Rape in Pakistan

Rape in Pakistan came to international attention after the politically sanctioned rape of Mukhtaran Bibi.[1][2] The group War Against Rape (WAR) has documented the severity of rape in Pakistan, and the police indifference to it.[3] According to Women's Studies professor Shahla Haeri, rape in Pakistan is "often institutionalized and has the tacit and at times the explicit approval of the state".[4][5] According to lawyer Asma Jahangir, who is a co-founder of the women's rights group Women's Action Forum, up to seventy-two percent of women in custody in Pakistan are physically or sexually abused.[6]

Notable cases

Since 2000, various women and teenage girls have begun to speak out after being sexually assaulted. Going against the tradition that a woman should suffer in silence, they have lobbied news outlets and politicians.[7] A recent report from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan estimated that in 2009, 46 percent of unlawful female killings in Pakistan were "honour killings".[8]

Historical accounts

During the Bangladesh Liberation War, it is estimated that between 400,000[21] and 600,000[22] women and girls were sexually assaulted by the Pakistan armed forces and the Al-Badr ("the moon") and the Al-Shams ("the sun") militias that supported them.[23][24]

Issues

The group War Against Rape (WAR) has documented the severity of the rape problem in Pakistan and of police indifference to it.[25] WAR is an NGO whose mission is to publicize the problem of rape in Pakistan; in a report released in 1992, of 60 reported cases of rape, 20% involved police officers. In 2008 the group claimed that several of its members were assaulted by a religious group as they tried to help a woman who had been gang raped identify her assailants.[26]

According to a study carried out by Human Rights Watch there is a rape once every two hours,[27] a gang rape every hour [28][29] and 70-90 percent women are suffering with some kind of domestic violence.[27]

According to Women's Studies professor Shahla Haeri, rape in Pakistan is "often institutionalized and has the tacit and at times the explicit approval of the state".[5] According to a study by Human Rights Watch, there is a rape once every two hours[27] and a gang rape every eight.[29] Asma Jahangir, a lawyer and co-founder of the women's rights group Women's Action Forum, reported in a 1988 study of female detainees in Punjab that around 72 percent of them stated they had been sexually abused while in custody.[30]

Child sexual abuse

In a study of child sexual abuse in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, out of a sample of 300 children 17% claimed to have been abused and in 1997 one child a day was reported as raped, gang raped or kidnapped for sexual gratification.[31] In September 2014, the British Channel 4 broadcast a documentary called Pakistan's Hidden Shame, directed by Mohammed Naqvi and produced by Jamie Doran,[32][33] which highlighted the problem of sexual abuse of street children in particular, an estimated 90 percent of whom have been sexually abused.

Minorities

The rape and assault of Christian, Hindu, Sikh and other minorities is reported to be prevalent in Pakistan.[34][35][36][37][38] Inaction, refusal to file complaints, intimidation and corruption amongst the police and judiciary are also frequent problems.[39][40][41][42][43][44][45]

The legal system

Honour killings, burnings, and rapes in Pakistan can be seen as indicating inadequate legal protection for women.[46] In 1979 Pakistan passed into law the Hudood Ordinance, which made all forms of extra-marital sex, including rape, a crime against the state.[47] During the time the Hudood Ordinance remained on the statute books, Human Rights Watch(HRW) documented extensive sexual abuse against female bonded laborers.[25] In 1992, HRW also described extensive reports of physical and sexual abuse against female complainants by the police in a 106-page report.[48] Reports of problems with reporting and prosecuting rape persist.[44][45][49][50]

Attitudes

Rape in Pakistan came to international attention after Mukhtaran Bibi charged her attackers with rape and spoke out about her experiences.[1][16] She was then denied the right to leave the country. The matter of her refused visit to the US was raised in an interview by the Washington Post with the then President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, who claimed to champion "Moderate Islam" that "respect the rights of women", and complained that his country is "unfairly portrayed as a place where rape and other violence against women are rampant and frequently condoned".[51] He said that he had relented over allowing her to leave the country, and remarked that being raped had "become a money-making concern", a way to get rich abroad. This statement provoked an uproar, and Musharraf later denied having made it.[51]

