7.2 Domestic violence
“We have no laws to protect women from domestic violence. This is a male dominated society and men possess women as their properties”
170 Bari, F ‘The social cost of violence against women’. The News, 21 February 1994. Bari, F ‘The social cost of violence against women’. The News, 21 February 1994.
The above quote, from a worker based in Lahore, reflects some of the difficulties that workers and survivor/victims had in dealing with abuse or violent incidents. There was overwhelming evidence across participant accounts that domestic violence was seen as a private matter that should be resolved between the husband and wife or within the family. The ‘private’ nature of family life, and a subsequent reluctance to intervene in what are perceived as ‘domestic’ issues, is something that Pakistani authorities share with their UK counterparts. In the UK it is only in the last two decades that domestic violence has been seen as a crime, and treated as such. However, there are also significant differences between the two contexts, in that domestic violence in Pakistan is not only seen as a private matter, but there is also a widespread belief that violence is an inevitable part of a woman’s lot in life. As the programme coordinator from one major NGO in Lahore pointed out:
“The judiciary is gender blind – the judges are hardly aware of domestic violence. They think family values are being broken. For instance there was a judge who said to the victim of domestic violence that she was stupid and unfortunate if she did not want to return home because her husband wanted to reconcile.”
She further added:
“The main causes of domestic violence are poverty and customary practices. The problem is that domestic violence is not condemned socially by families. Women are expected to serve men, their families and not discuss their cases outside because of family honour.”
As has already been discussed, there is no specific legislation on domestic violence in Pakistan. Hina Jilani, a leading Human Rights lawyer, in her interview for the study, commented:
“The domestic violence bill has been pending since 2003 – nothing has been done about it.”
As previously noted, under the Pakistan Penal Code legal action can be taken if a case is registered against the perpetrator of the crime. This was despite the claim made by the Government Minister for Women’s Development and Youth that: ‘If it is a serious offence then the police will act.’
From the interviews with the victims of violence, and with service providers, it became very evident that the perception of domestic violence in wider Pakistani society is that it is an acceptable form of behaviour. This belief is reinforced in women’s lives at all levels, by family members such mothers, fathers and siblings and by community members. This was confirmed by the Programme Co-ordinator for an agency dedicated to supporting women and missing/kidnapped children in Karachi who said:
“Mothers usually tell their daughters that if they have put up with abuse for all these years then why can’t they?”
The Deputy Superintendent of Police at a Women’s Police station in Lahore added:
“A woman is discouraged from leaving home because of family honour because if she leaves
everyone will hear about it.”Indeed, in the course of conducting the research it became clear that women were generally reluctant to mention that they had been subjected to domestic violence because of the stigma and consequences attached to this. This perspective was not simply confined to the family. There was substantial evidence that this pervaded state agencies such as the police and courts and some service providers. As one worker from a UNHCR described the situation:
“Even in the cities there is no police support. They don’t register a case and force the woman to return to her husband. They consider it a private matter. Women don’t go to the police station because it is not safe for a woman to go to a police station in Pakistan because they risk being raped or sexually assaulted. I, as a lawyer, would not go to a police station without a male.”
Research participants consulted across all the regions in this study stated that in situations where a woman discloses domestic violence to her family, she is told to remain with her husband and if she flees the family home, she will be returned to the violent relationship and told to put up with it. To illustrate this, the superintendent of the Dar ul Aman in Rawalpindi cited a case of a woman under similar circumstances:
“This woman was married for eleven years and had four children but only brought up one of her children – her two year old. Her husband did not do any work because he was the only son and was
spoilt. She worked as a domestic servant. He used to regularly beat her up and each time she went
to her family, they would send her back to her husband and say she could not stay with them.”
The general view of families presented in the interviews is that a woman should remain within the confines of her home even if she is a victim of violence. If she steps out of the house or seeks legal recourse it is deemed that she is violating the family’s honour. The majority of women were seen to persevere with these injustices and maintain the family honour. If they did make the choice to leave the family home it was reported that they are threatened with murder, completely ostracised or disowned by their families. The families were seen to view it as a matter of dishonour if a woman leaves home or goes to court to prosecute an incident. This was confirmed by the Additional Secretary of Culture, Social Welfare, Sports and Tourism of the Government of Sindh who said:
“Domestic violence is a social stigma. Women tend not to discuss it or voice the problems because
of ‘honour’. The women are afraid of losing their children, and parents refuse to have them if they
leave their husbands, and society will not accept them.”
From participants accounts’ it would seem that domestic violence in Pakistan largely goes unchallenged and is left in the domain of families and communities, rather than addressed through the Criminal justice system. In effect, domestic violence appears to be condoned in order to preserve family honour.
7.3 Women’s perspectives
Women at a focus group held a shelter in Lahore described the position of women in Pakistan as follows:
“A woman holds no social status in Pakistan…A woman is extremely vulnerable. People beat her
and she keeps crying. There is nothing for a woman if she is not respected by the society. She is like
soil, she holds no worth – she is nothing.”
Women in Pakistan are a diverse group and embrace differences in class, ethnicity, religion, identity and status. Despite these differences there are some common themes which emerge from their narratives. These are primarily centred on patriarchy, family honour and the use of religion, (mainly Islam). It is in these arenas that domestic violence continues to be perpetuated as a private matter. This is bolstered by contradictory responses in the law and the treatment of perpetrators.
Through our interviews with all the participants we tried to evaluate whether women who accessed services when fleeing domestic violence were ever given choices in making decisions about their future. Most service providers would like to believe that women were given the right to choose, but in reality, there was both direct and indirect pressure on women to reconcile, accept mediation or remarry. The reason given for this was that women had limited choices because of the threat of destitution. As one NGO provider put it:
“A woman has minimal choice – reconcile. There are no rehabilitation programmes, housing for
women and the government should take responsibility to provide for these women but they are not
interested.”
The women interviewed spoke about the limitations of their choices and how their lives revolved around family, within a society that perceived them in a particular role. In most cases women reported that they were forced to reconcile and returned to violent relationships. Concern was also expressed about the socio-economic and housing factors that compelled them to accept reconciliation. But it was not only the socio economic factors that pressured them to accept reconciliation but also the fact that if they defied family values, they were subjected to severe assaults or were threatened with honour killing.
