Domestic violence is a global social evil, says Pakistan’s Khan - High commissioner adamant that Pakistan is not anti-women

When 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai was nearly mortally wounded in 2012 – shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan for defying the group’s decree that girls should not be educated – the country’s inhumane treatment of women and girls captivated the world.

Malala not only rebelled against the system, but demanded that girls be allowed to receive an education. The female rights activist survived the attack and in 2014 became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

Advocacy groups have blamed the society’s patriarchal position, which has led to high levels of illiteracy among females, for the oppression of women.

Five years prior to Malala’s shooting, Pakistan’s former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated in December 2007. Bhutto was the first woman to head a democratic government in a Muslim majority nation, but the country would continue its long history of assassinating political leaders since 1951, the majority of them males.

Today, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Jamaica, Dr Asad Khan, said he is hoping that the burgeoning diplomatic relationship between Pakistan and Jamaica will help to project his country in a positive light, especially highlighting the nation’s embracing of the rights of women.

He is keenly aware of the dim light shrouding his country but was equally keen to point out that Pakistan was not anti-women.

“I want the world to see how girls are a part of our education system and realise that the view that girls are not able to get an education in Pakistan is absolutely baseless. It is not true at all. It is not so,” High Commissioner Khan emphasised in a Sunday Gleaner exclusive interview last week at the media house’s North Street, Kingston offices.

ACTS OF EXTREMISTS

He quickly added that the attacks on women were carried out by Islamic extremists in the Southern Asian state.

“There were episodes during the Taliban ascension to the North West of Pakistan for a very limited period of time. The Malala attack was one of them, and since then, they (Taliban) have been completely wiped out. Those areas have been brought back into mainstream, and the direct jurisdiction of the Pakistani state is in place,” he expounded.

The high commissioner noted that there were instances where dire economic circumstances may have forced some parents to send boys to school instead of girls, but once a household is able to, no child is denied an education in his country.

Over the years, Pakistan has increased expenditure on education, but illiteracy among the female population remains under 50 per cent, and even lower in rural areas, according to its 2018-2019 Economic Survey reports. The country’s overall literacy rate is 58 per cent, and among women, it is reportedly at 48 per cent, according to a 2017-18 Population and Housing Census, which measured the country’s social and living standards.

Pakistan is also described as the sixth most dangerous country in the world for women, who are victims of rising sexual and domestic violence.

“Domestic violence is everywhere. It is the implementation of laws that will improve things, which is our focus. We have also implemented some very progressive legislation that will make things better, especially dealing with sexual harassment at the workplace. There are also laws for violence against domestic workers. So it’s not just spousal violence we are dealing with,” Commissioner Khan said.

“Media is playing an important role, and with more and more women being in the media as reporters, as anchors and editors, greater attention is being given.”

LACK OF EDUCATION

Except for a shared history of British colonial education and a strong sporting tradition through cricket, Jamaica hardly has anything in common with the country thousands of miles away and under Sharia Laws. Still, the Washington-based Khan is undeterred in selling Pakistan to Jamaica, stressing that the laws of his country have changed to give protection to women.

He blamed limited education for domestic violence.

“Domestic violence has more to do with lack of education. In the urban setting and at the provincial setting, we have actually passed laws recently that provide some safety against domestic abuse. It is a social evil, I would say, and a challenge that many of our societies face,” Dr Khan said.

Jamaica, too, battles the scourge of domestic violence, with increasing cases of abuse of women. Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, in November 2019, said that approximately 15 per cent of all women in Jamaica aged 15 to 49 who had ever been married or had a partner, had experienced physical or sexual violence from a male partner in the 12 months prior to 2018.

Commissioner Khan believes that the growing influence of women across all sectors of society will help to stem the problem.

Statistics collected by White Ribbon Pakistan, a non-governmental organisation working for women’s rights, and published by Deutsche Welle Asia Media, revealed that 4,734 women faced sexual violence between 2004 and 2016. There were also 1,800 cases of domestic violence and more than 5,500 kidnappings of women during this period. Thousands of honour crimes were also reported in the country with the fifth-largest population in the world.

More than 50,000 cases of violence against women were reported between January 2011 and June 2017.

The conviction rate remains low, however, with a small percentage of the accused going before the courts. Some of the accused were blamed for severely disfiguring women.

Sharia Law, which forms part of the Islamic tradition, is designed to promote the superiority of men. Arranged and forced marriages as well as honour killings (to defend the reputation of families or communities) are also permitted under Sharia Law.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com