Women urged to stand up for their rights

Islamabad

Women community leaders from 45 districts of Pakistan on Friday urged women and girls to stand up for their rights and become a change agent in their families.

They were speaking at Women’s Convention jointly organised by Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO), South Asia Partnership Pakistan (SAP PK), Sungi, Aurat Foundation and UKaid under Awaz programme. The event was organised to commemorate 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence. Provincial Minister for Social Welfare, Sindh, Shameem Mumtaz was the chief guest on the occasion.

Speaking at a penal discussion, women community leaders pointed out that physical violence has considerably decreased in the society but the psychological violence still exist in every household which is the biggest hurdle in the way of women empowerment.

The convention started with the introduction of 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence by Saima Munir from Aurat Foundation. She talked about four Mirabal Sisters who opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo and were assassinated on November 25, 1960. In the memory of these sisters, the world commemorates 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, from International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25 to International Human Rights Day on December 10. Saima hopped that the world will commemorate these 16 Days in the form of a celebration after 50 years.

Speaking on this occasion, Deputy Head of DFID Judith Herbertson said that in 2016’s Pakistan, people are born unequal if they are poor, belongs to minority group or are person with disability but the biggest disadvantage is to be born a woman.

Sharing some basic statistics, she said 55 per cent girls in Pakistan are not allowed school, 42 girls drop out from school, 35 per cent are married before 16th birthday, 40 per cent experience physical violence, 14,000 women die during child birth, a quarter are in job and get paid and 50 per population experience discrimination.

She said that investing on women have a transformational affect on individuals, society, countries and the world. “My wish is for Pakistani girls is that they don’t die before fifth birthday, receive enough food during earlier life so that their brain can fully grow, they go to school and stay till higher education, do not get early marriage, can take decisions, become financially independent and they can vote and stand for elections,” she said.

She said that unlike United States, Pakistan had women head of state. “The challenges are huge but so is the potential. We need to continue to work together to raise voice and change behaviour,” she said.

The event also included a panel discussion where women councillors shared their experiences in politics and urged women to stand up for their rights and become a change agent in their families. They said that physical violence has considerably decreased in the society but the mental violence still exist which is the biggest hurdle in the way of women empowerment.

Those who spoke in the penal discussion included Councillor Amna from Kohat, Councillor Shahida from Swabi, Councillor Asma Shiekh from Mianwali, Councillor Abida from Lahore, Councillor Farzana from Rawalpindi, Councillor Riffat Sultana from Faisalabad. Representative from transgender community from Jhang Bota Arif was also part of the penal.

In another session, women members of Provincial Assemblies shared their experience. MPA Balochistan Hussan Bano said that every day is women’s day. MPA from Punjab Raheela Khadim Hussain talked about the measures taken by Punjab government for women empowerment. “Those who call us conservative are not ready to vote for Hillary only because she is a woman,” she said.

Shamim Mumtaz, Minister for Social Welfare, Sindh, read message of Chairperson Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the occasion of International Day on Violence against Women. “Our party has always tried for equal rights for women and we will keep on doing that,” said the message.

The event also featured screening of two documentaries on the progress of Awaz Programme. Besides that Aliya Mirza recited her latest poetry on women rights. The participants sang famous song “Yeh dailkh zaman tera hay” by Aliya Mirza and lit candles in the memory of the violence victims.

At the end, a resolution was presented by the Awaz partners demanding gender equality, violence free environment and education for women, education, implementation of laws, role of media towards women empowerment and end to anti women practices.