If we study the history of woman and her contributions to the human society, we will realise that the role of woman in the evolution of society has been far bigger than that of the man. But this struggle has largely been ignored. However, the struggle and movements of women for their basic rights in the west have encouraged the women around the world to stand up for their rights and equality.

As a German feminist put it: The history and books of history are wrong about me and they have conveyed a wrong image of woman because this image in the books of history has been portrayed by men and there is no space for women in this framework of history.

https://youtu.be/izTi6J27ftI

The exploitation of women goes back to the era when there was no concept of society and agriculture and people used to move from place to place for their survival. At that time, whenever two or more tribes developed a conflict with each other over some issue they would resolve it by exchanging women with each other.

If we study the era of Mughal dynasty, we come across some stunning facts about the exploitation of women.

For example, Zaheeruddin Babur was in Samarqand and his arch rival Shebaani Khan had deployed his army around the city so that Babur couldn’t find a way out. When Babur realised that there was no way out, he handed his sister Khanzada Begum over to Shebaani Khan and escaped from Samarqand.

Rajput clans in India had the tradition that their women would burn themselves alive when their husbands lost the war, in order to save their ‘honour’.

History has seen women like Razia Sultana and Chand BiBi in India, “Elizabeth” in England, and Teresa in Austria who played a very important role in the histories of their respective countries but they were always criticised by their contemporaries who held them responsible for all the flaws in the political system.

Pakistani historian Mubarak Ali says, “It was woman who put this animal in the shape of man on the right track”.

When the church was extremely powerful in Europe and had control over all the administrative activities of the state, the status of woman was completely subservient.

According to a Bishop “woman should serve the man silently and she does not need to read or write, the main duty of woman is to produce more and more children”. St. Paul, the spiritual leader of Christianity, had advised women not to speak among men and always keep their heads and faces covered. History reveals that no other institution has exploited the woman more than the church.

Like all the other religions and communities, the woman in Muslim community was also never allowed to get education, equal rights and take part in the mainstream politics. Woman was forced for early age marriage, which is not only her exploitation but also a sin, even according to Islam.

But the things are changing now with urbanization expanding and women demanding their due rights.

In early 1960s Feminism took root in the US and under this movement women stood up for equal rights in society. This was the movement which gave women the courage to speak for their rights. Beside many other demands, this movement asked the governments around the world to provide voting rights to women and equal chances in every field of life.

As these movements grew in momentum, in 1975 UN announced 8 March to be celebrated every year as International Women’s Day.

Like any other country, the women of Pakistan have struggled a lot demanding equal rights. Feminism in Pakistan took root during Zia era when in 1981 women for the first time in the history of Pakistan launched protests against the anti-women Zia regime.

We have come a long way since the anti-Zia protests and women are coming forward now in all walks of life. The impact of this movement can be seen in the progressive policymaking as well as legislation enacted through the years, specifically in Sindh where “Child Marriage Restrain Act” was passed in 2014, increasing the minimum age for marriage to 18 years. “Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act” was passed in Sindh and Blochistan in 2010. Punjab assembly passed the “Protection of Women against Violence Act” in 2016.

Despite these legislations, the number of acid attacks and honor killings has increased over the years. There are huge loopholes still in the law as well in the implementation of the law and unless all the forms of misogyny are rooted out, and until all the women, men and transgender people can enjoy compete equality before law, this struggle for equal rights will continue.

Author: Ali Mansoor

source: Naya Daur

IT was International Women’s Day on Friday. But it was hard for the other half of the country to stay silent for a mere 24 hours. They just couldn’t because the posters/slogans during the countrywide march were just so out there and unacceptable. Even two days later, the ‘tsk tsk-ing’ and the outrage hadn’t stopped.

What were these women thinking? How could they abuse their position by making outrageous demands? And why didn’t they understand their culture and tradition? Where were the serious issues such as rape? Why didn’t they speak for the women from the less-privileged classes? Why did they speak of silly and irrelevant issues (when there are serious issues such as ‘honour’ killings)? Of course, there was great horror for unacceptable and/or frivolous issues such as manspreading; unwanted and unsolicited pictures (as many consider this a staid family paper, I will spare the feelings of all readers by not providing more details); divorce and the price of sanitary napkins.