The statement was made in the light of the fact that another rape victim, Dr Shazia Khalid, had left Pakistan, was living in Canada, and had spoken out against official attitudes to rape in Pakistan. Musharraf said of her: "It is the easiest way of doing it. Every second person now wants to come up and get all the [pause] because there is so much of finances. Dr. Shazia, I don't know. But maybe she's a case of money (too), that she wants to make money. She is again talking all against Pakistan, against whatever we've done. But I know what the realities are."[52]

On May 29, 2013, the Council of Islamic Ideology, a constitutional body responsible for giving legal advice on Islamic issues to the Government of Pakistan and the Parliament, declared that DNA tests are not admissible as the main evidence in rape cases. A spokesman for the council said that DNA evidence could, at best, serve as supplementary evidence but could not supersede the Islamic laws laid out for determining rape complaints.[53]

See also

Regional:

General:

References

  1. 1 2 Laird, Kathleen Fenner (2008). Whose Islam? Pakistani Women's Political Action Groups Speak Out. Proquest. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-549-46556-0.
  2. ↑ Khan, Aamer Ahmed (8 September 2005). "Pakistan's real problem with rape". BBC.
  3. ↑ Karim, Farhad (1996). Contemporary Forms of Slavery in Pakistan. Human Rights Watch. p. 72. ISBN 978-1564321541.
  4. ↑ http://www.dawn.com/news/1175081/lahore-gets-first-women-only-auto-rickshaw-to-beat-male-pests
  5. 1 2 Haeri, Shahla (2002). No Shame for the Sun: Lives of Professional Pakistani Women (1st ed.). Syracuse University Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-0815629603.
  6. ↑ Goodwin, Jan (2002). Price of Honor: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World. Plume. p. 51. ISBN 978-0452283770.
  7. ↑ Afsaruddin, Asma (2000). Hermeneutics and Honor: Negotiating Female Public Space in Islamic/Ate Societies. Harvard University Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-932885-21-0.
  8. ↑ Nosheen, Habiba; Schellmann, Hilke (28 September 2011). "Refusing to Kill Daughter, Pakistani Family Defies Tradition, Draws Anger". The Atlantic.
  9. ↑ Greenberg, Jerrold S.; Clint E. Bruess; Sarah C. Conklin (10 March 2010). "Marital Rape". Exploring the Dimensions of Human Sexuality (4th revised ed.). Jones and Bartlett. ISBN 978-0-7637-7660-2.
  10. ↑ Kristof, Nicholas D. (29 September 2004). "Sentenced to Be Raped". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  11. ↑ Masood, Salman (17 March 2009). "Pakistani Woman Who Shattered Stigma of Rape Is Married". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  12. ↑ "Pakistani rape survivor turned education crusader honoured at UN". UN News Centre. United Nations. 2 May 2006. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  13. ↑ "Pakistan rape acquittals rejected". BBC News. 28 June 2005.
  14. ↑ Kenny, Joanne (20 January 2006). "Curtain rises on Showtime's fall slate". C21 Media.
  15. ↑ "Second Annual Television Academy Honors to Celebrate Eight Programs that Exemplify 'Television with a Conscience'". Television Academy. 20 October 2009.
  16. 1 2 Khan, Aamer Ahmed (8 September 2005). "Pakistan's real problem with rape". BBC.
  17. ↑ Crilly, Rob (26 December 2010). "Pakistan's rape victim who dared to fight back". The Telegraph.
  18. ↑ "Pakistan policemen accused of drunken rape". New Zealand Herald. AFP. 22 June 2012.
  19. ↑ "Pakistan woman raped and hanged from tree". The Times of India. AFP. 21 June 2014.
  20. ↑ Nadeem, Azhar (13 September 2014). "Three Sons of PMLN Lawmaker Booked for Raping Teenager in Faisalabad". Pakistan Tribune.
  21. ↑ Saikia, Yasmin (2011). Heineman, Elizabeth D., ed. Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones: From the Ancient World to the Era of Human Rights. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-8122-4318-5.
  22. ↑ Riedel, Bruce O. (2011). Deadly embrace: Pakistan, America, and the future of the global jihad. Brookings Institution. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-8157-0557-4.
  23. ↑ Schmid, Alex (2011). The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research. Routledge. p. 600. ISBN 978-0-415-41157-8.
  24. ↑ Tomsen, Peter (2011). Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers. Public Affairs. p. 240. ISBN 978-1-58648-763-8.
