Women: Beasts of Burden
blog.washingtonpost.com
Lahore, Pakistan - Blaring headlines -- arriving almost on a weekly basis now -- announcing yet another 'honor' killing or yet another rape victim detained while the perpetrator goes free show just how much the odds continue to work against the Pakistani woman.
Recently, the government decided to finally amend the criminal code of Pakistan's controversial rape laws that said a raped woman could be accused, in the absence of evidence of four male Muslim eyewitnesses, of adultery or fornication.
Women activists took to the streets, rejecting the amendment and calling for the complete repeal of the Hudood Ordinances, a bizarre set of Islamic laws devised by a military dictator in the 1980s in a bid to legitimize authoritarian rule by packaging it in "Islamisation". So long as these bad laws remain on the books, say activists, they will undermine the security of Pakistani women, resulting in grave miscarriages of justice. Some critics of the opposition say to accept moderate improvements and "realize half a loaf of bread is better than none at all."
In the 21st century, Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world with fewer women in its population than men. In rural Pakistan, women are treated as beasts of burden. They are fed on scraps but expected to do the bulk of the work. In urban society, women are considered a social burden, forced to leave school or employment after marriage.
Yet women have struggled and will continue to do so against all odds. Even if mobility remains circumscribed in the countryside, the information revolution is changing attitudes. Among urban women fortunate enough to gain an education, more and more are challenging, if not breaking, the glass ceiling in professions that once excluded females. Will women in Pakistan accept half a loaf in the 21st century? Not likely. They'll accept nothing less than complete freedom, complete equality, and equal rights. |