An illustration of the way in which both the law and the justice system can work against a woman can be seen in the following case study. The woman in the case study was falsely accused of murdering her first husband (who had not been killed and was alive) and was remanded in custody. Her daughter was born in a police station and spent the first seven years of her life in jail with her mother. On the day we interviewed this woman she had just been acquitted and was preparing for her immediate release from Karachi women’s prison:
“I was married at the age of fifteen years and lived with my husband [who was a] a drug addict. I
was married to him for ten-twelve years and was never allowed out. Throughout our marriage he
was violent towards me and I suffered. I had two daughters with him. One day he verbally divorced
me and he snatched my two daughters aged two and a half years and three months from me and
kicked me out of the house. Soon after I left I was told both my daughters had been sold. I have no
idea where they are and who they were sold to.”
This case powerfully illustrates how a woman who tries to make a stand against domestic violence can have the law used against her. Although now eventually released, she still has not traced her other children. Her child had also, in her formative years, no life experience other than being brought up in a prison. This experience powerfully illustrates how the values and beliefs of families, the law and Pakistani society ultimately negate any written rights within the Pakistani constitution and remove women’s access to justice within the legal systems. In these situations, not only the women but also their children become victims of crimes they have not committed, and are placed in environments that are not conducive to their well being, and are a violation of their human rights.
7.3.1 Experiences of non-Muslim women
The analysis of the experiences of non Muslim women suggests that this is similar to that of Muslim women, but in addition there are issues of forced conversions, threats of death under blasphemy laws and more limited service provision. This is explored later in this chapter. The rise in forced conversions suggests apathy on the part of the government to tackle this problem. There is a pressing need for legislation to curtail this practice.
Non-Muslim women, as outlined in section 5.4.2, do not have the same recourse to the law and as a result are singularly not protected. This denial of protection means that they are more likely to become victims of serious sexual assaults. Since such crimes largely go unchallenged this can be seen to support a norm that non-Muslim women can be exploited and abused, with little response from the State. The women often face double punishment first by their male abusers and then by their families. This was seen in the case of Mahek (5.4.2.2) who was subjected to kidnapping, rape, forced conversion, domestic violence, and rejection from family and finally the loss of her children. Although the shelter and Christian Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLASS) have provided legal assistance and support, the legal system has not given her justice and has failed to protect her. To date no one has been prosecuted for the crimes committed against her.
Moreover it should be noted that, notwithstanding the variations between documented statistics, it remains widely acknowledged that crimes against women are not decreasing, but increasing; and that despite government rhetoric, perpetrators do not appear to be being pursued and held to account.171
7.3.2 Trafficked women and children
“According to a report released by the US Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons,
Pakistan was declared to be a source, transit and destination country for trafficked persons.
According to the report Pakistan was placed on a watch list for trafficking in 2004 because of a
failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat severe forms of human trafficking the
previous year.”172
In section 4.6.4 we highlighted the plight of women trafficked internally and from abroad. In 2000 Ansar Burney Trust (an NGO) discovered markets in Sindh province and stated: ‘very young girls and women were being sold like animals’. Trafficked women and girls were usually taken abroad and resold or used as prostitutes. Women who came from abroad had been promised a better life and in some cases were women whose families owed money to landlords and were unable to pay their debts.
Poverty had forced many families to sell their children or give children away for a better life. They were unaware of the level of abuse endured by their children. Camel jockeys taken to Middle Eastern countries have been reported to be forced to work for up to eighteen hours a day.
Although the government of Pakistan has legislation to stop human trafficking it has done little to protect women and children who are abused and treated as commodities.
171 Human Rights Commission Pakistan – State of Human Rights in 2006, http://www.hrcp-web.org/ar_anualreport-06/index.
htm, last accessed 18/11/07.
172 HRCP – State of Human Rights 2004 page 7.3.3 Abandoned women
During the course of our fieldtrips we came across ‘abandoned women’ from the UK. These are women who may have had settled status (indefinite leave to remain) or are women who had lived in the UK as spouses on the initial two years probationary visa. They had been subjected to domestic violence and taken back to Pakistan on some pretext (as for example a woman was told that her mother taken seriously ill), and then left there.
In December 2005 one of the key NGOs working around domestic violence, SACH, facilitated a focus group with female councillors in Gujar Khan (Punjab) who expressed concern and frustration about the large numbers of women from the UK abandoned in Pakistan. They explained that hundreds of women had consulted them, and that they were unable to assist these women. They wanted to know who had a duty to protect these women and what measures the British government had taken to protect the rights of these women.
They expressed concern for women who had been returned and rejected by their own families for the following reasons:
Poverty
Family honour – what will the relatives and communities say about them
The fact that divorce will reflect badly on other female members of the family
A majority of families believed they had fulfilled their responsibilities of marrying their daughters
Women were not economically independent and therefore would be a financial burden on their families

The councillors overwhelmingly claimed that if a woman is from a less privileged background then she can end up destitute and may be forced into prostitution in order to survive.
It has to be noted that women who are ‘abandoned’ in Pakistan are faced with serious and real risks to their lives, their health and their safety. Once returned to Pakistan they are denied their basic right of applying for financial assistance from their husband because they are unable to afford the legal costs of instructing lawyers in the UK.
7.4 Family honour
“What is best for the woman is not seen as the foremost issue. What is good for the family is
prioritised. Oppression is disguised as protection”173
Shame and family honour plays a significant role in limiting women’s choices and not only pressurises women to return to violent relationships but also influences the police, the judiciary, and some service providers, so that women have no real recourse to the law. As the Programme Co-ordinator from Shirkat Gah highlighted:
“It is impossible for a woman to survive on her own. They tend to reconcile or remain in violent
relationships because they have no options…Women only flee when it is life threatening otherwise
they persevere with the violence.”
A woman at a focus group in a shelter in Lahore also confirmed this view:
“Parents and brothers believe they have done their job once girls are married. They say a girl should
live with her in laws no matter what the circumstances. I spent eighteen years of my life miserable.”
The family and society are seen to define both how a woman should live and behave, so that if she fails to fulfil these requirements she is severely punished. These punishments can be in the form of shooting, stove burning or using an axe and are given the name of ‘honour killing’.
