On September 12, 2013, Aurat Foundation Karachi office, facilitated a meeting of Ms Asma Khader, Jordan-based human rights activist and lawyer, Ms Shehla Raza, Deputy Speaker Sindh Assembly, and women parliamentarians including Dr Seema Zaidi, MPA Pakistan Tehrik e Insaf (PTI), Ms Irum Azeem, MPA Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Ms Ghazala Siyal and Ms Nusrat, MPA Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP). Ms Anis Haroon, renowned women and human rights activist, former Chairperson National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), and former Caretaker Minister for Women Development Department also joined the meeting.  Ms Asma Khader is here in Pakistan, invited by Aurat Foundation, as one of the trainers for the 2^nd National Training of Trainers (ToT).  The meeting was held at the Committee Room of Sindh Assembly.

ISLAMABAD: A representative forum of civil society organisations from across Pakistan met today in Islamabad to discuss ways for effective engagement with federal and, provincial governments and state institutions, civil society and concerned citizens for strengthening a representative democracy, citizenship, and social and economic justice through coordinated and focused lobbying and actions. 

The national consultation held at the Aurat Foundation’s office was convened by South-Asia Partnership- Pakistan and participated by leading civil society organizations endorsed the following resolution :

We RECOGNIZE the significance and importance of this assembly in the back drop of present scenario where the country is faced with serious problems of bad governance including terrorism, lawlessness, rising poverty, energy crisis and other economic challenges. We also note with pleasure the smooth transition of power from one elected government to the other. However, we consider it important to stress on the newly elected government to take the democratic traditions forward and address to the urgent and important issues of public ensuring people centered governance.

We BELIEVE that neither the country’s development nor its policy making adequately involves public participation. As a result of the top down development, the implementation gaps notwithstanding, issues of ownership, ecology, access to resources stand majorly compromised. We emphasise that planning and development must be a bottom-up approach and the state must make an effort to make people’s involvement in their own development and future possible.

We NOTE with concern a gradual indiscernible reversal of devolution through the Constitutional Reforms (18th Amendment) that will deprive the people of Pakistan of a landmark gain through a democratic process.  Ambiguities in the responsibilities and authorities of the federal and provincial institutions demand clarity and reconstitution of roles. We believe the constitution and 18th Amendment must be considered as guiding principles to determine the role of the federal government and provincial governments. Federal government’s obsession with trespassing into provinces’ domain will have far reaching ramifications. This approach has intensified a deep rooted distrust among federating units and must be refrained forthwith. There is a need to take devolution process from provinces to district level with substantive institutional reforms and genuine representation of the public.

We are also TROUBLED with issues of gender discrimination, growing intolerance against non-Muslims and the rising trends of ethnic and sectarian violence all over the country.

We are HUMBLED with the contribution and gains of civil society organizations in upholding citizens’ rights, relentless struggle for fundamental freedoms, free judiciary and democratic development. This assembly concludes with this resolve to continue its struggle for further deepening democratic processes and traditions through coordinated and focused actions among diverse civil society groups and institutions.

We RESOLVE forming the Pakistan Civil Society Forum as a joint platform of action, coordination and engagement with government, national and international institutions. We believe this platform will be instrumental in promoting joint actions for citizens’ rights and bridge the gap between government and people, advocate issues of fundamental importance to people and reemphasize important issues in the national agenda.

THE Forum REAFFIRMS its commitment for continuing its struggle for citizens’ rights and democratic, human and social development in the country.

We REASSURE our constituents to become a viable and effective platform for coordination, collective actions, lobbying and engagement with diverse actors including political parties, federal and provincial governments, media, national and international institutions.

 A national level core committee has been formed comprising representatives of all federating units and rights-based organizations. The committee will engage other CSOs, public representatives, state institutions and concerned citizens for further diversifying its support base.

