KARACHI: Despite an impressive line-up of laws passed over the past 10 years to safeguard women and children, implementation remains a serious concern, according to lawyer and human rights activist, Maliha Zia, who spoke at a consultative meeting organised by the Sindh Human Rights Commission under its gender equity programme at a hotel on Thursday.

A statutory body formed under the Sindh Protection of Human Rights Act 2011, the commission’s head, retired Justice Majida Rizvi, looked over the discussion held in the afternoon as one by one experts came up to discuss and point out what needed to be amended to the present laws.

Zia, who spoke about the Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, said that there were several religious and social factors that overshadowed the existing law, making it difficult to be implemented.

Yet amendments had been made over time which included increasing the legal age for marriage from 16 to 18 years of age, and amending the powers of the police who, earlier dependent on a court order, could now stop such marriages without one, she said, adding “Sindh is the only province where the age has been increased.”

What’s missing from the law, however, was the fact that although a child marriage was punishable by law, the marriage was legal and could be annulled only through a divorce. This was a contradiction which needed to be amended and looked into, insisted Zia.

Also, as one participant pointed out, non-Muslim women might have a tough time registering such cases, though Zia pointed out that the law was the same for everyone and did not mention a particular religion.

Lecturer at Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Abira Ashfaq, while doing a comparative analysis of the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010, said the law needed to cover other professions as well.

These professions should include, but should not be limited to, women working in agricultural fields as well as home-based workers. She said that a lower-level committee, acting as a local committee, should look into cases of sexual harassment so that it was accessible to everyone.

She added: “Many a times, women are discouraged from reporting cases of sexual harassment which is rampant in offices, and this needs to be addressed.”

When it comes to taking such cases to court, the process of going for appeal was the most crucial one, she said, as the judgment depended on it. She added that one should go for a tribunal court in order to get a fair trial. “Since there is also a culture of victim-shaming, the inquiry committee members should be changed every three years,” she added.

Representing Aurat Foundation, Mahnaz Rahman spoke about the Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act, 2010. She said that anyone abetting or facilitating the crime should face an equal and harsher punishment as the one committing it. Total time of investigation of acid crime cases should be 60 days, “as we know already that justice delayed is justice denied,” she said.

If an investigation officer was caught botching the investigation, then he or she should be imprisoned for two years. The children of a burn victim should be accommodated by the government, she added.

Activist and journalist, Afia Salam, added that psychological help should also be overlooked by the state as most often it remains neglected.

But above all that, implementation of the laws is considered to be the main hurdle, as pointed out by experts on the panel.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2016