“Women are seen as the transmitters of group values and traditions and as agents of socialisation of the young. When group identity becomes intensified, women are elevated to the status of symbols of the community and are compelled to assume the burden of the reproduction of the group.”
(Moghadam, 1994, p.18)
173 Interview with the programme manager at Oxfam on 7.7.06
“Thus the family becomes an arena where women at the individual level are constantly negotiating and pushing the margin of familial boundaries and men try to maintain the status quo, at times through coercive means. Women’s position within the gender hierarchy of the family depends upon a complex combination of factors. These pertain to class, age, marital status, education, level of consciousness, as well as cultural contexts and rural/urban settings in which they live… they are [however] fundamentally negotiating from a position of subordination and weakness. Thus they attempt to carve spaces for themselves in a setting that is pitted against them” (Bari and Khattak, 2001; p.224).
Making a decision to leave a violent relationship is never easy for any woman, but for a Pakistani woman her family’s perception of her and the perception of society emerge as overwhelming factors in her decision-making. She knows that in choosing to flee, she will have to live with a label of being ‘a bad woman’. The women’s programme co-ordination from Aurat Foundation (NGO) in Karachi said:
“If a woman leaves her home she will not be accepted by the family or society because she will be perceived as a ‘bad woman’.”
7.5 Economic, political and social factors
“The low entitlement of women due to the ideology of the sexual division of labour becomes the basis for male power over women. However, we do not argue that all women have low entitlement; our assertion is that in all social relationships men have power over women due to their superior material and ideological status. This is the reality of women’s lives, which cuts across class, region, ethnicity, and rural/urban divides. Nevertheless, these divisions do impact and determine the nature of power in gender relationships. Then power configurations within the family also constantly change with women’s life cycle while maintaining essential male control and power over women’s sexuality” (Bari and Khattak, 2001; p.224)
In Chapter five we noted that the literacy rate for girls is extremely low as a result of several factors. Poverty is a major influencing factor. Gender differences are reinforced from childhood, for example, if parents are unable to pay for their son’s and their daughter’s education then preferential treatment is given to the boys because they believe there is no long term benefit in investing in a girl’s education. It could be argued that this is not unique to Pakistan. However what is unique is the combination of poverty, collusion by the State, and notions of shame and family honour which all conspire to emphasise gender differences. In her interview, a resident at a shelter in Karachi insisted that:
”If women were provided with an education this would enable them to earn their livelihoods.”
In a similar vein the Ministry of Women’s Development, Islamabad, in their National Action Plan report of 1998 stated:
“The gap in literacy and education between men and women and between boys and girls is
significantly higher among the poorer households particularly in the rural areas.”The interviews we conducted illustrate literacy levels being particularly low amongst women from rural areas. Out of twenty five one to one interviews with shelter residents, 88% of the women had no formal education and were unable to read and write.

The low rates of literacy amongst women are also influenced by ‘family honour’. Educating a woman is sometimes viewed as being subversive and outside the traditional role of a woman. As stated by a resident at a shelter in Karachi:
“My family thought if I get an education in the end it would give them a bad name. They thought I will flee from home and it will ruin their ‘honour.”
Such considerations appear to influence the decision by most families for not allowing their daughters an education because they fear that if they are seen doing something that is not socially acceptable the family will be dishonoured.
A co-ordinator for an Islamabad-based NGO argued similarly:
“90% of women in Pakistan are not educated. She has no skills or money. She can’t find a house, a job and live peacefully. The social pressure won’t let her. He would kill her rather than let her go. In tribal areas, travel is out of the question for women.”
Economically women make up the poorest citizens because employment opportunities are not accessible or even pertinent. Poverty then contributes to illnesses because of the lack of clean water, diet and sanitation. Malnutrition amongst women and girls in rural areas is more prevalent than it is amongst males.
“Pakistan’s maternal mortality rate, estimated at between 300-600 per 100,000 live births, is one of the highest in the world. While the immediate causes for this are medical, the underlying ones begin in infancy and continue through adolescence and adulthood. Factors which further contribute to this situation include malnutrition, general weaknesses, predisposition of infection and exhaustion from domestic and other work overload all influence maternal health”174
Women’s health was also a common concern for participants because women generally did not use health services for a wide range of reasons that included having a low income or no income at all, a lack of awareness of the health measures available and superstition or suspicion of medical practices. HRCP in Lahore also added that ‘women have no control over their bodies’. This statement was made in the context of the religious, social and traditional constraints on women related to the use of contraceptives and other birth control measures. The Programme Manager from OXFAM similarly pointed out:
“Women are very ignorant about their own health. They sacrifice themselves and do everything
for everyone. Because of the three P’s – Poverty, Powerlessness and Pregnancy – women have no
control over themselves. If a male relative is not available they cannot go to the doctor.”
7.5.1 Class differences
Women’s status in society depends on the class, region and the urban and rural divide. Irrespective of whether they are from rural and urban areas, women share similar experiences by way of living in a patriarchal society that dictates and shapes their lives.
In urban areas there is an emerging middle and upper class. The women from these areas have generally been through the education system and have the option of working if they wish. It could be argued that it is not impossible for these women to try and lead independent lives. However in Pakistani society women are generally not allowed to live independently or work and the small minority who choose to do so are labelled as ‘bad women’. One of the women we interviewed confirmed this view:
“The world has progressed a lot and the women have been granted a lot of rights but in Pakistan,
even now, if a woman goes out for a job, she is considered a whore.”
Maintaining family honour is of paramount importance to women from both rural and urban areas. If a woman is a victim of domestic violence she will put up with the abuse for as long as she can before making a final decision to leave the violent relationship. The women we spoke to raised a range of factors which influenced their decision making and had to be considered before they took any action:
How would she support herself and her children?
What would the family think and would they support her?
Was there sufficient protection available to her if she moved to a different area?
What were the issues for her children, for example child abduction / custody / maintenance?
How would she, her children and her family be affected by the issue of maintaining ‘family
honour’?What options were open to her in terms of accommodation/refuge?

In the course of our study there was evidence that although women from middle and upper class backgrounds appeared initially to have a greater range of options, in reality they faced the same stigma and barriers around shame and honour experienced by women from poor backgrounds. In fact they often stood to lose more if they fled because of their status and privileged positions.