Senior representatives of the following civil society organizations participated in the meeting and endorsed the resolution:

Aurat Foundation, South Asia Partenership Pakistan (SAP-PK), Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Strengthening Participatory Organisations (SPO), SUNGI Development Foundation, Sindh Agriculture, Water and Forestory Cooperative (SAWFCO), Institute of Development Pratices and Services (IDSP), Seemorgh, Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Khwendo Kor, Pakistan Institute for Labour, Education and Research (PILER), Management & Development Centre (MDC), Women Rights Association (WRA), Bargad, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), Interactive Resource Centre (IRC), Rozan, Bedari (Sialkot), Development Action for Mobilization & Emancipation (DAMEN), Awaz CDS, Cholistan Development Council (CDC),  Potohar Organization for Development Advocacy (PODA), Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF), Insan Foundation, PAIMAN, Society for Alternative Media and Research (SAMAR), Social Awareness & Development Organization (SADO),  Jobs Creating Development Society (JCDS), SEHER, Christian Study Centre (CSC).

During year 2012, 7515 number of cases of violence against women was reported, of which 4766 were reported from Punjab which makes the highest figure i.e. 63%. Sindh had the second highest instance of reported cases of violence against women i.e. 1628 cases which form 22% of the total cases reported. Among other regions, 674 cases were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 167 cases were reported from Balochistan, whereas 281 cases of violence against women were reported from Islamabad, which is a very high number considering the region is much smaller and houses a very small ratio of population as compared to the other regions, reads the annual report on violence against women by Aurat Foundation.

Aurat Foundation launched Annual Report on violence against women for year 2012 on August 29, 2013, at Islamabad. The report contained a data on violence against women during year 2012, collected and composed under ‘Gender Based Violence Policy Research & Capacity Building (GB-PRCB)’ programme of Aurat Foundation, in collaboration with Violence against Women Watch Group.  The data was written and analyzed by Dr Rakhshinda Perveen, Consultant and Founder Creative Anger by Rakhshi.  The technical review was done by Mr Naeem Mirza, COO Aurat Foundation, Ms Maliha Zia, Manager Law and Gender, and Ms Rabeea Hadi, In-charge GBV-PRCB programme.  As part of its continuous efforts to highlight the issue of violence against women and its different manifestations in Pakistani society, the Aurat Foundation, with the support of Trocaire, has been monitoring the cases of violence against women in Pakistan for the last five years, since 2008, and has so far launched four reports on violence against women.  This is the fifth report which shares the data of cases of violence against women during 2012.  Ms Rabeea Hadi, in-charge of the programme, moderated the session and took up the question-answer session.

Dr Rakhshinda Perveen, writer and analyst of the report, shared the findings of the report with the audience.  She said that violence against women also includes violence against girls and girl children.  She also said that in most cases of violence, women / girls loose their lives.  She also pointed out that if less number of cases are reported from a region, it does not necessarily means that there is less violence against women and , similarly, high number of reported cases does not mean the region has much violent towards women compared to other regions. She also pointed that lack of terms for ‘marital rape’ and cases of ‘incest’ in national and local languages indicates that our society is insensitive towards these violence / crime.

Dr Ambreen Ahmad, Child Psychiatrist/Advisor, Rozan, talked about the ‘psychological effects of violence on women’.  While counting the important social factors behind the violence, she mentioned the condition and status of both women and men in the household, the place where VAW takes place, the nature of relationship between victim and abuser and the prevalent myths and perceptions regarding VAW in the minds of the victim, the perpetrator and society in general.  Among various forms of violence, she said that t ‘social abuse’ needs special focus as this kind of abuse is usually not considered as violence or deemed traditional or cultural.  She said, among the effects of violence, depression and anxiety leave long lasting affects on women which surely extends to children and other dependents.  She also said that women facing domestic violence live in constant fear.  “the memory of his humiliation ………..  Shared a diagram depicting a cycle of violence starting from weak social position to feeling shame and finally the feeling that ‘

Ms Mahreen Maqsood, Deputy Director, Gender Crime Cell, while giving the history of establishment of Gender Crime Cell (GCC), she mentioned the process including the formation of syllabus for the employees and training manual and its functions.  One of the function include assisting the top policy-makers to develop holistic and effective countermeasures to control this menace.  A steering Committee on Human Rights has been established.  The reason for Gender Reforms in Police was realization that police is less sensitive towards women.  “representation of women in police on better postions, developing capacities and competence of women police, enhancing role, and visibility of women police, assimilating gender learning into police training are few of the outcomes of Gender Reform in Police Project (GRPP), Phase-I”, she said.

