Thanks to the efforts of women representatives in the federal and provincial legislatures, there are laws in place for protection of women against various forms of violence, including acid throwing, so-called honour killings, domestic violence, and rape. Yet the incidence of violence remains high. In its recently released report on the State of Human Rights 2016, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan noted a rise in sexual harassment, 'honour' killings, and rape throughout the country. Clearly, laws alone are not enough unless backed by resolute implementation. There is the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act, 2015. But it has not helped a young woman, Khadija Siddique, student of a private law school in Lahore. Last year, she was stabbed 23 times by a classmate in full public view in front of her 7-year-old sister whom she had gone to collect from school. Khadija could have died but miraculously survived after doctors sewed up her wounds with as many as 200 stitches.
Her ordeal did not end there. The attacker, son of an influential individual, was released on bail. Her appeal against the release order was dismissed, keeping her in a constant state of fear. Last Friday, worried about her safety, Khadija's parents accompanied her when she went to take her examination. Still, as she later described to reporters, she felt so fearful to find her attacker in the examination hall that it was nothing short of a torment to be sitting there, and that she kept praying and struggling to remember what she was to write on the exam paper. Meanwhile, her distraught father, while talking to journalists, appealed to the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take suo motu notice of the case.
In the existing environment, odds are stacked against weaker sections of society, and women are doubly vulnerable, confronted as they are by deep-seated social prejudices rendering them easy target of mindless violence. Those in government and in the assemblies are expected to lead the fight against gender biases but, sadly, what has been on display is quite the opposite. It may be recalled that not long ago, a member of the federal cabinet from Balochistan had justified so-called honour-related killing of two women in the name of traditions. When it suits their purposes even some leading political figures exploit gender bias for political point-scoring against opponents as did the Prime Minister at a recent public meeting, making derogatory remarks about women who attend PTI rallies. Such an attitude can only reinforce the persistence of anti-women prejudices which act as a spark for violence. Things will change only when the opinion leaders, in politics as well as the media, change their attitude towards women, and equally important, the rule of law prevails.