September 20, 2020

Disguised misogynist culture behind growing rape cases in Pakistan

topic:	Women's rights
located:	Pakistan
editor:	Shadi Khan Saif

Every now and then the mounting cases of sexual assaults in Pakistan, with increasingly disturbing details, only grab brief attention in the heavily polarised media landscape but fail to shake a collective moral conscious that could bring a positive change.

The whole cycle of the initial denial, the late-yet-brief acknowledgement of the pressing issue followed by a confused debate in the ruling quarters keeps the rotten culture of misogyny to simply flourish. In Pakistan, the norm of compelling the victim to prove innocence rather than considering them innocent until guilty remains prevalent.

On top of it, victim-shaming, particularly in the case of rape victims, has been another dilemma the country of over 200 million citizens has so far failed to overcome.

Two unidentified men had raped a woman in front of her children on September 9. She was driving to Gujranwala when she ran out of fuel near Lahore’s Gujjarpura area.

The aspect of honour associated with the women and girls remains an acceptable norm in this part of the world. Immediately, there is no need to alter that and no one is asking to decode all the cultural values associated with it, but what really needs to be done is to smartly outline policies and strategies to chop off any ambiguities and confusion blurring realities and legalities and eventually leaving women and girls to sacrifice their lives and dignity.

Existing provisions of the laws are good enough for the culprits of these shameful inhumane acts, provided they are swiftly and justly executed with the backing of undeniable scientific evidence.

But, what we witnessed after one such recent incident on the Sialkot highway earlier this month was again the same old shameful showmanship with bizarre ideas coming out of sick minds representing the misogynistic culture. As some questioned the timing and choices of travel of the victim late in the night, others pointing fingers towards the 'proactive media' and some talking about chemical castration.

It is such a pity to see the legendary victim of one such gang rape in Pakistan back in 2002, Mukhtara Mai, sort of disowned by her own self-serving 'honourable society' while hailed by the rest of the world as a brave woman to speak out against misogyny. After all, she was given the punishment of gang rape by a male council that was settling a case of 'honour' outside legal jurisdictions.

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