Pakistani acid attacks on women: Muslim impotent male misogynist domestic violence criminal shame
June 162010
Pakistan is a conservative Muslim country, where women – especially in poor, rural areas – can be treated like commodities with little protection provided by the police and under pressure not to disgrace their families.
“Their families will say ‘it’s the wrong thing to go to the courts, what will society think about you?’” said Sana Masood, the legal coordinator with Pakistan’s Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF).
The nation remains without a domestic violence law. It has been drafted, but lawmakers say it is still under debate because a senator from a hardline Islamic party raised objections and sent the bill back to parliament…..
Acid attacks are rising, with ASF recording 48 cases in 2009 and Masood says countless more probably go unreported because of social stigma. That is up from about 30 cases in 2007, a rise that Masood says could be blamed on increased stress in people’s lives as the country’s economy deteriorates.
Farhat was just 13 years old when a man threw acid in her face in 2003 because her parents refused to let him marry her….. Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry took a personal interest in the case, and recommended that the government pass new legislation to control the sale of acid and increase punishment for acid attacks.
…..industrial-strength acid used in cotton processing can be bought by anyone for just a few dollars. “Because of its easy accessibility to the general public, for very stupid domestic issues they will just throw acid on each other,” she said. “It does not only destroy a person’s face but it destroys a person’s life.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/6935405/Pakistans-acid-attack-victims-pin-hope-on-new-laws.html
Pakistan edges closer to banning domestic violence – ”People don’t appreciate women who go to police stations,” the 38-year-old says. ”I just thought it was my destiny, my fate.”
Rights advocates hope a proposed law banning domestic violence will chip away at such attitudes, giving women a more even playing field and bringing Pakistan in line with a growing number of developing nations that have outlawed spousal abuse.
But several lawmakers in Parliament are objecting, claiming the law could tear apart the social fabric by undermining families.
Violence against women is a widespread phenomenon in Pakistan, a Muslim-majority nation of 175 million where most people are poor, only half the adults can read and extremist ideologies, including the Taliban’s, are gaining traction….. surveys have shown up to 80 per cent of wives in rural parts of Pakistan fear physical violence from their husbands, while 50 per cent of women in urban areas admit their husbands beat them, according to a 2009 US State Department report on Pakistan.
”It happens even in good families — wealthier families,” says Yasmeen Rehman, the sponsor of the bill now stuck in a committee in Parliament. ”In the rural areas, it’s almost like a habit for the men.”
The bill lays out a broad definition of domestic violence beyond assault, including emotional abuse, stalking and wrongful confinement. Depriving a spouse of money or other resources needed to survive is also considered a violation.
The bill strives to cover everyone in a household, including elderly parents, children and husbands. It also sets up local ”protection committees,” which are required to include women and empowered to file complaints on behalf of victims.
Abusers can face months or years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines if they violate court protection orders, the bill says.
Under current Pakistani law, women could turn to anti-assault statutes, but unless they are severely beaten, such claims are hard to prove, activists say. Police are rarely willing to interfere in domestic matters and often don’t take women seriously.
Most women are unwilling to report on a family member, especially if he’s the breadwinner, and they give in to societal pressure to just put up with the abuse…..
”Laws are very good, but unless and until you change the mindset of the people, things won’t change,” said Nayyar Shabana Kiyani, who has worked on the legislation as part of the The Aurat Foundation….. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/04-pak-domestic-violence-qs-11
Acid attacks a serious concern in Pakistan http://www.ethicsinaction.asia/archive/2010-ethics-in-action/vol.-4-no.-1-february-2010/acid-attacks-a-serious-concern-in-pakistan (see PICS)
http://www.123muslim.com/discussion-room/8107-acid-attacks-women-horrific-act.html
http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRIN,,PAK,,498ab6421e,0.html
Pakistan’s Acid-Attack Victims Fight Back http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1971124,00.html
Misogyny …is hatred (or contempt) of women or girls http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misogyny
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_throwing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudood_Ordinance
Duration : 0:2:56
March 2002 Reuters International news report says Boston Catholic cathedral is “a firestorm amid the largest sex scandal in church history.” Report features SNAP Board Member Mark Serrano in New Jersey and Phil Saviano, Founder of New England SNAP Chapter, in Boston. Former Massachusetts priest David Holley is profiled. Holley died in a New Mexico prison in November 2008. One of the first U.S. priests to be sent to prison for sex crimes against children, he was serving out a sentence of 275 years.
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Learn more about SIN BY SILENCE here http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c759.shtml
Held at Pacific Lutheran Univeristy
Learn more about SIN BY SILENCE here http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c759.shtml
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