174 The Ministry of Women’s Development Islamabad, National Action Plan report of 1998, p.32
7.5.2 Cultural/customary practices
“Panchayats and Jirgas do not provide justice to women. They also stand with the powerful.”175
A widespread view across participants’ accounts was that men treat women as their property and assume they can discard them as and when they want, as a Lahori shelter resident phrased this issue:
“Men keep and dispose of women like slippers – Have them when you want and dispose of them when you don’t.”
A resident at a shelter described the life of a woman thus:
“From a young age a girl is told by her parents that this is not your home, your home is when you get married, when she gets married her husband tells her that it is not her home and can ask her to leave – a woman in Pakistan never has a home until she dies.”
The picture generated from participant accounts was that women, particularly from rural areas, were not allowed or expected to be emancipated or able to define their lives. They were expected to accept whatever happens within the confines of the home where ‘the husband is law’. They were not allowed to discuss any mistreatment outside of the home because this was seen as tarnishing the family honour. Women who behaved in this way were victimised and punished for their behaviour. The honour of the woman and the honour of the family were two major factors in the control, abuse and, ultimately, the murder of women. Women were always reminded about honour whether it was in the context of education, employment, marriage or divorce. Whenever they made any decision they had to take into consideration the impact it would have on the family members. This need to consider honour, and the effect of ‘shame’ on themselves and their families, is the predominant reason that women tended to remain within violent relationships for many years before making the decision to leave. It was very difficult for women to contemplate an action which would potentially involve being disowned by her family or losing her children.
As discussed in Chapter four, the feudal/tribal laws had a strong influence in determining the decision-making processes within their communities. The Jirgas ignored the criminal justice system and often made judgements which were in contradiction to accepted and basic human rights. Such decisions, as were made in the cases of Mukhtaran Mai and Dr. Shazia Khalid, continue to be taken by the Jirgas throughout the country:
“The committee is concerned that the informal dispute resolution forums (Jirgas) continue to function and take decisions that call for the perpetration of violence against women, despite the ruling of a superior court requiring the elimination of such forms.”176
“The perpetrators, usually local feudal lords, know they can buy or even scare people into silence. In the majority of cases, the culprits are acquitted because they have money and political influence and can therefore buy justice. The fear of being convicted is not there.”177
Under customary practices swara is used to end tribal feuds. The director of an NGO claimed:
“The woman’s position is as an object – you can kill ten men and say take my daughter. It is a feudal and patriarchal system. Women are treated as a cow or goat, as animals.”
Young girls were used as commodities and were allowed no control in what happened in their lives. This was particularly dominant in rural or tribal areas where mothers were also disempowered within the family and the word of male members of the family was ‘law’. In these situations concerns for the girl or young woman are not relevant as the predominant issue is that of male honour.
Some of the most severe examples of domestic violence were seen in rural areas. This was a symptom of the feudal system in those regions and the fact that such systems made if difficult for women to flee violence. Economically, women were often the poorest members of the community with no independent income or means of survival other than reliance on their husbands, fathers and brothers.
175 Focus group held at Pannah in Karachi on 15.6.06 176 CEDAW –Thirty-eight session 14th May-1st June 2007 177 Ebrahim, Z, ‘Teenager’s Rape – Test for New Women’s Law’, IPS News Service, 2007, accessed at: http://ipsnews.net/news.
asp?idnews=36453, last accessed 19/11/07.
Women often have no information about the services available to them and as a result feel that their only option is to remain in an abusive relationship, they fear that in leaving the relationship without a place of safety they could provoke an even more serious attack which could result in permanent physical harm or death. At the focus group in Hyderabad a worker from Phir Bhat (an NGO) from Shikarpur in the interior Sindh spoke about her experiences of working with women in the rural and tribal areas:
“Women are not aware of their rights. If a woman leaves she is accused of being a bad woman.
They have nowhere to go and there is no security for them.”
7.5.3 Forced marriages
In Islam a woman has the right to choose her husband, but in practice many women are denied this right. A number of women we interviewed had been forced into marriages against their wishes. It is important to make a distinction between an arranged and a forced marriage. The former involves the consent of the woman even though parents and relatives will have identified the prospective husband. The latter, on the other hand, is when women do not consent and are given no choice in the matter. The decision to find a husband is made by the family regardless of the age of the women. These marriages involve issues other than the attachment of the couple, such as family honour, ownership of land and property and resolution of feuds. In this sense, forced marriages can be seen as confirmation of the view of women as ‘property’ or a ’commodity’ that initially belongs to the family and subsequently to the husband.
Women interviewed in the study condemned this practice, but at the same time recognised that to resist or say ‘no’ would have serious consequences and as a result many had accepted their ‘fate’. The experience of other women in their communities had led them to believe that the rejection of forced marriages could lead to honour killings, largely because the preservation of family honour was perceived as more important than the life of a sister or daughter.
7.5.4 Honour killings
“My family members want to kill me at any cost. They will only feel comfortable after my death.
On the other hand, where can I go? I am alone! It is extremely difficult – perhaps impossible for a
woman to survive on her own.”178
Honour killing is a crime carried as a result of the allegation, or suspicion, of woman’s ‘misbehaviour’. ‘Misbehaviour’ could involve a range of activities but generally any activity which demonstrated independence from the family, or involved relationships with men outside the family or other outside activities, could be seen as prescribed. Families often defined misbehaviour as simply going against the wishes of the family, for example, by marrying a person of their choice. In such situations it is generally seen as acceptable to carry out such a killing, and the family will show no remorse or regret as they believe the family honour is being restored by the death of the person(s) who defied the family code. Some of the women interviewed were living in fear of this kind of reprisal and had to remain in isolation to ensure family members could not locate them.
