Is Pakistan safe for women?

Saad

Few days back foreign tourists including two females were harassed at Pakistan Monument in Islamabad. How come a mob is harassing and recording the videos in broad daylight. Nobody there seemed disturbed except for the helpless victims. Such an action by a mob demands collective will which is deep-rooted into shared ideology or necessity. This is not some rare case of foreign tourists being exploited in Pakistan. Almost fortnight back an American tourist was allegedly (for media didn’t cover the news further) gang raped by her tour guide and his friends.

I was surprised at the search results when I browsed if Pakistan was safe for female tourists. Unexpectedly almost all the results said “YES!”

“How come a country is safe for female tourists when it’s not even safe for it’s own women?”

Ministry of tourism and ISPR encourages and assists foreign vloggers and tourists to come to Pakistan and share a soft, all good and peaceful image of Pakistan to the global community. This thing is so absurd for when your room is gross you don’t decorate it from outside but clean it. Acting like if everything is fine leaves women vulnerable to such violence as seen in Pakistan today and nobody actually talks about it or tries to stop it. For an economy as Pakistan’s, the foreign relations are very important that is why most of the Pakistanis only condemn such incidents when there’s some western power taking notice of it or raising voice against it. For the instant a Pakistani man who was visiting Turkey was arrested and deported back to where he belonged to for recording videos of women without their consent. Turkish ministry shared the incident on Twitter and Pakistani handles were found writing that “he doesn’t represent our whole country”. Now sit back and think again-had this thing happened in Pakistan then what would have we found under comment section? Without doubt words like “gashti” or “you deserve it”. This mindset is so common that even the ex-prime minister and still a rape apologist Imran Khan said on the record that ” If women wear skimpy clothes, then men will be tempted unless they are robots.”

Everyday there are cases of rape, honor killing and domestic violence it doesn’t include those that are not recorded or the general hatred found against women.

So, what makes Pakistan unsafe for women (of course trans, queer and every minority is facing violence in Islamic Republic of Pakistan but the systematic violence against women is worse than what’s seen against others.

Being a woman, in Pakistan, is quite difficult. You do not actually have an individual identity rather you are identified as someone’s daughter, someone’s sister, someone’s wife, someone’s mother or ‘awara’ in case your people or family change their mind and instead of killing you just disown you. This is one of the key reasons that makes the condition of women such as it is today. For when livings are considered as objects that can be owned and possessed and later the ownership is transferred through hierarchy or marriage it leaves them vulnerable to physical, emotional and sexual violence. They have been made objects prisoned in their own bodies. You can twist them, mould them, use them or disown them. That is why women said ‘mera jism meri marzi’ and Pakistani men became angry like wild beasts. The burden of purity, honor and nobility is also put on their shoulders and not just the burden of honor and purity of themselves but of their families an acquaintance as well. This thing restricts their lives and put sanctions even on their daily lives and failure to carry this burden results, many times, in honor killing.

Religious cults play the biggest role in this thing and sometime religion itself. From top rated “Topi Drama” mullahs to local Imams, everyone’s world and business revolve around women be it the reason for the coronavirus, sign for approaching the day of judgement or rewards in paradise you will find women everywhere. During the peak of COVID 19 pandemic a so-called scholar MTJ said it’s punishment from divine for the way women dress. Seriously? I have never heard and religious figure ever saying anything against what’s happening throughout the country including religious institutions for every now and then there are confirmed cases of child molestation. Why is vulgarity and immodesty always linked with women and especially their clothing.

Since Pakistanis take these mullahs seriously some even try to reinforce the modest law and order by honor killing, rape or rape threats. You can see such threats on social media posts of women of this country.

The violence against women is an ideology and there is whole system through which it nourishes so that it reaches a point where you can rape or harass women in the form of mob in broad daylight.

The exploitation of the women starts from the day they are born. How a couple keeps on breeding until at least one male child is arrived. Many young girls are molested in their childhood (mostly by male members of their families). They are not encouraged to get higher education as males are. Some are sent only to the colleges and universities of own city. Forced marriage or toxic relationship is another thing. This cycle goes on but now the protagonist is her daughter now.

Everything possible is done to make them stay dependent on males for their survivors. Financial dependence serves as base on which violence against women is committed. We start it by keeping the right of women to inheritance half as man’s and most of the times this half right isn’t actually given to them. When they are not educated and discouraged to have a job or persuade their dreams then they are left with no source of income this thing traps them into abusive relationships which is not cut off for now women have been made so much dependant on men.

Our lives have been made so fabricated around sex and women that it has become business of life for so many. It’s rewards and punishment. If someone is going to paradise, he is getting Seventy-two virgins (number may fluctuate upward). If something bad is happening it’s because of women and only way to improve this is by making them behave well. If someone cannot dominate his wife then he is not a man. Meanwhile sex is a taboo topic in Pakistan. You cannot talk openly about it. No concept of sex education. Children are vulnerable to become victims or culprits of sexual violence in future. The word “consent” is unfamiliar to boys. Girls also do not know that they can say “No” too . There is nothing like “Marital Rape” in Pakistan for once a woman is married it’s his husband’s possession to do what he may like.

I think as a society we need to consider women as much humans as men. Instead of someone’s she must be considered someone. They must not be considered the criteria of Divine Judgement of habitants of earth. Their economy – financial sources must not be destroyed or replaced with a lollipop of man’s responsibility to provide for the women. Children must be taught that women are not some peculiar things rather fellow humans with right to their bodies and choices so that when they grow up they don’t end up being rapists, misogynists.

We need active and aggressive feminism to fight patriarchy otherwise right-wing fascist doctrine and apparatus like TLP, Haya March organizers and mullahs will continue to defame and suppress every voice in favour of women because it will shut down their whole business. We should disown every idea and belief that demands such oppression of women. Women make almost 50% of Pakistan’s population. If we don’t protect them today then tomorrow, we’ll be left with some extremist gays.

‘How come a country is safe for foreign tourists when it’s not even safe for its own female citizens?’
No sir it is not safe for women!!!