Ms Arifa Khalid, MNA, PML-N, said that when peoples asked her, ‘whether I am elected as MNA on general seats or reserved seat’, I feel violence and discrimination and humiliation.  While elaborating strategy to end violence, she suggested three steps: know the problem, face it and resolve it.  She said that media and film industry in Pakistan is also promoting the conventional role of women in household, society, show-business.

Ms Khawar Mumtaz, Chairperson, National Commission on Status of Women, while giving her remarks as Chief Guest, said that the fact that the data on violence against women was collected from newspaper was a weak point as it does not give the complete picture of rate of violence against women.  “In times of war and conflict, violence against women is used as a weapon”, she said.  Commenting on the role of media in the context of violence against women, she pointed out that most of the time, media highlights only some forms and cases of violence but ignores most dangerous forms of violence.  While commenting on the NCSW’s strategy to combat violence against women, she said that NCSW is developing standardized indicators that could be used for future surveys and research and be comparable.  Such indicators are being developed with reference the nationally owned indicators such as SAARC Gender Information Base (SGIB), international conventions e.g. CEDAW Concluding Observations and UN’s Statistics Division indicators.

Mr Naeem Mirza, COO, Aurat Foundation,  while commenting on the further strategies to end violence against women, suggested that this is the time that National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) shall take task of addressing and ending violence against women.

Aawaz and Accountability program of Aurat Foundation organized a provincial conference on the role of local government in ensuring good governance on August 6, 2013, at Hospitality Inn, Lahore.  The conference highlighted the demands of civil society for democratic good governance through local government in Punjab. Theseen Ahmad, Salman Abid and Mumtaz Mughal discussed the act and gave their recommendation and demands. Punjab Assembly members elected on minorities and women seats including Ms Faiza Malik also discussed the act and gave their point of view. A large number of local and Aawaz districts level activists participated in the conference with play cards and holdings with demands and slogans for local government. Participants criticized the reduction of women, minorities, peasants and workers seats and repeated their demands of 33 percent of women seats at all level of local government. Speakers demanded to delegate administrative, financial and political power to local government according to constitution Article 140-A

Members of Civil Society Network for Local Governance held a press conference on 30 July, 2013, at press club Lahore. They discussed the demands of civil society for local governance. Speakers demanded to delegate administrative, financial and political power to local government according to Article 140-A of the Constitution of Pakistan. Main speakers of press conference included Salman Abid (SPO), Mumtaz Mughal (Aurat Foundation), Irfan Mufti (SAP_PK) and Fauzia Vaqar (Shirkat Gah).

 

Aurat Foundation’s  Karachi office  organized a follow-up meeting to the CEDAW Committee’s 54^th  session so that to discuss the concerns raised by the CEDAW Committee during its 54th session with the parliamentarians, member of civil society and other stakeholders and formulise recommendations on how to address these concerns.

Due to a prolonged session of Sindh Assembly, only a few members of Sindh Assembly, namely Sharmila Farooqui, Shamim Mumtaz and Nusrat Sehar Abbasi, were able to join us. Other participans included Ms Sarah Zaman, from Indus Resource Centre and War Against Rape, Ms Tabinda from Shirkat Gah, representatives from National Commission from  the Status of Women (NCSW), the Secretary, Ministry of Human Rights and Pakistan Mission in Geneva.

The dialogue between the Pakistan State delegation and the CEDAW Committee members was conducted article-by-article. 

On Tuesday, June 11, 2013,  Aurat Foundation organized a consultation to share and discuss the concluding observations of United Nations Committee on the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The meeting was attended by civil society representatives, women parliamentarians and human rights activists.  CEDAW is an international human rights treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1979. It is the only treaty which specifically focuses on women’s rights and issues. Countries ratified the Convention are bound to submit national reports within 1 year of ratification and thereafter every 4 years on measures taken to comply with treaty obligations.

