8th
March International Women Day
is celebrating around the world.
This day we commemorate those women who started their struggle
in America in 1907 for equal remuneration of equal work, and 8 hours
working, right of formation of union and right to cast vote.
This was the first well-organized struggle.
To stop this protest, government played a same role and started
beaten women with sticks, several women lost their lives, but struggle
was not stop. In 1910 on Socialist Party International Conference a
representatives ěClaraz Putkinî is declared March 8th International
Women Day.
On the eve of
March 8th I would like to put your attention that for years, women in
Pakistan have been severely disadvantaged and discriminated. They have
been denied the enjoyment of a whole range of rights - economic,
social, civil and political rights and often deprivation in one of
these areas has entailed discrimination in another.
Women, who have been denied social rights including the right
to education are also often denied the right to decide in matters
relating to their marriage and divorce, are more easily abused in the
family and community and are more likely to be deprived of the right
to legal redress. Often abuses are compounded; poor girls and women
are trafficked and subject to forced marriage, forced prostitution or
exploitative work situations such as bonded labor. In all of these
situations they are likely to be mentally, physically and sexually
abused, again without having the wherewithal to obtain justice.
Violence against women in the home and community as well as in the
custody of law enforcement officials is on the rise.
Many
cases receive media attention and the involvement of human rights
organizations, but they are quickly forgotten. Other women suffer
abuses in silence for years, die violent deaths and get buried in
unmarked graves.
Women's
awareness of their rights has increased thanks to the work of
Pakistani women's rights groups. However most women remain ignorant of
even their most basic rights. A newspaper survey in 2000 reported that
almost 90% of women did not realize that they had any rights at all.
Domestic
violence, which includes physical abuse, rape, acid throwing, burning
and killing, is widespread in Pakistan. Few women would complain under
legal provisions relating to physical injury. For those who do take
the step, police and the judiciary usually dismiss their complaints
and send them back to their abusive husbands.
Very
poor women, women from religious minorities and women bonded laborers
are particularly vulnerable to violence in the community and home.
According
to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, over 90% of married
women report being kicked, slapped, beaten or sexually abused when
husbands were dissatisfied by their cooking or cleaning, or when the
women had 'failed' to bear a child or had given birth to a girl
instead of a boy. Another organization stated that one woman is
murdered and one woman is kidnapped in Pakistan every day.
Forced
marriage of young girls continues to be reported despite a legal
minimum age of 16. While slavery is illegal in Pakistan, girls and
women continue to be traded to settle debts or conflicts. A form of
forced marriage specific to the interior of Sindh province is the
"marriage" of girls and women to the Qur'an. This keeps the
woman's share of property in the family, as she will have no children
to pass it on to. Human rights organizations report that there are
currently over 5000 women married to the Qur'an in Sindh.
Pakistan
is both a country of origin and a transit country for the trafficking
of women for domestic labor, forced marriage and prostitution. Crime
networks that span South Asia organize this form of slavery. The open
sale of girls and women in markets is reported in underdeveloped areas
such as parts of Balochistan. Some women, both local and trafficked,
are killed if they refuse to earn money in prostitution. Their
husbands force some into prostitution.
Women
working in factories, brick kilns, agricultural sector, domestic
workers, home based workers are working in miserable condition, and
because of no awareness raising about basic human rights and labor
laws and lack of leadership skills they are exploited by management.
They are working more than 12 hours, no leave and no maternity
leave is allow, no medical benefits, getting less wages compare to
men. Study done by WWO that their employer, supervisor and male
counterparts sexually harass 95% women. 60% women are working in brick
kilns sector, working as bonded labor, working whole day in sun, where
there is no toilet facility and security, brick kiln owner kidnapped
them and raped them.
In
year 2003 2536 cases of women and children were reported in the
prominent national as well as vernacular press. Research informed that out of acknowledged 2536 cases of
kidnapping, 1760 cases of women kidnapping.
Every year hundreds of women, of all ages and in all parts of
the country, are killed under the name of honor.
1261 cases of honor killing, out of 930 were committed against
women. The report pointed out those significant cases of kidnapping
increases in year 2003. In which 463 cases of female child abduction.
Despite making up almost 51 percent of the population, women continue
to face a discriminatory status within society. Most alarmingly, it
was found that violence against them, in almost every form, was on the
rise. A woman was raped every two hours somewhere in the country,
while hundreds became victims of 'honor' killings, domestic violence,
burnings and murder. With the woman unsafe even within her home,
reports of incidents of harassment at the workplace came in more
frequently than before, even as laws continued to discriminate against
women and their role in the public sphere remained marginalized.
930
women murdered on the name Karo Kari and honor during year 2003.
Out
of reported 1261 cases of violent crimes related to the so-called
HONOR. As regard the
suicide in different parts of country 954 cases of women self-murder.
The incidents of violence against women are rampant in the
country. It is obvious
from the number of reported cases as during the last year 3867 cases
of physical abuse and 1351 cases of sexual abuse were reported against
women. Out of acknowledged total 5218 cases of women abuse, there were
1574 cases of murder and 979 cases of rape including gang rape, 351
cases of attempt rape and 128 cases of harassment, 22 cases of acid
throwing.
The
paucity of legal remedies, the lack of safe houses for women or indeed
couples at risk, the absence of reliable mediation mechanisms to
intercede with parents who do not understand or accept women's rights
to freedom of choice in marriage and the sheer overwhelming magnitude
of the problem make such cries for help deeply distressing for Amnesty
International: in the absence of reliable and prompt protection by the
state, there are no safe solutions for those at risk of abuse.
Around
the world violence against women is increasing day by day, but
encouraging thing is that the women organizations are using better
strategy and planning constantly to overcome these problems.
Working
Women Organization is struggling very hard and mobilizing women
workers on one plat form to overcome the problems, given below is the
strategy we are using.
- Because
women literacy rate is very low and they have very little
information about labor laws, family laws, sexual harassment &
violence against women, human rights and TNCís subcontracting
system and its impact on women workers, gender sensitization, so
that WWO is organizing workshop thorough out the year to aware
women workers.
- As
regard to develop leadership capacity among them, WWO organize
program among women workers to able to unite women workers on one
plat for against discrimination and injustice.
- Low
literacy rate among women workers is also a hurdle, so that WWO is
running literacy centers for women workers in which they get
education and awareness about their rights and participate in WWO
activities, through this they got a lot of courage and confidence.
- To
implement labor laws and ILO Conventions, WWO closely working with
Ministry of labor and ILO, Trade Unions.
- Demonstration,
procession and rallies also organized to raise women issues and
problems.
- Providing
legal counseling and legal aid to registered their cases.
- Family
counseling with women workers family and parents.
- Disseminating
information about women issues and problems in every industry.
- Dialogues
with management.
- Advocacy
with government officials.
Open World Conference of Workers