The Human Rights Watch World Report 2007 states:
“According to Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, there have been more than 4,000 honour killings since
2001. However provisions of Pakistani law that allow the next of kin to ‘forgive’ the murderer in
exchange for monetary compensation remain in force, and continue to be used by offenders to
escape punishment in cases of honour killings.”179
7.5.5 Child brides
Whilst there is a law preventing girls under the age of sixteen marrying, this is frequently ignored and girls as young as six or seven have been reported to have been married or promised in marriage. As we
178 Interview with resident at shelter in Karachi on 19.6.06 179 Human Rights Watch, World Report, 2007, accessed at: http://hrw.org/wr2k7/essays/introduction/index.htm, last accessed 19/11/07, p.302.
have seen in previous case studies, this is done without the girl’s consent and even often without her knowledge. Equally, poor parents often sell young girls from rural areas to landlords for a piece of land or to repay their debts. During the field trip in 2006 we met Maria, a child bride at a shelter in Karachi.
7.5.5.1 Case study: Maria
Maria was thirteen years old at the time of interview. She was eleven years old when she was sold and married to a forty-five year old man. Her father received 20-25,000 rupees (approx £250.00). Maria’s father worked as a labourer. She lived in Shikarpur in the interior Sindh with her father, mother and paternal uncle.
Maria reported that when her mother first told her about the marriage she was very upset because she did not like the man and she could not say anything. After the marriage ceremony, the man used to come with his brothers and put pressure on her father to hand Maria over to him as he was concerned that Maria’s father might sell her to someone else.
One night Maria got up to have a glass of water when she heard a knock on the door. She opened the door and saw two men with their faces covered who snatched her and put her into a car. She was taken to her husband’s house, where she was drugged and raped by her husband and his brother for four or five days. After her abduction Maria’s mother came to the house but she was denied contact with Maria and given blood stained clothes and told to go away. The mother then contacted a local NGO (Phir Bhat) and they involved the police. The mother accompanied the police to the house where Maria was being held and rescued her. Maria was immediately taken to the courts and brought before a judge.
The judge recommended that Maria should be taken for a medical examination and brought back to court. The medical examination confirmed that Maria had been raped. The judged asked her father to appear in court. He failed to appear and with the help of the NGO (Phir Bhat) and INGO (Oxfam) Maria was referred to Pannah (Shelter) in Karachi.
She spent eight months at the shelter and with the help of the worker was found a job as a domestic servant.
The practice of child brides is an infringement of the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child and is likely to have enormous physical, psychological and emotional consequences for the child concerned. Many of these children are married to considerably older men who can offer land and money to family members. Arguably, this practice also legitimises paedophilia. As the above case illustrates, child brides are subjected to serious sexual assaults and physical abuse.
7.5.6 Inheritance
Under Muslim personal law in Pakistan, girls are only entitled to half the inheritance of boys, and the wives only receive one eighth of their husband’s estate. In areas such as Sindh women are forced to ‘marry the Quran’ to avoid paying them their share of the inheritance. We were unable to find any evidence of laws that have been implemented to stop this practice. One of the participants we interviewed had had to flee and was under threat of an ‘honour killing’ because she demanded her share of her inheritance from her brothers.
7.5.6.1 Case study: Hannah
Hannah was eighteen years old at the time of interview. She had fled from the Punjab with her sixteen year old sister. She came from a wealthy landowning family. About eight or nine years ago she witnessed the murder of her father by two of her brothers. They killed their father in order to inherit his wealth. Although, her father, in his will, had distributed his wealth amongst the six children, these two brothers were not happy about their settlement. The brothers threatened their mother to make her sign forged documents claiming that all the land, property and money had been left to the two brothers alone. The girls were forced to give up their education and were virtually held as prisoners within their own home
Hannah demanded her share of the inheritance from her brothers who threatened to kill her. She said ‘My brothers have no respect for women. They won’t think anything about killing women’. It took her almost one year to escape from the house because it was heavily guarded. One night the two sisters escaped and walked for a couple of hours and then got a taxi to a shrine in another city, after which they stayed at a Madrassa for a few days. Hannah was then told about a lawyer in Islamabad who could assist her. She contacted the lawyer who made arrangements for their stay at a shelter. She said [President] Musharaff made promises about protecting women, but she could not see it happening. She added that all she wanted was justice.
The inheritance laws reinforce women’s positions of dependence and reliance on the family and actually contradict Islamic practice. So even where a woman has been a child bride and her husband dies she often receives nothing and is once again dependent on her birth and extended family.
7.5.7 Mental health issues
“I just sit and cry all day long and want to kill myself – there is no life for a single woman just
death.”180
Women’s economic, political and social circumstances as discussed above have led to increasing levels of mental ill health and high numbers of suicides. The women interviewed who were living in shelters expressed feelings of helplessness and many were depressed and experiencing high levels of anxiety. These feelings were often exacerbated by a lack of activity as women could not move freely about the city of have access to work. A number of women said they felt they would be better off dead rather than live such a life.
Poverty and violence against women has a significant impact on the mental health and emotional well being of a woman. Statistics indicate an increase in suicide amongst women in Pakistan181 and this was reflected in the responses of the participants. Several women had attempted suicide and were thinking of doing so again because they felt they had no future after leaving the shelter. The level of desperation women experienced was stark, and there was a lack of hope or belief that their lives could change in any meaningful way.
Some service providers offered counselling and psychological support. However, although shelter workers and some of the service providers interviewed claimed to offer these services, women who had previously self harmed and others, who were contemplating doing so, told us that they were not offered support.
Many of the women fleeing domestic violence had experienced different levels of sexual assault and/ or had been raped. Rape in marriage is not recognised and there is no legal protection for the victims. In talking about the mental health issues of rape victims, Farzana Bari in an article in The News (2005) notes that:
“…rape traumatizes the victim mentally, physically and psychologically for the rest of their lives.
They need professional support to help recover from the tragedy. It is usually the responsibility of
public-health professionals to provide such support to the victims of rape, but in our country they
are hardly trained to deliver such needed service to a victim of rape…. The exemplary to her abuser
will be a critical factor in the process of her psychological and emotional rehabilitation”.182
The mental health and well being of women in flight is overlooked and not engaged with in a meaningful way. Physical safety and such issues take dominance, so that restricting movement outside a shelter for example, is seen as a safety precaution whilst the psychological and emotional consequences of being ‘confined’ and the ensuing mental health issues are simply not acknowledged or recognised.
7.6 The government and judiciary
“…the government is unable to control regular crimes in the society so it is useless to expect
anything in favour of women who are considered lowest in the society.”183
180 Interviewed resident at shelter in Rawalpindi on 6.7.06
181 See HRCP accessed at: www.hrcp-web.org/suicide.cfm, for statistics on changes suicide rates broken down by gender from
2003-2006, last accessed 19/11/07.
