PAKISTAN
This is not 1971. It is impossible to hide human rights violations.
Speak up, get shot: a grim state of human rights in Pakistan
Even with a crippling economy and an incompetent government, Pakistan preserves a façade of a nation with an elite and rich culture, friendly and hospitable people that welcome foreigners and a nirvana for travelers. Its people live in the delusion, that even though we’re headed towards an irreversible and disastrous era, our fundamental rights are duly safeguarded. And this is nothing but a delusion.
Ask the average middle-class Sunni Muslim male and he’ll confirm that he fully enjoys his rights and all is well and good in our country.
First, let’s shed some light on women and children rights. Child marriage is an illegal and disgusting practice which essentially means marrying boys and girls off before they reach the minimum age of adulthood. Although there are laws which prohibit this practice such as the Federal Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929, they aren’t enforced as much and haven’t done much to bring about any considerable decline in child marriage cases. In fact, these cases are highly prevalent in the rural and disadvantaged areas where no action is taken to thwart the practice.
According to a WHO report (Demographics of Child Marriage in Pakistan), 21 percent of girls under the age of 18 and 3 percent of girls under 15 get married in Pakistan due to a myriad of socio-cultural reasons.
According to a WHO report (Demographics of Child Marriage in Pakistan), 21 percent of girls under the age of 18 and 3 percent of girls under 15 get married in Pakistan due to a myriad of socio-cultural reasons.
We cannot deny the fact that rape and sexual assault of women and minors remains one of the gravest yet taboo issues in Pakistan. Acid attacks, domestic violence and ‘honor’ killings remain rampant, despite the increased media coverage and awareness in recent years. Hundreds of women are victims to acid attacks and in many cases, do not report it for fear of getting killed by their attackers. Neither does Pakistan’s rape law recognize marital rape nor does it define statutory rape and in some cases women are not allowed to testify in court. Women who report their rape are silenced by their families because often, the rapist is someone close to the victim. Many times, victims are harassed by an abusive, indifferent and unhelpful police force and a culture of silence and ignorance regarding this topic encourages the victims to not come forward and seek justice.
Although this issue continues to be a really controversial one, its severity can be deduced from the fact that there were about 19 people, many of whom belonged to religious minorities, on the death row under blasphemy charges, accentuating the matter of religious freedom in Pakistan and the fact that atheists and other minorities are at a higher risk than before.
The recent crackdown on human rights activists not only poses a threat to freedom of expression in Pakistan but also reveals how the state treats its thinkers, academics and activists, all the while requesting that overseas Pakistani academics return to the country to invest in its future. Human rights defenders are subjected to all sorts of abuse, harassment and violence with a prevalent myth that the protection of these activists is all a plot by western countries to interfere in the domestic affairs of the country.
It’s quite evident that with all these pressing matters, Pakistan should get a grip of its current situation, reevaluate about how it goes about dealing with these issues and instead of sanctioning the forced disappearances of its activists, listen to them and know which issues plague this country and obstruct social growth and development.
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