  25. 1 2 Karim, Farhad (1996). Contemporary Forms of Slavery in Pakistan. Human Rights Watch. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-56432-154-1.
  26. ↑ "Rape case muddied by claims of 3 parties". Daily Times. 20 March 2008.
  27. 1 2 3 Gosselin, Denise Kindschi (2009). Heavy Hands: An Introduction to the Crime of Intimate and Family Violence (4th ed.). Prentice Hall. p. 13. ISBN 978-0136139034.
  28. ↑ Aleem, Shamim (2013). Women, Peace, and Security: (An International Perspective). p. 64.
  29. 1 2 Foerstel, Karen (2009). Issues in Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class: Selections. Sage. p. 337. ISBN 978-1412979672.
  30. ↑ Jahangir, Asma; Jilani, Hina (1990). The Hudood Ordinances: A Divine Sanction?. Lahore: Rhotas Books. p. 137.; cited in Human Rights Watch (1992). "Double Jeopardy: Police Abuse of Women in Pakistan" (PDF). p. 26. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  31. ↑ Rasheed, Shaireen (2004). Jyotsna Pattnaik, ed. Childhood In South Asia: A Critical Look At Issues, Policies, And Programs. Information Age. p. 183. ISBN 978-1-59311-020-8.
  32. ↑ "Pakistan's Hidden Shame". Channel 4. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  33. ↑ O'Connor, Coilin (9 September 2014). "New Film Lays Bare 'Pakistan's Hidden Shame'". Radio Free Europe.
  34. ↑ "India Has A Rape Crisis, But Pakistan's May Be Even Worse". International Business Times. 2013-01-13. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  35. ↑ "ASIA/PAKISTAN - Women in Pakistan: Christian girls raped by Muslims". Pontifical Mission Society. 2014-05-19. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  36. ↑ "Targeting Hindu girls for rape". Express Tribune. 2013-01-04. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  37. ↑ "World Report 2013: Pakistan". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  38. ↑ Sonwalkar, Prasun (2016-02-12). "Plight of Ahmadiyyas: MPs want British govt to review aid to Pakistan". Hindustan Times, London. Archived from the original on 2016-09-03. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  39. ↑ "Christian woman gang raped by three Muslim men in Pakistan". Christianity Today. 2015-10-26. Retrieved 2016-07-05.
  40. ↑ "Rape of Christian Girl in Pakistan Ignored by Police". Worthy News. 2002-08-11. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  41. ↑ "Pakistan Christian Community Outraged Following Rape of 12-Year-Old Girl by Muslim Men". Christian Post. 2014-08-22. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  42. ↑ "Pakistan Christian Community Outraged Christian Woman Gang-Raped in Pakistan as Attacks Against Believers Escalate". Christian Post. 2016-07-26. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  43. ↑ "17-year-old Christian woman in Pakistan raped during Muslim celebration of Eid al-Fitr". Barnabas Fund News. 2016-07-14. Archived from the original on 2016-07-16. Retrieved 2016-07-16.
  44. 1 2 Javaid, Maham (2016-01-28). "Pakistan's history of rape impunity". Al Jazeera.
  45. 1 2 Ilyas, Faiza (2015-08-01). "Woman speaks of forced conversion, denial to lodge FIR of rape, trafficking". Dawn.
  46. ↑ Datta, Rekha (2010). Beyond Realism: Human Security in India and Pakistan in the Twenty-First Century. Lexington. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-7391-2155-9.
  47. ↑ Ross, Mary P.; Lori Heise; Nancy Felipe Russo (1997). Laura L. O'Toole, Jessica R. Schiffman, ed. Gender Violence: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. New York University Press. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-8147-8041-1.
  48. ↑ "Police Abuse of Women in Pakistan". 1992-06-21. Archived from the original on 2016-09-03.
  49. ↑ Childress, Sarah (2013-05-08). "The Stigma of Reporting a Rape in Pakistan". PBS.
  50. ↑ Ahmed, Beenish (2013-01-11). "Pakistan also has a rape problem". Global Post Public Radio website.
  51. 1 2 "Musharraf is 'Silly and Stupid' says Washington Post". South Asia Tribune. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  52. ↑ Amir, Ayaz (26 September 2005). "Blundering Musharraf begins to lose his balance". South Asia Tribune. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  53. ↑ "Rape cases: DNA tests not admissible as main evidence says CII". tribune.com.pk. May 30, 2013.
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