that Pakistan became signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of the All Forms of the Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and also signed the Convention on the Rights of Child. "This demonstrates our commitment to end all discriminatory practices against women from our social fabric," the President said.
The President said the Government had accorded high priority to addressing the issue of discriminatory laws against women and concerted efforts were being made to eliminate abuse of women in all its forms with active involvement of women parliamentarians and representatives of civil society organisations. While acknowledging the challenges ahead, the President expressed the hope that "we would be able to do much more for the cause of the women in future." The President also recounted various legislative measures taken by the Government for the protection of the women.
He said that adoption of the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010; passing of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2010; adoption of the Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act, 2011; passing of the Criminal Law (Third Amendment) Act, 2011; promulgation of Women in Distress and Detention Fund Act, 2011 were some of the important legislative measures taken for the women.
He said efforts were also underway to provide relief to the victims of domestic violence through legislation. Besides, the President said, 26 Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Centres for Women had been established in various districts to provide immediate relief to female victims of violence. The President said Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) as the poverty alleviation programme had been so designed to empower women and millions of women were being benefited through this programme.
He said National Commission on the Status of Women had been strengthened to monitor the violation of women's rights in the country through new legislation. The National Commission for Human Rights Act, 2012 had also been enacted to monitor the overall human rights situation, the President said. However, a lot still needed to be done, he continued.
The President, on the occasion, congratulated the management and all those associated with the campaign who complimented the efforts of the Government, civil society organisations, UN partners and donors to address issues of violence against women and girls. Earlier, the President also became millionth signatory of the "One Million Signatures Campaign to stop Violence against Women" reaffirming his commitment to support women related legislation, raise awareness and not to tolerate violence on anybody and to support the changing behaviours.-PR