Gravels cannot fight harassment

Early this year, Pakistan made another positive move towards the protection of women’s rights by passing a bill that significantly strengthens protection of women at the workplace against harassment and violent crimes. The law, drafted by the Federal Ministry of Human Rights, was proposed as an amendment to its weaker predecessor from 2010, and is according to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) much closer to the International Labour Organisation’s Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 – a move that was much needed as Pakistan has not ratified the international law in its legal framework.

“The new Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Bill, 2022, enacted on January 14, includes an expanded definition of harassment that includes, ‘discrimination on the basis of gender, which may or may not be sexual in nature’ and extends protections against harassment and violence to students, as well as streamlining the complaints process and includes specific protections to prevent retaliation,” revealed HRW in its assessment of the law. The law is the newest addition to a long list of laws that protect women’s rights.

Is legal cover enough?

While these laws seem to provide legal aid to women in many crucial areas, many experts have argued that while they are a step in the right direction, harassment and gender based violence is a larger cultural phenomenon that will only be broken through re-education of adults, education of minors and sensitivity trainings at workplaces.

According to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey of 2018, 28 percent of women aged between 15 and 49 had experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetimes – violence within their homes at the hands of family member, parent, or husband. While this was a slight decrease from the 32 percent reported in the 2013 survey, the number is not promising.

Another thing to note is that culturally, domestic violence is an issue that is generally dealt with in secret and seen as a family problem that has little room for outside intervention, the numbers in each of these surveyed years is likely much higher than the reported figures. It is important to acknowledge that with mainstream media taking greater notice of the issue, more people have been able to seek help and take legal action. However, many of these cases have not seen justice or have been going on for many years. While legal cover is certainly helpful, it is not the end of the issue. For instance, the Sindh government has long made the practice of honour killings illegal and has a strong legal framework for its prevention and the punishment of perpetrators. However, according to the statistics provided by the Sindh Police, the number of honour killings in Sindh rose by 27 percent last year.

Furthermore, a closer look at some of the major cases of gender based violence in Pakistan shows how justice has been seldom served;

On May 13, 1978 Jharna Basak Shabnam, a renowned Pakistani film actress was raped after being robbed in her home in Lahore. The accused in case had been from an influential background and made it impossible for the actress to get due justice. The seven accused in this case included influential individuals Mohammad Farooq Bandial, Wasim Yaqoob Butt, Jamil Ahmad, Tahir Tanvir, Jamshed Akbar Sahi, Agha Aqueel Ahmad and Mohammad Muzaffar. Due to their influential backgrounds, they had managed to manipulate the local police into not registering the case and were only tried once the Special Military Court stepped in. Five accused were convicted of robbery and were sentenced to death. While Agha Aqueel Ahmad was awarded a 10-year imprisonment and Mohammad Muzaffar was acquitted on October 1979. Shabnam and her family continued to face harassment, and later moved abroad to get away from it.

In 1983, Safia Bibi, an 18-year-old blind girl was raped by her landlord and his son, and became pregnant. At this time the Hudood Ordinance was in place and as Safia was unable to prove the crime she was charged with fornication and sentenced to15 lashes and Rs1000 fine, while her assailants were not charged. In the same year, a 13-year-old orphan, Jehan Mina, was raped by her uncle and his son.

She also became pregnant and was charged for fornication. The fact that she was pregnant was considered proof by the court that sex outside marriage had taken place. In November 27, 1991 Farhana Veena Hayat, was assaulted, raped, and tortured for 12-hours at her house in Karachi. The victim accused Irfanullah Khan Marwat, the son-in-law of sitting Pakistani President Ghulam Ishaq Khan, for orchestrating the assault against her. After a long legal battle Marwat was acquitted and Veena expatriated.

In 2002, a 30-year-old woman named Mukhtaran Bibi was gang raped in Muzaffargarh on the directions the local village council as an ‘honour rape,’ after her 12-year-old brother had allegedly engaged in sexual relations with a woman from a higher caste. The case was pursued under domestic and international media pressure by an anti-terrorism court. However, the Lahore High Court later acquitted five of the six convicted men due to a lack of evidence, while it sentenced the sixth man to life imprisonment.

