PAKISTANI WOMEN:
LAWS AND POLICIES
USING ICT
TO COMBAT VAW
P@SHA, b4all, apc-whsp
Karachi, 19-20 February 2010
“We are victims of evil customs.
... No nation can rise to the
heights of glory with half its
population shackled. It is a
crime against humanity that our
women are confined within the
four walls of their homes like
prisoners ... they should be side
by side with men as their
companions in all spheres of
life.“ [Q: Who said this? When?]
Constitutional Guarantees

1973 Constitution, Art. 25, 27, 35, 37:
provisions ensuring gender equality &
affirmative action for women - to
redress existing inequalities:
 “All
citizens are equal before law and
are entitled to equal protection of law.
There shall be no discrimination on
the basis of sex alone.”
 “Steps
shall be taken to ensure full
participation of women in all spheres
of national life.”
Another View of Women
Women are NOT a “segment” of society; a
“sector” of national development; “objects”
of attention; or “recipients” of charity;
 Women are almost HALF the population
(48%); equal participants and partners;
 Women are human beings, deserving of
equal rights, equal respect, equal decisionmaking authority, equal mobility, equal
access to law and justice, equality at law;
equal access to ICT and opportunities.

The Laws – in Conflict
• 1973: progressive Constitution
•1977-88: Gen. Zia-ul-Haq distorted it:
garb of “Islamization”;
• Several discriminatory laws
promulgated - in conflict with Const. Of
these, the most anti-women include:
• HUDOOD ORDINANCES
• QANUN-E-SHAHADAT
• QISAS & DIYAT LAWS
>>> example:
• Hudood Ordinances/Zina: age of
majority: puberty (f: 9, m: 12)
• Law: marriage age: f: 16, m: 18
• Law: CNIC, driving licence & voting
age: f: 18, m: 18 (for both)
• Child labour: 15 for both
• UN: age of majority: 19 for both
>>>
•1991: Shariah Act (under PML-N);
• 2002: NWFP/Pukhtunkhwa MMA:
Hasbah & Shariah Bills – Vice &
Morality laws, policing, enforcement;
SC ruled them ultra vires & unIslamic!
• 2008: ANP promised Taliban they
would enact Shariah law in PATA;
• 2009: Feb: ANP+TNSM/SufiM signed
Shariah Nifaz-e-Adl Regulation; April:
Pres. Zardari signed it; April: TTP
rejected Constitution, democracy, law;
How does this impact VAW?
• laws are meant to be for ALL, but
these laws widely understood to be
against women’s rights, freedoms,
development and empowerment [cf.
MMA & TTP’s actions: ads, dress code,
g/schools,w/teachers, markets, tailors];
• immediate increased VAW noted, esp
public manifestations: flogging;
• also domestic, traditional sociocultural, jirga/punchayat-ordained rape/
gang-rape, compensation, karokari,etc.
International Commitments
Pakistan, as Member-State, subscribes to
UN Charter (1947); Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (1948) - binding;

ratified Convention on Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW,1996) - binding;

ratified Convention on Rights of the Child
(CRC, 1990) – binding [ref. Girl Child];

endorsed gender equality in UN docs:
Human Rights (Vienna/1993), ICPD
(Cairo/1994), FWCW (Beijing/1995), MDGs
(2000) – non-binding.

Steps Towards Legislation
Supporting Women’s Rights
2000: National Commission on the Status
of Women; [issues: autonomy, mandate]

2005: “honour” killings; [compoundability,
Qisas & Diyyat, wali, State not taking resp]

2006: Women’s Protection Act; [issues:
puberty, rajam, only male Muslim testimony
excluding women & non-Muslim Pakistanis]

2009: NA passed inadequate, distorted
Domestic Violence Bill; [lapsed w/o Senate
tabling; no signs of return]

Steps >>>

2010: 1 of 2 laws on sexual harassment
at workplace enacted;

2010: draft Bill to establish NCHR
tabled in NA [women omitted, selection
criteria, mandate, autonomy, powers]

2010: draft Bill on Reproductive Health
& Rights tabled NA [issue:MoH vs MoPW]
BIGGEST ISSUE: positive new
legislation cannot be effective w/o
repealing existing anti-women
legislation [HO, QeS, Q&D, SA]...
Data
Need
to collect,compile, analyze all data
sets disaggregated by gender, especially
sex ratios in population census [Pakistan
case: 108:100 m:f = 52 : 48%, i.e. 8
MILLION MISSING GIRLS and WOMEN…
WHY??? This is another form of VAW]
Poverty
data esp. needs disaggregation
by gender, urban/rural location, assets,
income, food security, employment/
unemployment, education, ICT, access to
primary+reproductive health, housing, etc.
Poverty
In
Pakistan, women and girls comprise
almost 75% of population below poverty line.
Need to address this ^ feminization of
poverty on URGENT basis through, i.a.:

Gendered social protection [not BISP];

Food security focus on women;
Women’s assets ownership: land, property,
livestock (inheritance, joint title deeds, gifts);

