Sherry terms women protection bill imperative for safety, rehabilitation

ISLAMABAD: Condemning Noor Mukadam’s gruesome murder, Pakistan People’s Party Vice President and Chairperson Foreign Affairs Senate Standing Committee, Senator Sherry Rehman said that is not a one-off case and there must be justice for Noor and all other girls who have been violated or wronged, let alone killed.”

“In a span of two weeks, there have been multiple cases of violence against women and with such incidents happening on a daily basis manifesting the need for a domestic violence bill,” she said in a statement on Saturday. Senator Sherry Rehman said this bill seeks to protect women, children, and other vulnerable groups from domestic violence. “It also provides relief and rehabilitation to all such victims,” she added.

Discussing Khadija Siddiqi’s case, she said it is shocking that the man who stabbed her 23 times was granted remission on trivial grounds of donating blood and on payment of the requisite fines of Arsh and Daman. “He did not even get to complete his 5-year jail sentence. This is not the example that we should be setting,” she said. On the other hand, she said Usman Mirza who assaulted a couple is still on physical remand.

“There needs to be swift justice in such cases,” she said. This state of affairs has ranked Pakistan 151st out of 153 countries at the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum. There are countless cases which do not get reported or make it to social media but one can’t deny the femicide happening in Pakistan.

“Someone needs to take the responsibility for Quratulain who was murdered by her husband right in her home, or for countless other women who are beaten up by men of their own family. We can no longer ignore the suffering of our women,” she added.

Highlighting the importance of the domestic violence bill, she said this legislation is long over due and most certainly is the need of the hour. “It’s high time that we outlaw practices that threaten the safety and well being of women,” she said. Instead of blaming women for sexual violence, she said it is high time that we work towards changing our culture of sexism and misogyny.” "I had moved this bill in 2004 when I was an MNA and after that, devolution allowed provinces to make laws to protect women. Sindh’s law is still the model law but it is mind boggling that the federal government is unable to accept either my law moved in 2020 in the Senate or that of the draft of the law tabled by Human Rights Ministry."

The PPP's parliamentary leader said the government needs to do more than just act in sporadic cases.

“They need to have an institutional response mechanism and an environment that keeps women safe and empowered in public and private spaces,” she said. Rehman underlined that it is the government's responsibility to ensure that women could speak up against injustices.