1 million Pakistani women abused during pregnancy: expert

LAHORE: Annually an estimated one million pregnant Pakistani women are physically abused at least once during pregnancy by their partners.

This was said by Prof Unaiza Niaz, the president of the Women Section of World Psychiatric Association and director of the Institute of Psycho-Trauma Pakistan, while delivering a lecture on Gender issues and Women’s Mental Health at the University of Health Sciences (UHS) here on Friday.

Prof Niaz said research indicated strong association between gender-based violence and mental health. Depression, anxiety and stress-related syndromes, dependence on psychotropic medications and substance use and suicide were mental health problems associated with violence in women’s lives, she added.

She was of the view that women experienced mental illnesses differently than men and the illnesses could affect women at any time regardless of age, race or income. She further said common disorders affecting women included depression, eating disorders, anxiety disorders, postpartum and bipolar disorders, adding that nearly twice as many women as men were affected by depression or anxiety disorder.

Prof Niaz observed that negative effects of globalisation and economic reforms on public health had hit women harder than men. “More than one billion people, mostly women, are living in extreme poverty and the change in the trend makes few experts feel the onset of ‘feminization’ of poverty.”

She further said that in Pakistan, societal attitudes and norms, as well as cultural practices such as Karo Kari and Vani severely affected women’s mental health. Religious and ethnic conflicts, along with the dehumanising attitude towards women, the extended family system, role of in-laws, represented major issues and stressors, Dr Niaz said, adding: “Gender discrimination at each stage of the female life cycle contributes to health disparity, sex selective abortions, neglect of girl children, reproductive mortality, and poor access to healthcare for girls and women.” She stated that risk of depression in women was higher during the childbearing years. She said women were also vulnerable to depression during the period immediately after childbirth.
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Iran’s Women Fight for Rights

By NAZILA FATHI
Women’s rights advocates say Iranian women are displaying a growing determination to achieve equal status in this conservative Muslim theocracy, where male supremacy is still enscribed in the legal code. One in five marriages now end in divorce, according to government data, a fourfold increase in the past 15 years.

And it is not just women from the wealthy, Westernized elites. The family court building in Vanak Square here is filled with women, like Ms. Qassemi, who are not privileged. Women from lower classes and even the religious are among those marching up and down the stairs to fight for divorces and custody of their children.

Increasing educational levels and the information revolution have contributed to creating a generation of women determined to gain more control over their lives, rights advocates say.

Confronted with new cultural and legal restrictions after the Islamic Revolution in 1979, some young women turned to higher education as a way to get away from home, postpone marriage and earn social respect, advocates say. Religious women, who had refused to sit in classes with men, returned to universities after they were resegregated.

Today, more than 60 percent of university students are women, compared with just over 30 percent in 1982, even though classes are no longer segregated.

Even for those women for whom college is not an option, the Internet and satellite television have opened windows into the lives of women in the West. “Satellite has shown an alternative way of being,” said Syma Sayah, a feminist involved in social work in Tehran. “Women see that it is possible to be treated equally with men.”

Another sign of changing attitudes is the increasing popularity of books, movies and documentaries that explore sex discrimination, rights advocates say.

“Women do not have a proper status in society,” said Mahnaz Mohammadi, a filmmaker. “Films are supposed to be a mirror of reality, and we make films to change the status quo.”

In a recent movie, “All Women Are Angels,” a comedy that was at the top of the box office for weeks, a judge rejects the divorce plea of a woman who walked out on her husband when she found him with another woman.
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Shahadat law against Quran, Sunnah: FSC

LAHORE, 12 FebruaryA FULL bench of the Federal Shariat Court has held that sub-article 4 of article 151 of Qanun-e-Shahadat is repugnant to Quran and Sunnah and asked President of Pakistan to take appropriate steps for repeal of sub-article 4 within six months failing which the said provision would cease to have effect.

Under sub-article 4 of article 151 of Qanun-e-Shahadat Order 1984, if a man who is prosecuted for rape or an attempt to molest a woman, it may be shown that the female victim was of an immoral character.

The bench comprising Chief Justice Haziq-ul-Khairi, Justice Dr Fida Muhammad Khan, Justice Salah-ud-Din Mirza and Justice Muhammad Zafar Yasin passed this order while accepting a petition of Capt (Retd) Mukhtar Ahmed Sheikh who had challenged the said provision saying it gives protection to a man accused of rape to taint the character of a woman while depriving the similar right to the woman.

The petitioner argued that it was discriminatory and against the dictates of justice and equality as ordained by Quran and Sunnah and tantamount to giving free license to an accused to commit Qazf (allegation of rape on a woman) without producing four male witnesses in clear violation of Holy Quran.

The court observed that the said provision is discriminatory based on sex and violates constitutional provisions. Above all, it negates the concept of gender equality as enshrined in the Holy Quran as a woman is placed in more exalted and respected position than a man is.

The court observed that it had failed to comprehend that what wisdom had prevailed upon lawmakers to add sub-article 4, as it should serve no useful purpose. Assuming that the woman victim was of generally immoral character, will a man accused of rape or attempt to ravish her be exonerated of crime or will a rape cease to be a rape if the victim happened to be prostitute or a woman of easy virtue?

Islam makes no distinction whether the subject of crime was of generally immoral character or not, the bench remarked.

The Holy Quran places women on a much higher pedestal than ever known in the society. She is not considered as an agent of devil nor treated as a personal possession in Islam. She has all the property rights and has similar rights as of a man in matter of marriage and divorce.

The penal laws of Islam treat a woman equally with men. She has lesser responsibilities in worldly affairs and is bestowed with greater respect and kindness.

The representatives of federal government and all four provinces made their submissions in the case and only NWFP government supported the petition saying the law would damage the character of female witnesses.

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