Justice system in Fata to benefit women in getting basic rights: experts

Islamabad: Speakers at a briefing session called for women inclusive FATA reform process and gender sensitisation of state institutions to bring women of FATA into the main stream.

They were speaking at a ‘Briefing Session on Women’s Rights in FATA’ organised by UN Women in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) and National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) on Monday.

The event featured presentation of a research on women’s rights in FATA conducted by UN Women to see whether the FATA reform process is looking into the gender dynamics and what is the impact on women and vulnerable community in FATA. The presentation was followed by screening of a documentary highlighting the voices of women in the forgotten region. “When we compared the work UN Women has done in different parts of Pakistan, least was done in FATA which goes to show the need to reach out to the women and girls living in FATA to ensure their basic rights,” said UN Women Country Representative Jamshed Kazi in his welcome note.

The research, presented by Khadija Ali, reflects voices of and for women in FATA. It says that women in FATA have high hopes attached with the merger of KP and FATA. “Once the courts and criminal justice system is extended in FATA, it will benefit women in getting their basic rights ensured in the constitution of Pakistan,” said Khadija. The research recommends amendment in Article 51 of the Constitution to remove general seats of FATA and merge them as general seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa thus increasing the seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa in the National Assembly with seats reserved for tribal women. The study also suggests extending High Court, Supreme Court and formal criminal justice system to FATA.

The research calls for affirmative action for appointment of women judges in the FATA region where possible and also inclusion of women, youth and minorities in Jirgas to dismantle the power structure of male elite of the area. The report also suggests further research on mapping women’s experiences of violence and informal justice system.

Talking about the Proposed FATA Bill on Rewaj, Khadija said that the practice of Swara has considerably reduced in the area where as other traditions such as ‘Tor’ (accusation of illicit relations) and ‘Valvaar’ (bride price) are still widely practiced in the area.

Speaking on this occasion, Federal Secretary MoHR Rabia Javeri Agha said that if a nation has to progress, it has to progress equitably. She talked about the measures taken by the government to empower and protect women.

In her concluding remarks, NCSW Chairperson Khawar Mumtaz welcomed integration of FATA into the mainstream. She said that there are certain similarities between FATA and rest of the country with regards to incidents of violence against women but other parts of the country have laws and means of implementation in place, which are missing in FATA. “Once these are extended in FATA, it will open up a way for women in FATA,” she added.