Secure livelihoods; waged/remunerated
employment [not like HBWWs exploitation];

Violence Against Women
age-old patriarchal concept of “honour”
(“izzat” or “ghairat”) – being sole prerogative
of men and solely vested in women’s bodies;

not
just based on gender, but also on socioeconomic class and rural-feudal-tribal
structures,esp.jirga/punchayat,haari/mazare;
VAW:
also “justified” by “religious sanction”
veneer, citing primary texts;
Thus, the questions: what “honour”?
whose “honour”? do women have an
identity of their own – w/ or w/o honour?
What to Do?
Need
to repeal anti-women laws (HO,
QS, Q&D,etc.); strengthen laws contraVAW, e.g. “honour” killings, rape/gangrape, acid/dowry deaths, physical and
mental abuse, abduction, trafficking,
forced prostitution, bonded labour, etc.
Need
to train judiciary and lawenforcers (police) on imperative of
implementation; ensure action,
supervision and accountability.
>>>
• Need to remove conflicts between
parallel legal systems - civil codes,
perceived religious injunctions thru
FSC, customary laws (VAW horrors
sanctioned thru illegal jirgas and
punchayats), e.g. rape, “honour” k,
compensation, bride price, orphans’
and women’s inheritance, marriage,
divorce, child custody, polygamy, etc.
• Need to ensure access to justice.
POLICIES
MoWD’s NPDEW (2002): “a statement of
intent”: “gender perspective reflected in all
national policies and plans”. Comment: 8 yrs
on, STILL not implemented thru line depts,
e.g. Youth, Education, Health, Employment.

NPDEW sends mixed signals re
Constitutional guarantees/provisions for
women’s equality vs. acceptance of
prevailing socio-religio-cultural traditions and
norms (laws vs. jirgas/punchayats).

NPDEW confused on use of terminology re
women’s “equality” vs. “equity”; used
interchangeably, sending wrong signals.

SOME POLICY GAPS IN NPA,
NPDEW, PRSP, MTDF
Vertical, utilitarian, paternalistic vs holistic,
integrated, mainstreaming, rights-based
approach.
 Huge
gap
between
Constitutional
protections/guarantees,
vs.
existing
legislation, policies and programmes re
women’s fundamental human right to
BMNs (see GDI, GEM, POPI). GoP
acknowledges 75% female face of
poverty, but where’s the action???

MAJOR CHALLENGES
Poverty – Patriarchy – Feudalism-Tribalism
 Jirgas & Panchayats: illegal; sanctioning +
“legitimizing” VAW and “honour” killing
 Legislated inequality of women
 Lack of opportunities; lack of access to
decision-making/ mobility
 Lack of awareness, education, knowledge
and services; lack of information and
communication
 Lack of access to ICT: poverty, permission,
mobility, rural lack of access/connectivity
 Lack of access to justice

THE WAY FORWARD
 filling
disaggregated data gaps in ICT
& VAW; engendering data collection
exercises;
 resolving conflicts b/w intl.
commitments & domestic laws, e.g.
CEDAW ratification vs Hudood vs
1973 Constitution Art. 25;
 initiation of gender responsive
budgeting by MoFin and MoP&D;
 ensuring girls+women access to
Education + ICT with security, privacy,
confidentiality;
>>>
 achievement
of Constitutional
guarantees of women’s equality
through affirmative action; proactive
legislation; access to justice and
governance; political participation.
 enunciating policies re. gender
inequalities w/ corresponding
financial allocations at all levels.
>>>
 Accurate
gender + r/u-disaggregated
database for planning &
programming: census enumeration,
b/d registration, agri. census and
labour force surveys.
 Greater participation of women in all
fora: political, economic, legislative decision-making and policy planning;
 State-owned lands distribution – joint
m/f ownership and registration;
>>>
 For
women, wider, cheaper and
easier availability of and access to
ICT (hardware, software, technical
know-how), and
 microcredit, small-to-medium loans,
technical vocational skills, mobility
and entrepreneurship options.
Challenges

Some of MANY Challenges as Opportunities
for ICT usage to combat VAW :
– perception of “gender” as “women only”;
– lack of gender mainstreaming;
– lack of gender budgeting, policy and
programming in vital areas;
– inadequate social protection, social safety
nets and mechanisms to address
feminization of poverty;
– Increasing incidents of violence against
women; inadequate laws & enforcement.
>>
 provision
of enabling environment for
women to participate in national life,
as = participants, = contributors & =
sharers of benefits;
 Inadequate enabling legislative
framework
>>>
Vital need for attitudinal change
which requires concerted use of all ICT
and media forms + IPC and lobbying.
 Women need security, safety, dignity,
respect and honour.
 Women need to be seen NOT as
“vulnerable” & passive “beneficiaries”
but as ACTIVE PARTNERS and
DECISION MAKERS.

NEED TO SEE
CHANGED
MINDSETS
AND
ATTITUDES…