For all the talk of empowering women and giving them their rights, we still seem to be stuck in a groove when it comes to striking out discriminatory decrees that question women’s judgment and morality. Otherwise banks today would not be following Gen Ziaul Haq’s Qanun-i-Shahadat Ordinance 1984 that, among other things, equates the testimony of two women with that of one man. Neither would we have failed to repeal the Hudood Ordinance whose provisions, though softened somewhat by the Protection of Women Act 2006, still serve as a reminder of the repression women endure. Unfortunately, any steps taken so far towards the emancipation of women have been cosmetic and top-heavy.

Changes at the grassroots have been minimal. No doubt, the head of Pakistan’s central bank is a woman — a fact that underscores the irony of banks not accepting the signature of female witnesses — and never before has parliament in Pakistan seen such a preponderance of women as now. Also, with more of them in the job market (many enter fields like the media where previously their numbers were negligible) there is greater visibility of women in the mainstream. However, only a handful of women have seen their lives change for the better. The vast majority remain in the backdrop, silenced by archaic customs and conservative mindsets that see their progression as a threat to the country’s patriarchal set-up.

Statistics make the picture even clearer: the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported more than 4,000 cases of abuses against women in 2007. These related to sexual crimes, honour killings, domestic violence, etc. Considering that many victims are reluctant to seek legal redress, the number is probably much higher. On the other end of the spectrum there are social and cultural rights that are being abused. Only 42 per cent of the female population aged 10 years and over is literate. For the provinces of Balochistan and the NWFP and the tribal areas, where many are not even allowed to vote, the figure is far lower than the national average. In fact, owing to the pernicious influence of Talibanisation in the country, the literacy rate in the NWFP actually plummeted to 28 per cent in 2006-07 from 30 per cent the previous year.

For its part the state has been able to do little to root out feudal and tribal norms that see women as a piece of property and their chastity as central to tribal honour. In fact with parliamentarians who actually subscribe to traditions that violate women’s rights, as witnessed recently in the Balochistan honour-killing saga, the government can do little to eliminate jirgas that challenge the authority of courts of law. The PPP was not able to make much headway on women’s issues during its last two stints in power. Unless it does so now, it will find obscurantist forces, be they the Taliban or similarly retrogressive elements, putting paid to any hopes for women’s progress.