PPP government pledges to end violence against women
The present government led by Pakistan People’s Party is fully committed to the welfare of women and the ideology of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir, who had remarked, “women’s rights are inseparable from human rights”
The empowerment of women is the PPP’s manifesto and we are quite sure that party in the government will accomplish it and would work to help women find their equal entity and human identity.
The whole nation already lauded the efforts of the present government in successfully passing the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill, 2010.
And the government has declared all the women of Pakistan as the beneficiaries of the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani pledges steps to end violence against womenISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani has pledged to take all possible steps to seek an end to violence perpetrated against women.In a message on the occasion of International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women, the prime minister said,“I urge all stakeholders, including women activists, political leaders, religious scholars and opinion leaders to come forward and play their due role in this regard.”He said Pakistan was proud to join the world community to observe the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25.He said the day highlighted the various forms of violence and harassment that women had to face in the society to move up the social, economic and political ladder.“The day draws our attention to the need for accelerating our efforts and joining hands for the resolution of problems facing womenfolk and seeking an end to the practice of violence against them in a creative and proactive manner,” he added.Gilani said there was no denying that no nation could progress and realise its moral and material objectives without its women joining their men to achieve national development.“The history of freedom struggle bears witness to the fact that women participated in the Pakistan movement and played a great role to achieve an independent homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent,” he added.In his speech at Islamia College for Women on March 25, 1940, Quaid-e-Azam had paid a glowing tribute to women in historic words. “I have always maintained that no nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take its women along with the men. No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world, one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women.”The premier pointed out that Islam conferred the same set of rights on women as it does on men without any discrimination on the basis of gender.Gilani said Islam had ordained its followers to respect women and treat them most gently in a humane way, adding the Islamic history was replete with examples of Muslim women playing their roles in the mainstream national life.He said those who used religion to justify their opposition to women’s advancement in fact violated the fundamental teachings of Islam.“Our leader Benazir Bhutto, a woman herself, was a great champion of women’s rights and the subject of women’s emancipation and empowerment was dear to her heart,” he said, adding that she struggled relentlessly for conferment of rights on Pakistani women.The prime minister said the government of Pakistan People’s Party was bound to take her legacy forward.“We believe that the objective of women’s empowerment would remain a pipedream and they would continue to be vulnerable to different forms of exploitation and violence unless their economic and political well being is not achieved.” Gilani said the government had introduced critical political, administrative, and legislative reforms to attain this objective.The enactment of “The Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010’ represented a giant step forward in the journey towards women’s empowerment and the PPP was rightly proud of this rare feat in line with its promise.He said the government had also increased the women’s quota for recruitment to the federal services by 10 percent. The increased participation of women in the public sector would enable them to attain economic independence, he added.The PM said Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), the largest social safety net, was a world-acclaimed initiative of the government that focused on women.The women of rural hinterland happened to be the major beneficiaries of this programme, which sought to enable them to stand on their feet, he added. app
History of the Day:
By resolution 54/134 of 17 December 1999, the General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and invited governments, international organizations and NGOs to organize activities designated to raise public awareness of the problem on that day. Women’s activists have marked 25 November as a day against violence since 1981. This date came from the brutal assassination in 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).
On 20 December 1993 the General Assembly adopted Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (A/RES/48/104).
Previously, 25 November was observed in Latin America and a growing number of other countries around the world as “International Day Against Violence Against Women”. With no standard title, it was also referred to as “No Violence Against Women Day” and the “Day to End Violence Against Women”. It was first declared by the first Feminist Encuentro for Latin America and the Caribbean held in Bogota, Colombia (18 to 21 July 1981). At that Encuentro women systematically denounced gender violence from domestic battery, to rape and sexual harassment, to state violence including torture and abuses of women political prisoners. The date was chosen to commemorate the lives of the Mirabal sisters. It originally marked the day that the three Mirabal sisters from the Dominican Republic were violently assassinated in 1960 during the Trujillo dictatorship (Rafael Trujillo 1930-1961). The day was used to pay tribute to the Mirabal sisters, as well as global recognition of gender violence.