182 Bari, F. ‘The politico social aspect of rape’, The News, Feb. 07 2005, p.6.
183 Interview with resident of a shelter under threat of ‘honour killing’ on 19.6.06The government of Pakistan adopted the ‘Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women’ (1996) and agreed to incorporate provisions to eliminate violence against women. Furthermore Article 72 of the Constitution of Pakistan states that:
“When one of the spouses neglects his or her duties to the conjugal union or commits acts which tend to bring danger, dishonour or injury to the other (…) the aggrieved may apply to the law for relief”
Unfortunately, there is little significant evidence to show that these Articles have any meaning in legal or customary practice. As previously stated in section 5.2.1 the Pakistan Penal Code has provisions to prosecute perpetrators of violent crimes. However in order to access these provisions, the police have to agree to register the case and the judiciary has to accept that it is a serious offence that merits prosecution. Yasmin Zaidi states:
“Yet only the most extreme cases, when the victim is horribly disfigured – burned alive, eyes gouged or nose chopped – receive media attention and enforce reaction from law enforcers. Otherwise the police and judiciary both prefer to dismiss domestic abuse as a private matter.”184
As discussed in Chapter four, although in principle there is provision for women to access the legal system, in practice it often fails to protect them. An example of this is legislation such as the Hudood Ordinances, which exists in contradiction to the Constitution of Pakistan. To use the word ‘justice’ in the context of women’s experiences and their attempts to resolve issues of domestic violence is a misnomer. Overwhelmingly the accounts of women tend to emphasise that there is no ’justice’ when speaking out about domestic violence. Our findings illustrate that the judicial system is plagued by gender bias and the belief that domestic violence is a private matter, as illustrated by the following comment from a programme co-ordinator for one NGO:
“…the Judiciary too needed gender sensitising because they also treat domestic violence as a family matter.”
7.6.1 Government’s response to violence against women
“It is the responsibility of the state to eliminate the socio-cultural and economic basis of violence and protect all its citizens from all kinds of transgressions without distinguishing on the basis of sex. It is believed that gender violence can be prevented or at least substantially reduced if there exists a social and political will to make this happen.”185
Although the government has taken some technical measures to improve women’s rights, there is ample evidence from this study and others that it has failed to protect women from violent crimes and enforce legislation to punish the perpetrators of these crimes. International pressure on the government to improve women’s human rights has resulted in the government signing declarations calling for an end to discrimination and violence against women.
To further comply with international agreements the government set up ‘The National Commission for the Status of Women (NCSW) in 2000 ‘for the emancipation of women, equalisation of opportunities and socio-economic conditions amongst women, and elimination of all forms of discrimination against women’. The NCSW has a more limited mandate than was originally envisaged and in effect has a recommendatory role only. There is no requirement for it to be consulted with regard to policy development or law making and it has no enforcement powers.
In his interview for the study a judge, who had been involved in the discussions, stated that each province will have a ‘Musalihat Anjuman’ in every union council. Cases of domestic violence are to be taken to Musalihat Anjuman and their task is to bring about arbitration, reconciliation or mediation. The panel of this committee has three members who will be selected from the Insaaf (justice) committee. They are non elected members and not attached to any political force. The participant noted ‘…the general opinion is that there must be a woman on the panel but the Local Government Ordinance simply states that there may be a woman.’
184 Zaidi, Y, Pakistan Scan, accessed at: http://www.worldsindhi.org/women’sRight/Violence%20Against%20Women%20in%20
Pakistan%20-%20UNIFEM.pdf, 2003, last accessed 19/11/07.
185 Bari, F, ‘Social cost of violence against women’, The News 21 February 1994.The government’s commitment to improve service provision for women has resulted in ten further crisis centres being opened. However the existence of these crisis centres does not mean that the quality of provision has improved or even that women now have more choices or access to safe places. As described in Chapter four the government introduced the Women’s Protection Bill in December 2006 as a result of a long campaign by human rights activists and international organisations that demanded the repeal of the Hudood Ordinances. The religious factions in government opposed the repeal of the ordinances and, instead, the ordinances were only amended.
The material generated by this study strongly indicates that Government response to domestic violence is, at best, piecemeal and at worst tokenistic. The Government does little to challenge the Jirgas and the use of Swara and, through male networks, pressure is applied on Government officials to back down from making any meaningful intervention.
7.6.2 The judiciary
Earlier chapters have presented evidence suggesting that the judiciary largely treats domestic violence as a private matter to be resolved within the family. Women are often discouraged from taking legal action and if a woman leaves home she is reprimanded by public agencies and her community and is often forced to return to the violent relationship. The law enforcement agencies and the justice system are reluctant to take action against the perpetrators of violent crimes against women. Many of the judges dismiss women’s testimonies and tend to be biased in favour of the man. This attitude is a contravention of articles 25 and 27 of the Constitution of Pakistan but our participants reported that it happened on a regular basis. The male dominated nature of public institutions was a real difficulty in pursuing cases, as one lawyer who worked for a large NGO said: ‘the judiciary is male dominated and the lower judiciary is particularly gender biased and needed sensitising’. As we have previously noted in 4.4.3 these difficulties are further compounded by the parallel judicial system.
A powerful narrative of the way the system impacts on women can be summarised by the following statement which was made by a participant in the focus group at the Dastak shelter:
“Pakistan is a male dominated society where we hardly know about women’s rights. At Dastak the good thing is that they make us realise that we are as important as men. I belong to an enlightened family but I was married to a man with a conservative background. I sacrificed my life for the sake of my children and tried to live with him but he kept torturing us mentally and physically. In our society a man is free from all obligations – both moral and social. He does not have to leave his father, mother, relatives – he keeps all his relations intact. It is the woman who is made to leave everything. My family is willing to support me with a condition that I leave my kids. My brother is also a father but he, my father and mother say they would welcome me only when I come to them without my children. This is quite unfortunate that they are supporting me conditionally.”
This woman was a graduate and had aspired to work after her marriage.
