Summary UN declares 'Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it Up for Gender Equality' as the theme this year.
Dunya News Report (Humaira Sajid)
ISLAMABAD – March 8th is celebrated globally as International Women’s Day since 1914. The United Nations (UN) has declared ‘Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step it Up for Gender Equality’ as the theme this year.
The new agenda has a stand-alone goal just for the empowerment of women and girls as a core means of tackling economic underperformance, global overpopulation and poverty worldwide. It also celebrates the achievements of women throughout history.
A number of events have been organized in Islamabad to join the international community in commemoration of International Women’s Day. In this connection, a conference organized by Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) titled ‘Women in Public Life: Breaking the Barriers’ was also organized which called upon all branches of the states to ensure due representation for women in positions of power in the public institutions and arena.
The conference concluded with a pledge taken by all the participants to keep reminding the government of the equality guaranteed in the constitution and commitments made to international community. Some of the most prominent speakers at the conference included Asma Jehangir, Sarkar Abbas, Afrasaib Khattak and a few others. The statements issued by the speakers also demanded the government of Pakistan to address dismal proportion of women’s representation in positions of power and leadership which is among the lowest in world.
According to World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report Pakistan is ranked 134th out of 135 countries among the worst places for women in the world. Pakistan being an Islamic Republic; every rule and regulation in the country is based on Islamic law. But, at the same time, there are some customs and traditions against Islamic laws which are commonly practiced (UN, 2011). Cultural patterns in Pakistan do not let women enjoy their legal and religious rights protected by the law and provided by Islam.
Pakistan’s legislative history on women s rights issues has all those dark, grey and bright patches. There have been repeated attempts and continued efforts by women and men parliamentarians for reform of existing laws and new positive legislation for women. The efforts went along determined struggle by women s rights groups and activists for long years against discriminatory laws and customary practices. Though women of Pakistan reached a milestone in December 2011, when three important bills, Prevention of Anti-Women Practices, 2011, Bill, Acid Control and Acid Crimes Prevention, 2011, Bill, and The Women in Distress and Detention Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2011 were passed by the Senate.
Recently, the Punjab government also passed the Women Protection against Violence Bill 2016, however confronted massive resentment from different political leaders and clerics. The religious parties fulminating against the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act, saw it as a ‘conspiracy’ to ‘destroy’ the family unit. Repeatedly, these regressive forces have demonstrated their willful and irrational disdain for the principles of humanity and even the law itself, such as declaring a minimum age for marriage as being against Islam.
According to a report, at least 55 acid attacks were made against women in 2015, but only 17 arrests were made in this connection. The UNICEF’s State of the World’s Children Report 2014 states that seven percent of Pakistani girls are married off under the age of 15. Of the cases of child marriage reported in 2012, 43 per cent of child brides were 11 to 15 years of age and 32 per cent from age six to 10. As a result, every one out of ten girls between the ages of 15 to 19 years becomes pregnant or a mother already.
This report and many other of its kind describe that there is still lack of infrastructure to implement these legislations. Despite existence of these laws, rampant disapproval of women’s rights in the society has been witnessed. This forces one to wonder whether the state has met its responsibilities, or whether it has prioritized patriarchy.
Speaking on the need to highlight stories based on issues of gender discrimination and suppression, Dr Riaz Sheikh from Szabist University said that media practitioners have to play their part. Giving reference from the time of Zia-ul-Haq when ordinances against women were introduced, he said that the decline of the society started at that time. “Journalists at the time too were willing to challenge it but due to oppression by the government and the self interest of media owners, these issues were compromised,” he said, adding that it is the compromise of that time that graver consequences of violence against women have to be dealt with today.
