LAHORE: South Asia Partnership Pakistan (SAP-PK) ended its 16 days of activism by calling together civil society to discuss the issues of violence and injustice against women in Pakistan, especially with regard to the implementation of laws concerning these issues.

The activism is observed globally from Nov 25 to Dec 10, the opening of which falls on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and the closure on the International Day of Human Rights.

The theme of the event was the implementation status of women’s laws, and the speakers focused on sexual harassment in the workplace and on public places, acid throwing and the general anti-women practices so prevalent in the country.

Speaking to the audience, Naeema Malik from the SAP said that for the first time three such laws had been amended and passed that ensured the protection of women from violence in different forms. However the problem still occurred at ground level. The reality was that the laws had been made but they had yet to be implemented.

Muhammad Tahseen said that the problems that occurred with women in small districts and villages were almost unimaginable.

He said he had seen women in Layyah, Bhakkar and Mianwali in terrible conditions. But both men and women in these areas have voiced out that they would not vote for any ‘rich people’ this time, he claimed.

Some women who have suffered either first hand violence or have been witness to others’ suffering were present at the seminar.

Hameeda Bibi who was supported by Godh organization said that she had married her 13-year-old daughter to a 15-year-old boy.

“It was the done thing in our village and the fact that people were married off young was also a tradition,” she said.

“Almost immediately after the marriage she began to start having children, and subsequently began to suffer from health problems leading to serious family problems with her in laws,” she said. She was later divorced to solve the issue.

Rifat Bibi had a complaint about not receiving her share of the property after her father-in-law had died, and her husband could not work and earn anymore because he was suffering from a disability. She has to stay with her brothers who support her financially.

“I feel like it is a huge burden on my shoulders that I am not financially independent. I did not know about the inheritance issue until I sought help from LRC but am still waiting for my share of the property to be given to me.”

Rabia Batool had suffered from burns at the age of six when her frock caught fire.

“But there are several girls who were punished by men in their lives through acid,” she said.

Meanwhile, Advocate Shamim Malik says that the acid bill has seen several amendments which have given some protection to women.

“There have been two major changes in 2011,” he said. “One is in Section 332 of the PPC that certain conditions have been clarified and elaborated so that the perpetrators who used to be acquitted easily can now face heavy charges since things have been properly explained. The second is in 336-A where the accused and convicted will be sentenced to a life imprisonment of 14 years with a fine of Rs0.14 million.”

He said the laws were already there but implementation was not being done.

“The worst situations are at the police stations,” he said. “They have the worst kind of atmosphere even for a respectable man let alone women. What we need is a woman counselor or co-SHO in each police station no matter how far flung the area is, and these women officers will be the only source of hope for women complainants.”

Tehseen Fatima spoke about the importance of the Workplace and Public Harassment Bill, where women can easily file a complaint against eve teasers or others who harass them in different forms.

MPA Sajida Mir said that women should be first of all recognized as human beings and not just a sex or gender. She said that even parliamentarians faced all kinds of harassments. She named Sassui Palijo and Shazia Marri who had received sleazy notes and invitations from male parliamentarians. She said there were certain offensive attitudes that they as women had to face every day in the assembly. But those had to be overcome for a more collected effort towards liberation of women.

She said, “One must always remember that when a woman is being harassed, or hurt, or abused in any way, no one should stand by watching this. Even the person who is watching then ends up being an accomplice.” — Xari Jalil