7.7 Role of the police
“…the Police are scared of taking cases on because of the repercussions”
“The role of the police is to protect all its citizens but in Pakistan women are discouraged from seeking protection from them. The police treated domestic violence as a family matter and told the victims to resolve the matter within the family. The police are reluctant to take action against the perpetrators of these crimes. If a woman does go to the police station to report a crime she is made to feel guilty about depriving her children of a home. Police are not interested in domestic violence cases. No legal action is taken in domestic violence cases. If cases are referred to the police they too reconcile the couple and treat it as a family matter. The current systems are – under the ‘Hudood ordinance’ you need 4 witnesses in a rape case who have to be Muslims. How can the law be fair? The police are very negative and don’t take the issue of domestic violence seriously e.g. if a woman reports an incident the police will say “you must have done something wrong”again blaming the woman.
The first quote, from a retired judge, and the second, from a worker at a crisis centre, illustrate the difficulties women had in seeking help from the police. Participants stated that women were afraid of reporting crimes to the police because they would not be believed and many could not afford to bribe the police and they feared hostility and misogyny from the police. Equally, from their knowledge of other women’s experiences, many felt that there was also a serious risk of being raped when attending a police station. There were also difficulties for women in speaking to strange man about their experiences. The police were viewed very much as being part of the problem and often advised women to return home and not pursue a case. There are some exceptions, such as Madadgar 15. This is an emergency service offered by the Police who are expected to respond to an emergency call within 15 minutes of the call being made. However, we only noted this service being advertised in Islamabad.
In an attempt to address these issues female police stations were set up several years ago to encourage women to report incidents of violence. However these were not successful and several reasons were offered to explain this. One reason cited was the under-resourcing of these police stations, but what was also raised was that female officers were no better than male officers in their treatment of women complainants. It was suggested that it was common practice for female officers to tell women to return home. Women also reported that they were afraid that these officers would inform their husbands of their whereabouts as this had happened in other cases and women had been further abused for seeking help from the police.
Police corruption and attitudes was another common experience reported by women fleeing domestic violence. As one human rights activist noted:
“Wealth can buy anything and women are not wealthy therefore the police will not get anything
from them so why should they bother about them. It’s all about economic power.”
Bribery within the police force seemed a common practice and was used for a variety of purposes. Bribes were offered to register false cases, have cases withdrawn, and release perpetrators of serious crimes. As a result women participants reported having no confidence in the police or other state agencies. The weak economic position of women often meant that they were unable to offer bribes to get justice and their male partners were often in a far better economic position to secure the cooperation of the police.
A spokesperson from HRCP (Lahore) stated:
“The police are hostile; they don’t accept that women have any rights to protest – they are
defenders of husbands, brothers and fathers. They were loyal to the men and supported them
because they believed women were dishonouring their families and had to be returned home or
punished. By allowing and accepting acts of violence against women the police were collaborating
with the perpetrators to retain family honour and deliberately prevented women from seeking
justice.”
The attitude of most police officers was reported as one of hostility towards women fleeing domestic violence. The police were seen as subscribing to the view that women should not leave home or take any action against the perpetrators. When the police did offer to take action it was usually in the form of offering to mediate or to reconcile the parties.
As has also been documented elsewhere in this report, it is common for the police to refuse to register FIRs in cases of domestic violence because of the emphasis they place on reconciliation. This emphasis does not give confidence to victims/survivors and as one shelter resident stated:
“If only we had the money and bribed the police they would be standing with us. The only ones that get justice are the ones that have money and power.”
If the police are the agency of the State and in this role fail to afford women the protection needed, it is hardly surprising that domestic violence continues to be an unchallenged crime. It could be argued that collusion between the government, police and judiciary supports the view of domestic violence as a private matter.
7.8 Ethnocentrism, racism and discrimination
Minority communities are disadvantaged because they are victims of racism and discrimination. Although the Pakistani Constitution speaks about freedom of religion and coexistence, in practice it fails to implement this principle through legislation. Discrimination in legislation and within the political structure undermines the contribution and participation of the minority groups in Pakistan. Women from minority communities are victims of sexual violence, forced conversions and can be subjected to accusations of blasphemy. In addition to this they face discrimination in employment and education.
The government has not yet taken steps to introduce legislation prohibiting such discrimination. Further, as already noted, some current laws are discriminatory against minority groups.
7.8.1 Discrimination against minority groups
Christian women are discriminated against by wider society both because of their religious affiliation and as victims of sexual violence. The organisations consulted for the study indicated that the majority of their service users who were Christian were from poor backgrounds. They largely had no education and had experiences such as forced conversions, abduction and domestic violence. There is only one shelter in Pakistan for Christian women and due to a lack of facilities the bishops had provided shelter to some of the victims. This shelter places special emphasis on education and vocational training for and believes it is important to empower women through skills in order to make them financially independent.
The director of this service reiterated the now prevailing view emerging from this study that women accepted domestic violence as a normal way of life. She further reported that the women also faced similar problems to those of Muslim women, for example, accessing documentary evidence of marriage or divorce. When fleeing their homes they were not able to access these documents, and many were not aware if their marriages were ever registered. The women were, therefore, unable to prove their marriage or divorce and this became an obstacle at later stages when the woman had to apply for legal or welfare assistance.
The government of Pakistan has yet to deliver on its commitment to protect minority communities, particularly women who are the victims of kidnapping, sexual violence and trafficking. The government is aware of the abuses of human rights of minority women, yet measures in terms of legislation against discrimination, or to pursue the perpetrators of such hate crimes, has not yet been pursued by the authorities in Pakistan.
7.9 Awareness raising and women’s activism
Participants in the research stressed the difficulties for women who fled violent situation in adapting to life outside of the family and community. Women in Pakistan were not encouraged to make decisions or choices and their lives were largely shaped and directed by male family members and the values of their families and dominant community. The family defined certain codes of behaviour for a woman from a very early age, so that women learnt to accept whatever decisions were made on their behalf without questioning them. In circumstances where a woman does challenge or disagree with decisions taken on her behalf she can be subjected to severe physical violence and endangers herself physically.
The emancipation and empowerment of women is perceived as a threat to a society dominated by religion, custom and tradition. Women activists who have spoken out and challenged the discriminatory practices and laws are labelled as ‘infidels’ and run the risk of physical attack and ostracism as we saw in the case of Samia Sarwar. However, it is important to acknowledge that in spite of the threat to their safety, there are women who are organising to challenge misogynist practices and laws in their society.