These were hardly rights issues, it was said.

Many Pakistani men (and even some women) are all for equal rights for women but as long as it does not translate into support for ‘behayai’ (remember the unsolicited pictures), or even slogans asking for men to heat their own food, or find their own socks, or women who want to sit like men.

It seems as if they were arguing for women to have waited — for ‘honour’ killings to end, for inheritance laws to be made equitable, for equal pay to be a reality before bringing up ‘frivolous’ issues such as taboos around divorce or judging women for their clothing choices.

In creating a hierarchy of issues, where would we begin to ask for no harassment on the street or in cyberspace?

After all, in a society where violence against women takes such heinous forms such as wani and ‘honour’ killings, it does perhaps seem out of place to start demanding that men heat their own food.

But this argument is based on the assumption that women’s rights can be listed in terms of priority, and that one can only move down the list once the item above has been marked ‘complete’.

Hence, once ‘honour’ killings are eliminated, only then can one move on to wani, and once there is a ‘check’ in front of this can one perhaps move on to domestic violence. And only after all the acts of physical violence against women are eliminated should we move on to asking for more equitable inheritance laws and equal pay.

But in creating this hierarchy of issues, where would we begin to ask for no harassment on the street (eve-teasing as it is sometimes called in our subcontinental English); would it come before or after harassment in cyberspace? And what about allowing women to decide on birth control measures for themselves? Where would this be placed on the list? And it seems that with such serious issues to contend with, asking for equal representation on corporate boards or more women in cabinets should simply be shelved for the time being.

Second, there is an argument prevalent in the privileged parts of society that if women are not being killed or beaten or stopped from studying or working, they really should not be complaining about other issues. In other words, agitating about mansplaining, sexist swear words, and social views on clothes are not ‘real’ issues when women are being killed or maimed.

But Pakistan is a society where modernity and tradition jostle for space. It’s a place where Mukhtaran Mai is still struggling for justice; where the Muslim world’s first woman prime minister was elected 30 years ago; where women (and men) were apparently killed just seven years ago because a video revealed that they were enjoying music in the presence of men; where we also have laws outlawing sexual harassment at the workplace.

There are parts of the country (and society) where women struggle to marry of their own free will or get an education but in others, women struggle with getting their male colleagues to treat them with respect. And the rights movement will and should talk about all kinds of issues.

To argue that one is more real than the other is to argue that while extrajudicial killings happen, Pakistanis should not crib about the ridiculously high prices the automobile sector charges, because the latter only concerns a more privileged section of society. It’s possible to talk about both the issues and agitate for both at the same time.

Or to use another example, there are some who say that criticism of civilian governments or questions about accountability can endanger democracy in Pakistan. It will not. We can and must work for a stronger democracy and better governance from our political parties at the same time.

Similarly, working women can talk about sexual harassment and about not being heard in work meetings; others can discuss the social taboos surrounding those who have walked out of marriages; and all of them can talk about rape and ‘honour’ killings as well as the burden of juggling work and housework, as in many households, men are not expected to lift a finger at home. These issues need not wait till what is deemed more ‘serious’ and ‘legitimate’ (by some or many) has been addressed.

As we jostle tradition and modernity in our politics and society, half of this country also has the right to talk about all the problems they face whether in the rural areas or in corporate offices.

Last but not least, if some demands seem offensive or ill-suited to our ‘culture’, we need to remember that in some parts of the country, ‘culture’ allows women to be killed. Yet we expect the men from those parts to understand that their ‘culture’ is not acceptable. So why can’t our more urbane, educated compatriots be challenged and questioned about what they deem acceptable?

Let’s not put a limit on what women can dream and aspire to. Even if it makes some of us uncomfortable, at least it’s forcing us to debate and engage on what women rights are.

The writer is a journalist.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2019

source: Dawn