ISLAMABAD: A book containing analysis of women-friendly legislation in Pakistan, titled The Justice Prelude: a socio legal perspective on Women’s Access to Justice was launched at the National Press Club on Wednesday.

The case law book, which was launched at an event hosted by the NGO Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO), also contains progressive judgments made while implementing these laws and the socio-economic barriers to women’s access to justice.

The case law book gives a voice to individuals who were protected from violence as a result of legal aid, advice and representation; law professionals who believed in their services and reached out to secure the rights of some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged women in society.

The book also analyses problems with the current judicial system, which is currently unable, and cannot serve the needs of women even after these landmark legislations.

The book offers progressive precedents to be followed by the legal fraternity, and development practitioners for further advocacy to promote and strengthen women’s access to justice.

Many human rights activists, parliamentarians and lawyers participated in the event to show their support for the initiative and express their views on the book.

SPO Chief of Programme Zafar Zeeshan welcomed the guests and the NGO’s Senior Programme Specialist Gender Shazia Shaheen presented the objectives of the National Coordinator for Bar Council/Association Engagement project which built the capacity of district bar associations and engaged pro bono lawyers to promote women’s access to justice.

Gender Equality Programme Deputy Chief of Party Mahpara Shakil Ghouri presented the socio-political and cultural perspective of the casebook which contains an analysis of barriers to women’s access to justice and progressive judgments passed by the supreme and high courts of Pakistan.

Benazir Jatoi, a legal expert, reviewed the casebook from a legal perspective emphasising on the critical importance of case law in bringing positive transformation in law.

Deputy Chief of Party of the AAWAZ Programme Dr Noureen Khalid shared the structural barriers to women accessing justice.

“The sad reality is that we do not speak the language of the people we work for. We are working for the betterment of society based on our background, our status and our official positioning and use jargon that is relevant for us but the men, women and children we are working for have not given us the right to speak for them.

“They are missing from the stage and the limelight. When we speak of access to justice we restrict the conversation to the legal framework but we are talking about and for people who are lack basic rights,” she said.

The plenary session on pro-women legislation and present state of affairs was chaired and moderated by Dr Maliha Hussain while MNAs, Rumina Khurshid Alam, Surriya Asghar and Asiya Tanoli discussed the role of the women’s caucus on implementation of pro women laws, particularly the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace 2010, the Anti Rape Act 2016 and the Anti Honour Killing Act 2016.

The launch of the publication was chaired by Dr Fouzia Saeed, Executive Director of Lok Virsa, who discussed the journey of the case book with the authors, Khadija Ali and Shazia Shaheen.

Ms Shaheen is an advocate of women’s rights and has worked in various capacities with women’s rights and human rights organisations in Pakistan.

Ms Ali is a lawyer and social activist who has been involved in research, drafting, lobbying and advocacy for progressive and gender friendly legislation. The panels identified a series of recommendations based on the barriers highlighted in the case law book.

Providing pro bono services and legal aid through existing social safety net programmes and achieving greater gender sensitivity within the criminal justice system were proposed.

Additional recommendations were made for provincial governments to develop committees and units, such as Child Protection Units, where those are missing.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2017