Speaking at the seminar on “Poverty and Violence against women”, organized jointly by the Aurat Foundation and the Network for Women’s Rights, the speakers pointed out that violence against women is not restricted to any region or country, but it is a global phenomenon.
The situation is worse in developing countries where women are being exploited and victimized under the garb of socio-cultural traditions and poor governance, they said.
Leader of the visiting Indian women’s delegation Shashi Sail, her team-mates Sudha Verghese and Koley Roy, Justice (retd) Shaiq Usmani, Iqbal Haider of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Nafisa Raja (MNA), Asma Sherwani (MPA), Dr Mehnaz Fatima, Marium Palijo of Sindhiyani Tehreek, Farhat Pervin and Anis Haroon also spoke at the seminar.
The visitors observed that natural resources are not distributed judiciously in India. Though women constitute almost 50 per cent of the population, just around one per cent of the land is owned by women.
Citing examples of violence against women in India, they pointed out that 32 women are raped in a day, and poverty among women has increased four folds — from 10 million to 44 million — during the last decade.
The condition of women from the scheduled caste (Dalit) is even worse. When atrocities are committed against them and when they go to police stations for FIR, it is not registered under the specific law which protects interests of Dalits.
Under the law, only high court can grant bail to an accused, so police avoid registering cases under this law, and cases are registered under other laws with lesser punishments, they disclosed.
They urged the Pakistani women activists to join hands with them so that pressure could be mounted on governments of India and Pakistan, both of which though have signed Convention on Elimination of all kinds of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), but were expressing reservations on its implementation and the women had been suffering in the process.
Women in almost all the SAARC region had been facing similar problems, as from the childhood, a girl is told that she is inferior to boy and less attention is paid to her health and education, they informed.
As the girl grows up, she develops an inferiority complex which seriously affects her psychologically during her adult life.
They regretted that the vested interest even uses religion; although the religions stress on getting education.
They said although big landholding was abolished in India soon after partition, but even the so-called land reforms introduced by various governments could not weaken the grip of big landowners, as a result women suffer the most owing to feudal mindset which considers women as commodities and not as human beings.
They said that violence against women was not restricted to any one class of society but it was rampant in all the income groups which proved that poverty is not the only cause of violence. Even economic independence of the women could not fully save women from violence as many of the maids ,though were bread- winners in the family, but were beaten by their spouses, who did not earn.
They regretted that the judiciary was not providing quick and inexpensive justice to victims, who have to spend a fortune and many years in litigation before they could get justice.
They said unfortunately rights of the women had been eroded with the passage of time and dictatorial regimes could be termed for the sufferings of women.
They pointed out that laws which were discriminatory towards women, such as Hudood Ordinances were formulated. They said that the National Commission on the Status of Women had recommended abolition of discriminatory laws, but it was not being done.
They urged the women parliamentarians to join hands and rise above party politics when issues relating to women were being discussed in the parliament and take a joint stand to safeguard the women’s rights.
The said at present there were over 70 women MNAs in the assembly and numerically it was a big group and if they took a joint stand on any issue, no political party could ignore it.
They also suggested the women to understand the power of their vote, and they should vote for enlightened people who could represent and safeguard their interests.
Later, a torch-bearing procession was taken out from Sidco Centre, where the seminar was held, and the women chanted slogans for the women’s right as they passed through various city roads to reach the Press Club.
Earlier, a press conference was also organized and Indian delegation chief Shashi Sail and Aurat Foundation chief Anis Haroon. They said no custom, tradition, ideology, religion, political or economic system justifies the issue of violence.
The said that armed and unarmed conflicts between countries, communities and peoples had resolved through negotiations which bring about peaceful just and fair solution at the national, regional and international levels.
They said women are struggling for elimination of the poverty throughout the world, and they wanted wealth-sharing, eradication of violence against women and respect for women’s physical and moral integrity, etc.
The Indian delegation after a hectic two-day tour of the city is leaving for Lahore early on Thursday morning.
The eight-member Indian delegation comprises Shashi Sail (leader), Koely Roy (from Kolkatta), Vasanth Kannabiran (Hyderabad Daccan), Dr Seema Sakhre (Nagpur), Sudha Verghese (Patna), Prathina Mishra (Bhopal), Nailini N. Paul (New Delhi) and Harshalata Kaur. Their three colleagues — Jarjum Ete (Arunachal Pradesh), Christy Samy (Tamil Nadu) and Indirani Sinha (Kolkatta) – are in Lahore.
The Indian women have come here as a part of the world relay march of women.