Pakistan’s fourth periodic report was reviewed by the 23-member CEDAW committee in February 2013 and issues a set of concluding observations which the state party is bound to implement. Pakistan will submit its fifth periodic report in 2017.  As an exception, the committee has asked the government of Pakistan to submit written information till 2015 on the steps under taken to implement in paragraph 22 and 28 of concluding observations which relate to improving the literacy rateof women and girls, reduce and prevent dropouts among girls and implementation of legislation against women.

Rabeea Hadi from Aurat Foundation shared the concluding observations of CEDAW committee at the consultation where as Chief of Party Aurat Foundation NaeemMirza talked about his experience of representing civil society in the CEDAW Committee meeting. Eminent Human Rights activist Tahira Abdullah highlighted the challenges and constraints in the way of implementation of CEDAW and Naheed Aziz moderated discussion on Action Plan and the role of civil society in the application of CEDAW.

In her presentation, Rabeea Hadi pointed out that the committee has raised concern about the governance challenges embodied in the devolution of powers and different level of authorities and competence with in state party may result differential application of the law.

The committee has appreciated the assistance and work of the government of Pakistan in paragraph 4 regarding the revision and enactment of numerous laws and legal provisions for the elimination and discrimination against women and ratification of international conventions such as International Convention on the rights of Persons with Disabilities, Convention against Torture and International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

In its other recommendation regarding education, the committee has asked the government to prevent the occurrence of attacksand threats against educational institutions which undermine women and girls’ fundamental rights.

The committee-members have urged Pakistani government to prevent, investigate, and punish gender-based violence by non-state actors in conflict affected areas and have suggested the government to conduct an assessment of the impact of the conflict situation on women and girlsand strictly enact legislationregulating the trade, sale and possession of small arms.

It has asked the government to ensure the safety and protection of women human rights defendersand mobilize adequate resources to address the specific risks and security needs of women’s rights defenders.

The committee also asked the Pakistani government to adopt pending bills, such as the Domestic Violence Bill and the Prevention and Control of Women Trafficking Bill and ensure effective enforcement of existing legislation.

It has also demanded the government to institutionalize an inter-provincial coordination mechanismwith adequate human and technical resources and also ensure adequate financial resources to the Women Development Departments.

Regarding rural women, the observation highlight the need to review and amend the relevant legislation and policies to recognize women as farmers and abolish traditional practices and customs which prevent rural women from participating in development projects.

Aurat Foundation’s Quetta office organized a consultative meeting to discuss the concerns and recommendations raised by CEDAW Committee on 4th Periodic Report and provide an update to the participants about how the state party review was conducted during the meeting of CEDAW committees 54th session. They were informed about NGO participation in the session. Discussion was made on the concluding observations of CEDAW committee with the perspective of analyzing that how CEDAW is relevant in the national perspective and how CSOs and other players can intervene in their capacity and lobby for its implementation.

The participants include six women members of present assembly of Balochistan and one former women woman MPA, lawyers, provincial assembly staff, academicians, government officials, NGO representatives, political and social activists and media persons.

The event ended with a number of commitments from the participants. Women parliamentarians assured their full support in the process of pro-women legislation. They were of the view that before moving forward, more emphasis should be on the pending legislations of previous assembly related to women. Lawyers offered their support in drafting pro-women legislation, while NGO representatives suggested formation of a CEDAW watch committee at provincial level to ensure close liaison with government. Media offered desired space to all for awareness raising and information dissemination about CEDAW.  

Aurat Foundation’s Karachi  office organized a round table discussion on June 7, 2013, at Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi. The topic was “Evidence in Rape Cases and the Role of Council of Islamic Ideology (CII)". Ms shireen Khan welcomed the civil society, WAF members and speakers and briefed on the agenda. She explained that the topic of discussion is in reference to the statement issued in a meeting of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) held on 29th May, 2013, declaring that DNA tests are not admissible as the main evidence in rape cases. The religious scholars observed that while the tool could aid investigation into rape complaints, it could not be taken as evidence. It could, at best, serve as supplementary evidence but could not supersede the Islamic laws laid out for determining rape complaints.