In January 2005, Dr Shazia Khalid, an employee at a government owned gas company’s hospital in Sui was raped while living alone in heavily guarded government-provided accommodation. With the support of her husband who had returned from Libya following the incident, Shazia reported the crime. This led to a violent protest in Balochistan which disrupted the supply of gas to much of the country for several weeks. Unable to get justice, in March 2005, Shazia and her husband left for London. She later attempted to get asylum in Canada but her application was refused. Similarly, in September 2008, Firdaus Bibi, a widow living in the same compound as Shazia, was gang-raped. A case was registered against nine officials from the company and security guards.

In 2007, Kainat Soomro, a 13-year-old schoolgirl, was kidnapped and gang-raped for four days in village Mehar in Sindh. Her family fled to Karachi following the crime, where her brother was murder and Kainat was attacked twice while pursuing the case to the city court. The court ruled that all four accused were innocent, prompting Kainat to file a petition at the Sindh High Court. She waited two years for a hearing, only to hear the same verdict once more.

One of the most clear cut cases of gender based violence occurred in 2016, when actress and social media personality Qandeel Baloch was murdered. Baloch was killed by her brother who disapproved of her social media persona and her lifestyle. The accused, Muhammad Waseem, admitted to killing his sister and also revealed his reasons for doing so willingly to the police. However, earlier this week he was acquitted for the murder of his sister.

In July 2021, the case that shook the country to its core, when 27-year-old Noor Mukadam, a resident of Islamabad, was kidnapped, tortured, murdered and post-houmously beheaded by accused Zahir Jaffer. The case which enraged the country, was settled this week with Jaffer being sentenced to death and his household staff charged with 10-years in prison. However, his parents, who allegedly had been aware of the crime as it took place and Therapy Works an organisation, that allegedly aided Jaffer and his parents in the cover process have both been acquitted in the case. This case in particular, as well the laundry list of cases before it, is a true testament of how the legal system in the country continues to fail women. With power and influence reigning supreme, those that commit crimes of the most vile nature are let off easy. While many celebrate Jaffer’s arrest, the likelihood of an appeal on his part, and a subsequent lenient sentence via retrial is not a possibility to be discounted. While the court’s decision to not charge his parents and Therapy Works shows a clear erasure of their complicity in crime committed.

These cases exhibit a serious disconnect between what these new laws and ammendments signifiy and what is happening in practice. Simply providing a legal framework and not implementing it does nothing for the victims who either feel too unsafe to seek legal aid or are forced to relive their trauma in courts over and over again as our legal system attempts to give them justice.

WOMEN’S PROTECTION LAWS

Prior to 2010, the laws protecting women against sexual harassment were unclear and in most cases led to confusion in court where implementation was concerned. Therefore, many amendments were made to the existing laws and new laws were enacted to add clarity and more legal protection for women. Some of major changes made were as follows:

– Section 354, pertaining to assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty. This deals with criminal force with the intent to harass, rape, or molest a women. The perpetrator would be sentenced to up to two years in jail or fined or both,

– Section 354-A, pertaining to assault or use of criminal force to woman and stripping her of her clothes,

– Section 366-A, pertaining to the procurement of a minor girl. This section is concerned with when a minor girl, below the age of eighteen, is by any means induced to get involved in illicit sexual intimacy, and this offence is punishable with upto 10 years of imprisonment along with a fine,

– Section 375 pertaining to the definition of rape. This section outlines the circumstances under which the sexual intimacy would amount to rape. This includes, against her will, without her free consent or consent based on misrepresentation, or when the victim is under sixteen years of age,

– Section 376 pertaining to the punishment for rape. This section denotes the punishment of death or imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less that ten years or more than twenty-five years, and shall also be liable to fine,

– Section 509 pertaining to insulting modesty or causing sexual harassment of a woman. This sections defines insulting a woman’s modesty as making sounds, crude gestures, or acting with the intention of intruding upon the privacy of said woman. Sexual harassment was first defined under this section for the first time.

Crucial changes made in the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2021, include:

– 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 rape,’

– 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,

– 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 and 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,

– The National Database and Registration Authority will maintain a registry of sex offenders.

The writer is a Sub-Editor, Bol News