A better safety-net?

We as media practitioners have increasing exposure to the societal ills which, many a time, take a toll on us, especially when it comes to covering different cases of violence against women and children. An incident in particular that left not just us, but the entire nation shocked and appalled was when six-year-old Zainab Ansari’s body was found from a rubbish dump on January 9, 2018. The incident, understandably, triggered a robust and one of its kind debate on the existing anti-rape laws and punishments for the rapists in Pakistan. Later, in 2018, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf formed its government. Shortly after this, the newly appointed, Parliamentary Secretary for Law and Justice Maleeka Bukhari came to our show for the first time where this was the very first thing we asked her about and I still remember her response. She said, “the government is working on anti-rape laws – we are trying to revamp the entire procedure that a rape victim has to go through and are thinking of a one-window operation.”

The reason I remember this is because I have always believed a rape victim has to go through trauma not only once but again and again. They go through when rape occurs and relive it constantly. They go through it when they decide they want to file an FIR while their family tries to convince them not to, they go through it when they are questioned by the police, they go through it when they go for DNA testing, they go through it when they approach the courts and they go through it repeatedly when they decide to fight. Hence, they go through it all over again at every step of their battle for justice. So these amendments in the Anti-Rape Act seem very likely to help victims and the society in the fight against rape and sexual abuse.

In a briefing session about this Act, Bukhari stated that, “rape victims do not belong in police stations. They belong in hospitals and they have to be treated in a humane manner with empathy.” This is the reason why Anti-Rape Crisis Cells are being established at public hospitals. All the required tests will be done there and all kinds of medico-legal as well as psychosocial support will be provided to the victims there. Even the FIR will be registered in these Cells, according to the Centre. All the people working under this Act, including duty bearers like judges and prosecutors, would undergo joint sensitivity trainings to handle the rape cases.

What is Government’s new Anti-Rape Act 2021?

Some of the crucial changes made in the Act are as follows;

• The definition of ‘rape’ was made gender neutral. Before the amendment it was based on women and children, however, now the amendment uses the word ‘person’ which applies to males, females, and transgenders, as well. Furthermore, in its new definition word ‘rape’ also includes ‘gang gape,’
• Special courts will be established throughout the country for the offence and in areas where gender based violence (GBV) courts or juvenile courts already exist, these will be considered as special courts. Cases will have an in-camera trial meaning only those concerned will be allowed inside the court rooms. The court proceedings have to be expeditious and the court will have four months to decide a case,
• Anti-Rape Crisis Cells would be established by the Chief Secretary of each province and the Chief Commissioner in the Federal Capital Territory. Commissioners or Deputy Commissioners will head these cells and it will be mandatory that at least one member of these crisis cells be a woman,
• If the victim is not ready to come forward any person on behalf of the victim can come forward and crisis cell will be bound to initiate the procedure of trial and investigation. This includes medico-legal examination of the victim, evidence collection, conducting forensics and the registration of an FIR,
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• Those who cannot afford hiring a lawyer would get assistance under the Legal Aid and Justice Authority Act 2020 and the fund allocated under this Act would be utilised for this purpose,
• Victims and witnesses will be provided protection. The identity of the victim will not be revealed to anyone and testimonies can be recorded virtually,
• Two-finger virginity testing is now considered illegal,
• A special committee will be formed by the Ministry of Law & Justice to overlook the performance and working of this entire setup,
• The Prime Minister will establish a fund that may be utilised for the implementation of this Act, such as for the establishment of special courts,
• If the police or other public servants working on any case do not carry out their duties properly, they may be subject to imprisonment that can extend to three years,
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• The National Database and Registration Authority will maintain a registry of sex offenders.

It has taken the federal government three years to come up with something this thorough and detailed and it does give hope, to me at least. However, thwarting increasing GBV and rape cases will not be achieved overnight through this Act. Whenever laws are amended it does not always guarantee that it will serve the purpose they were amended for completely, unless they implemented in true letter and spirit – even then there is always room for improvement. Making something from the scratch is easy but transforming it or revamping it is always a tedious process.

As such, the government, media and civil society all have to come together to demystify all the biases and the rape culture that exists all over the world and in especially Pakistan. Let’s hope we all can curb this menace together.

The writer is a prominent TV personality and a journalist