KARACHI, Sept 23: A forum on Friday urged parliamentarians to make the honour killing law justice oriented and that the Hudood Ordinance, that have maimed the lives of innocent women, be amended in accordance with the spirit of Islam and the constitution.
Speaking at the forum, organized by the Karachi Women Peace Committee and attended by the representatives of approximately 15 organizations, the speakers condemned the surge in heinous crimes against women.
They suggested that judicial procedures be tightened so that the victims could be provided with justice and the culprits be given exemplary deterrent punishment publicly.
They demanded that it should be ensured that the female medico-legal personnel were present on duty at all times so that they could be approached in connection to the examination of victim of sex related crimes.
They said that educated women must be encouraged through a policy package of good emoluments and respectable status to join police force and the police stations must have trained educated female staff that can handle female victims, and that the male staff should be gender sensitized.
They demanded that similar measures that were being taken to control terrorism be used to control the terrorism directed against women and children.
They said that they were aware of the feudal, tribal, patriarchal ethos prevalent in the society, but this be controlled through the constitutional law.
They said that it was reprehensible that many a times the law enforcement agencies had allegedly been privy and party to these crimes against women as direct or indirect accomplices or as actual perpetrators.
The frequency of these crimes and the way these have been handled by the state agencies has lowered the country’s status in the international forums and the human development index, the speakers added.
The participants of the forum were: Begum Tazeen Faridi (APWA), Dr Saleema Ahmad (Federation of Business and Professional Women), Akram Khatoon (Federation of University Women), Sheerin Rehmatullah (Institute of Social Policy and Research), Rehana saleem (OAKS), Naseem Salahuddin (CEDF), Prof Shaista Zaidi (Bazm-i-Amna), Akhtar Ibrahim (Bahbood Association), Anjum Abadi (Falah Association Trust) and Nargis Rehman (Karachi Women Peace Committee).
