Despite the formulation of bills to protect Pakistani women against violence and brutalities, it is ironical that crimes and inhumanity have not ceased to haunt them. Perhaps one of the reasons why the perpetrators are not deterred to attack women is the fact that most of them get away with committing such abominable crimes because of lack of evidence and other ambiguous reasons.

In a country where cultural and ethical values supersede the right to voice the atrocities of the abusers, many people are of the view that crimes go unpunished as women refrain from reporting them. However, there have been cases where crimes have been reported but the alleged abusers have not been reprimanded for their ‘misdemeanours’.

Perhaps the fear that law enforcing agencies will not assist the victims is an adequate reason to not report these crimes.

A recent case which failed to make the headlines was reported and publicised on the Asian Human Rights Commission’s website. The case revolves around a woman by the name of Parveen Bibi, who hails from Rahimyar Khan. The woman was raped, abused and sold to various people over the period of a year. However, when her family finally realised what was actually happening and reported the crime, the police refused to assist them. In fact, many officials from the police force and community police discouraged them from filing the case and asked them to drop the charges as the ‘people involved’ were highly resourceful and were capable of vindictiveness.

The brutality of the crime, coupled with the indifferent behaviour of our LEAs, are enough to infuriate anyone. The laws, bills and policies will remain unimplemented unless the ‘custodians’ of these so-called mandates own them and ensure that they are being followed. While it is true that nothing will compensate for the traumatic events that have tarnished the life of the victim in question; taking severe actions against the culprits behind her abuse might play an important role in stopping other people from getting involved in any such activities.

Hence, it would not be unwise to say that a piece of paper has no significance till its contents are used for safeguarding the people it is meant to protect.

For decades women have been treated as commodities and items of sale in Pakistan. One of the most underreported crimes are those committed against women. The ratio and incidences of marital or spousal rape in Pakistan are extremely high. Women are subjected to marital rape for years and consider that the ‘service’ remains an integral part of their matrimonial duty. Women have reportedly died from cases of marital rape; however, our very deep rooted belief that this is our ‘duty’ discourages us from addressing the issue severly.

The aforementioned issue is not restricted to the poverty ridden and illiterate section of the society. Many a time, I have seen the so-called educated people mock statutory rape in Pakistan. Perhaps the phenomenon has more to do with our cultural and social values and the way we are individually brought up.

Perhaps it is slightly wishful of me to divert people’s attention to more ‘obscure’ crimes when the most apparent and evident ones are being neglected by the law enforcers.

The announcement of the bill was very frankly a tremendous respite for many of us however; its success is yet to be measured. In a male dominated society, protecting women can be extremely tricky. It is encouraging to believe that laws and protection mandates will bring about a radical change in the structure of our society. However, what remains more essential and perhaps the most vital element of the process is the behavioural change amongst the masses of Pakistan.

Unless we stop using women as tools for ‘barter trade’, the crimes and violence will continue to exist. Each victim of beatings, acid attacks, burning, rape and other forms of violence is an open question mark to the sanctity of our society. It is mandatory to take actions individually to eradicate violence against women; it is, in fact, the only way to fight the system which has accepted the status quo and denied justice to the women of Pakistan.