KARACHI, Oct 29: Women lawmakers in parliament are toeing the party line while initiating legislation for the safeguard of women’s rights.

This was one of the arguments put forward by Dr Khalida Ghous, director of the Women Study Centre of the University of Karachi, at a seminar for the participants of the 76th Advanced Course in public sector administration held at the National Institute of Administration on Wednesday morning.

She recalled that she had been invited by the Karachi Nazim to speak to women councillors after their election. “I realized that the elected women councillors had no deep understanding of women’s issues. They were concerned only about Karo-kari and other high-profile issues which grab headlines in newspapers every now and then,” she said.

Dr Ghous said that being a signatory to international conventions on women, Pakistan was obligated to enforce domestic laws ensuring that the rights of women were safeguarded. “But the question that we should pose to the government is: are such laws being made? At the government level, there seems to be some realization that human rights - of which women’s rights were a component - are important and should, therefore, be protected. But it looks as if this is being done under world pressure,” she said.

She recalled that the 1970s had been declared the decade of women by the United Nations. “As far as the United Nations was concerned, this was a departure from its policy aimed at reducing the danger posed by states harbouring expansionist and imperialistic designs. They made Pakistan work on women’s rights. But three decades have tiptoed past us. How many women-specific laws have been made in this country?” she wondered.

Speaking about child rights, Dr Ghous referred to the case of Javed Iqbal who had murdered more than 100 children in Lahore. ”What has the government done to ensure that nobody does that again? No strategy has been identified which can solve the issues of children.”

She observed that case of abduction and sexual exploitation of children were reported in the press every day so much so that readers were no longer moved by them. She noted that there were a large number of women in the informal where type, nature and intensity of exploitation was very high.

Speaking about the cultural sensitivities of Pakistani society, she said a woman felt extremely good when she felt sure that her brother, her father or her husband were protective towards her. “Even if a woman has gray hair, she feels very good. But if her brother is telling her to spend her entire life within four walls, then he is not protecting her. He is stunting her intellectual growth and the progress of her career.”

Dr Ghous said she did not support revolutionizing society. But, she added, let us not disturb the evolutionary process of society.