Pakistan is a signatory of CEDAW however; women face being victims of corruption and exploitation. The political participation of women is hindered by various factors, including corruption in electoral processes, which exacerbates their already restricted possibilities to influence political processes and decision-making.
COERCION
Certain kinds of coercive corruption, such as sextortion, primarily impact women. Sextortion is the act of coercing an individual, typically by someone in a position of authority, to participate in unwelcome sexual activities in return for the exercise of power or the provision of goods or services that the subject is already entitled to.
The prevalence of violence against women and girls, encompassing many forms such as rape, murder, acid assaults, domestic violence, and forced marriage, is deeply ingrained throughout the societal fabric of Pakistan. According to estimations by human rights activists, over 1,000 women are subjected to fatal incidents known as honor killings on an annual basis.
INCIDENTS
[1] The occurrence of widespread protests in July was triggered by the torture and death of Noor Muqadam, a 27-year-old individual, in Islamabad. Zahir Jaffer, an individual from Muqadam’s childhood acquaintance, was apprehended and formally accused of the act of homicide after Muqadam rejects his matrimonial proposition. In July, the Pakistani Parliament failed to approve a bill aimed at making domestic violence a criminal offense. The government’s decision to defer the bill to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) for evaluation was met with criticism from campaigners advocating for women’s rights. The measure faced criticism from the CII, which argued that it included “injunctions contrary to Islamic principles” and posed a threat to the institution of the family.
[2] In August, a video that gained significant online attention depicted a young woman being subjected to a physical attack by a large group of over 400 men within a park located in Lahore. The incident occurred while the woman and her companions were recording a video for the popular social media platform, TikTok.
[3[ Child marriage continues to be a significant issue in Pakistan, as evidenced by the fact that 18 percent of girls are married before reaching the age of 18, while 4 percent are married before the age of 15.
[4] The penal law in Pakistan has provisions that deem same-sex sexual conduct as a criminal offense. On April 6th, an individual residing in the Korangi locality of Karachi, aged 60 and identifying as transgender, was fatally shot by unknown perpetrators who forcibly entered their residence.
Corruption and Gender Discrimination in Pakistan:
A total of 470 instances of honor killings were documented in Pakistan during the previous year. According to estimations provided by human rights activists, approximately 1,000 women are annually subjected to fatal acts in the context of honor. The prevalent perception in Pakistan is that victims of honor killings have brought disgrace and dishonor upon their family members.
The analysis of the gross loan portfolio of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reveals a significant gender disparity. Specifically, a mere 3% of small-medium enterprise loans are allocated to women, while men receive the remaining 97%. In a similar vein, it is noteworthy that a mere 19% of microfinance loans are allocated to women, whereas a significant 87% of these loans are directed towards men. In Pakistan, it is a requirement for a female entrepreneur to provide the name of her father or husband while opening a bank account, accompanied by a witness.
Political Disempowerment of Women in Pakistan:
In Pakistan, where women make up nearly half of the population (49 percent), only 4.5 percent hold senior, executive, or legislative positions, one of the lowest rates in the world. Two out of every ten Pakistani women are employed, which is one of the lowest ratios in the region. Even in terms of civic engagement, women’s political participation is limited; during the 2018 elections, only 40 percent of the 46 million women who were enrolled to vote actually cast ballots.
Cyberbullying in Pakistan:
[1[ Maria, a Karachi-born 23-year-old university student, never feared speaking out about women’s issues in Pakistan. Her acquaintances frequently tagged her in feminism-related social media posts, praising her well-articulated arguments in favor of women’s rights. And even though Maria’s arguments were never intended to be offensive, she was soon subjected to cyber harassment. Maria, who wished to be identified only by her first name, told The Express Tribune, “I never imagined my views would provoke Pakistani men to the point where they would begin harassing me.” “Many men began sending me lewd and abusive messages on Facebook, and some even copied my pictures from my profile and threatened to alter them because they disagreed with my stance on women’s rights.”
[2] Due to pressure from her family and peers, Maria changed her opinion about seeking assistance and reporting her harassers to the cybercrime cell. “I wanted to report the perpetrators of cyber harassment, but my mother and female friends insisted that I change my Facebook privacy settings and cease publicly expressing my opinions. Even though self-censorship was depressing, online trolls ceased harassing me in the end. Thousands of Pakistani urban women are reported to have experienced cyber harassment in one form or another daily, so Maria’s experience is not unique.
[3] 40% of female internet users in Pakistan have experienced harassment via social media platforms and messaging apps such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger, among others, according to the most recent report by the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF), a Pakistani research and advocacy organization. Despite experiencing online harassment, 72% of female social media users in Pakistan are unaware of cyber harassment laws, according to the report.
Despite the existence of laws, there are numerous reasons why women do not report instances of violence. According to data collected by the DRF, 45% of women believe that reporting online harassment is humiliating, while 47% do not report cases because they believe it is unnecessary. According to Nighat dad, the majority of women choose to remain silent due to familial constraints and skepticism regarding the enforcement of laws. When it comes to implementation and convictions, the picture in Pakistan is regrettably not so rosy. Recently, the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology criticized the performance of the FIA and Pakistan Telecommuni cations Authority (PTA) in combating the rise in cybercrimes and cases of harassment on social media platforms.
Image – The National