7.9.1 Raising awareness
Several NGOs are involved in raising awareness of women’s rights. For example, Oxfam is running a three year programme ending this year (2007) focusing on honour killings, and SACH was running Legal Clinics and Women’s Clinics (domestic violence and women’s rights) in rural areas funded by United Nations Development Programme. However, whilst these programmes are having localised impact, there is much work to be done in order to increase literacy rates and general levels of education in order to empower women.
A key route for changing attitudes is raising awareness and education. All the providers interviewed argued that change in society could only take place if there was widespread attitudinal change. They argued that the way a society views a woman and the treatment she receives cannot be transformed unless people understood that what they were doing was wrong, and the reasons why it was wrong. For example a Tribal Women’s Association interviewed described how their workers go into rural areas and use religion to challenge people’s behaviour and attitudes. This form of educational awareness would not be threatening to the people from these areas and they would pay attention because it is cast within a religious frame.
7.9.2 Creative and visual arts
One of the most effective methods of raising awareness of such issues as honour killing, forced marriage and domestic violence is through creative arts. Visual and performing arts are used in both rural and urban areas to bring people together to discuss a range of issues. The Interactive Resource Centre travels all over the country to raise awareness and takes its performances to the most remote areas in order to highlight the situation of women. The input from organisations working in the field of arts has made a positive contribution to making women aware of their rights and the discriminatory laws that affect them.
Another effective method of raising awareness is through the media. Islamic scholars, politicians, academics and human rights activists have all contributed to discussions on the television. For example, a series of debates were held on the Hudood Ordinances which were televised and watched and followed with great interest.
The newspapers are another key medium through which both liberal and conservative contributions are publicised. As noted earlier, the press has also been responsible for highlighting cases of violence against women in Pakistan, both nationally and internationally.
Unlike Pakistan, the UK does not use the media or creative arts in the same way in raising awareness of violence against women. The contribution of the media and creative arts has gone some way to helping women fleeing from violent relationships. Although the UK might be advanced in the context of its response to domestic violence, and certainly in relation to service provision, it might be argued that there is much that could be learnt from the Pakistan experience in the use of arts based approaches to tackle awareness raising around domestic violence. Arts-based approaches are used in the UK with regard to mental health, disability and work with children and young people. The Pakistan experience suggests that this could usefully be extended to work with women fleeing domestic violence.
7.9.3 Women’s activism
The Women’s Action Forum was first formed in 1981 to protest against the introduction of discriminatory laws against women. Most members of the forum were from elite families who were able to resist the Zia government from introducing discriminatory practices that would compromise their civil status. Members of the forum mobilised and led public protests when General Zia ul Haq introduced the Hudood Ordinances. The group’s aim was to strengthen the position of women in society, and was central in challenging the various interpretations of the Islamic law.
7.9.4 Critical voices – women councillors
The increased representation of women in local government has started the process of involving women in issues of women’s rights. During the fieldwork the researcher met with eight female councillors from the Punjab who were actively involved on issues affecting women in their areas. In their focus group discussion, it was noted:
“As far as female representation is concerned it is a farce. Even though we are councillors we have
no power or funds to carry out our work. Male politicians do not take on work or issues affecting
women. Although, we are unable to influence any change within the political structure we take our
roles and responsibilities very seriously.”
These councillors were working with women across a range of issues, for example forced prostitution (women forced into this by their husbands because of poverty), rape, forced marriages, domestic violence and abandoned women.
In their interviews they described the challenges they faced as women in their local communities. For instance, when they attended meetings in town or out of town or arrived home late the communities would accuse them of being ‘bad’ women. Even though the women lived with their families, allegations were made against them impugning their characters.
They further emphasised that men who were in a position of power, such as the nazims, were doing little to forward the position of women. The councillors argued that they were being used as token gestures to show that things had changed or were changing for women but on the ground it was very different.
The councillors were particularly concerned with the issue of “abandoned”women. They felt strongly that the UK should take responsibility for these women, and the women to be given their full rights.
7.10 Summary
In drawing together the various strands with regard to the Pakistan focus of this study, the overwhelming view from all participants, both survivors and providers across a range of governmental and non-governmental services, is that women in Pakistan fleeing domestic violence have very few options open to them. The outcome of their cultural worldview and understandings of gendered roles and positions were repeatedly discussed as meaning that flight is the last thing they would consider. The contributions of the participants indicated that the strength of religion and family within Pakistani society, combined with the corruption of state agencies, makes flight an untenable option unless the woman or her children are at risk of serious injury or death. This lack of choice is compounded by a lack of support and service provision and the lack of work or life opportunities after time in crisis accommodation or shelters.
Sana’s case
Sana’s mother died when she was only seven months old. She was left in the care of her father, who was a drug addict. Sana studied until class five or six.
She was sexually abused by her father and brothers from a very young age but could not recall the exact age at which the abuse began.
At the age of eighteen, Sana’s father arranged her marriage to a man in Lahore. After her marriage she was told by her husband that her father had sold her to him. Her husband took her to ‘Heera Mandi’ (red light area), and forced her into prostitution. The men she met at Heera Mandi offered to take her to Dubai to continue her work there, but she clearly felt that they had their own motives and refused their offers.
Sana worked as a prostitute for five months, after which she fled to her sister’s house with 500 rupees (£5). Sana could only stay at her sister’s for five days as her sister was afraid that her husband might come after her.
Her sister took Sana to a lawyer in order to get an order to get admission for her sister into a Dar ul Aman. Sana’s initial application for an Order was refused by the Judge as he believed that she was planning to run away with a younger man, but Sana persuaded the Judge that she was married and wanted a divorce from her husband.
Sana was eventually offered accommodation at a Dar ul Aman, but her suffering did not end, she had many sleepless nights and spent most of her time crying there. She spoke about killing herself and having no future. She said:
“What is the life of a woman when she loses her mother at such a young age, her father and brothers abuse her, she’s then sold and married into Hera Mandi, and her life is always in the hands of others?”
Sana said the only way for her to survive is to turn to prostitution because she has no-one to go to.