Ms Uzma Noorani, member Women Action Forum (WAF) said that the purpose of this meeting was to debate on setting the criteria for issuing such statements and gather reaction/ response of the civil society. She further stated that already the conviction rate of rape cases is low, issuing such statements sends out a negative message and impact in society. Therefore, such statements have long-term repercussions and it further discourages the victims to speak out.

Mr Zain Sheikh, legal expert, in his opening remarks mentioned that this meeting was called to understand the provisions in CII and then debate its functions in the light and ambit of the 1971 Constitution of Pakistan. He referred to articles 227-231 given in Chapter 9 of the Constitution.

Mr Mohsin Naqvi, former member of CII, explained the origin of the Council of Islamic Ideology in detail. He informed the participants that CII constituted in 1962 has the role in sending recommendations to the parliament which must be taken under consideration within 6 months to 1 year. The recent Council is based more on the Ulema which have quite a different viewpoint than the former under Dr Khalid Massood who reviewed all laws to determine whether they came under Islamic ideology or not. The different ideological perspective is actually the source of problem and discontent.

Dr Rohina Hassan, Jinnah Hospital, defined the term DNA as deoxyribonucleic acid. She explained that it is located in the nuclei of cells, which make up the body. Consequently, DNA can be considered as one of the building blocks of the body. It is present in each cell of the body and has a hereditary protein component. They are formed by clusters of chromosomes packed together in a zig-zag manner.

Ms Anis Haroon, former Chairperson National  Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), and the caretaker Minister for Women’s Development, Sindh, 2013, pointed out that the purpose and importance of CII and its constitutional position, the DNA testing and opinions of participants was discussed in detail. She further stated that WAF is a progressive platform and such bodies who go against women’s rights needs no existence.  Some decisions in the past had been supportive (referring to the case of Hudood Ordinance). However, the composition of such bodies, change according to the political environment. She also mentioned that parties like JUI, operates under the CII office and political workers (like Mr Shirani of JUI) were given the position of Senator. They are the same people who had hindered the Sexual Harassment Bill. Ms Haroon reiterated that such bodies and political people need not be consulted as they would always oppose steps of women’s rights.  She informed the participants that NCSW in the past took the Domestic Violence Bill head-on. This Bill was also delayed in the Senate and in the Masalihat Committee which comprises of members of same political parties (JUI/JI). Therefore such controversial decisions and steps are heavily influenced by religious political parties.

Auart Foundation, in collaboration with of Women Development Department, Government of Punjab, organized a reception and an orientation session for recently elected women members of Punjab Assembly, on June 1, 2013, at Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore.

Begum Zakia Shahnawaz, former Advisor to CM and MPA, Ms Saleema Hashmi, Caretaker Minister for Women Development, Dr Mira Phailbus, Ombudswoman Punjab, Ms Irum Bukhari, Secretary Women Development Punjab, and Mr Moeen Akhtar, Director Women Development Punjab, participated on special invitation.  Ms Nasreen Zehra, Resident Director Aurat Foundation, welcomed the guests, and Ms Mumtaz Mughal, Provincial Manager Aawaz programme of  Aurat Foundation, moderated the event.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Salima Hashmi, Caretaker Minister for Women’s Development, Punjab, and Dr. Mira Phialbus, Ombudswoman, Punjab, congratulated the women assembly members on becoming legislator  and expressed their good wishes for overcoming the challenges and put forth various suggestions for resolving the women problems. They said that the women assembly members will have to work hard to meet the expectations of the people. They also lauded the role of NGOs   in highlighting women’s rights.

Ms Irum Bukhari, Secretary Women’s Development, Punjab, gave a detailed about the legal steps taken for the protection of women and Women Package 2012. Ms Nasreen Zehra, Resident Director, Aurat Foundation, congratulated to elected women members provincial assembly and said that they should work for the rights of women at every level and utilize all resources for their socio-economic and educational development.  Mumtaz Mughal highlighted the women issues including eliminating discriminatory laws against women and domestic violence, and political empowerment. She said that the budget in education and health sectors for women should be increased.

Later, shields were given to the women provincial assembly members on behalf of Women Development Department Punjab and Aurat Foundation. The participants included 40 women members of Punjab assembly, representatives of civil society and media persons.