The General Assembly:
Recalling the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993, and its resolution 52/86 of 12 December 1997, entitled ?Crime prevention and criminal justice measures to eliminate violence against women?,
Recalling also the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,2 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,
Taking note of the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women adopted by the General Assembly of the Organization of American States at its twenty-fourth regular session, held in Belém, Brazil, from 6 to 10 June 1994, and general recommendation 19 on violence against women adopted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women at its eleventh session,
Concerned that violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of equality, development and peace, as recognized in the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women and the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women, which recommended a set of integral measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women, and to the full implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
Concerned also that some groups of women, such as women belonging to minority groups, indigenous women, refugee women, migrant women, women living in rural or remote communities, destitute women, women in institutions or in detention, the girl child, women with disabilities, elderly women and women in situations of armed conflict, are especially vulnerable to violence,
Recognizing that violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of their full advancement, and that violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into subordinate positions, compared with men,
Recognizing also that the human rights of women and of the girl child are an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of universal human rights, and recognizing further the need to promote and protect all human rights of women and girls,
Alarmed that women do not fully enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms, and concerned about the long-standing failure to protect and promote those rights and freedoms in relation to violence against women,
Recognizing with satisfaction the cooperation provided by the relevant agencies, bodies, funds and organs of the United Nations system to different countries in the fight to eradicate violence against women, in fulfilment of their respective mandates,
Recognizing the efforts made by civil society and non-governmental organizations that have contributed to creating a worldwide social conscience of the negative impact, both on social and on economic life, of violence against women,
Reiterating that, according to article 1 of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, the term “violence against women” means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life,
1. Decides to designate 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women;
2. Invites, as appropriate, Governments, the relevant agencies, bodies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, and other international organizations and non-governmental organizations, to organize on that day activities designed to raise public awareness of the problem of violence against women.
Situation In Pakistan Grim and statistics are alarming:
According to statistics available with Daily Times, 5,722 cases of violence against women were reported in 36 districts of Punjab in 2009. A report – compiled by the Aurat Foundation – shows that 6,507 women and girls were victimised in Punjab between January 1 andDecember 31, 2009. The organisation compiled the report – ‘Situation of Violence against Women in Punjab’ –in collaboration with the watch group Violence Against Women (VAW). Of the total of 5,722 offences in 2009, 30 percent were abductions, 17 percent murders, 14 percent rapes, 8 percent suicides and 1 percent acid attacks – while 5 percent of the cases were registered over domestic violence. Around 1,220 cases were of “miscellaneous nature”: vani, custodial violence, trafficking, juvenile marriages, incest, threats, harassment, attempted murders and attempted suicides.
The data shows that Lahore is the most aggressive city against women with 915 violence related offences, followed by Faisalabad with 742 cases, Sargodha with 474 cases, Gujranwala with 291 cases and Multan with 241 cases. The data also shows that violence against women in urban areas is 10 percent higher compared to rural areas: of the total of 5,722 cases – 3,139, or 55 percent, were reported in urban areas, while 2,583, or 45percent, were reported in rural areas. A total 4,464, or 78 percent, cases were registered with police stations, while 285, or 5 percent, went unregistered. The rights activists and women said although activists had achieved some objectives – such as the tabling of a bill against sexual harassment and the abolishment of black laws against women passed during Ziaul Haq’s regime – rising violence against women was a concern.
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Women’s day dedicated to Benazir by PPP
Sunday, 09 March 2008
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has announced that it will dedicate International Women’s Day 2008 to the late PPP chairperson, Benazir Bhutto, and has reaffirmed that the party remains committed to its late chairperson’s vision of empowerment of women and gender equality in Pakistan.
Leader of the PPP Sindh Women’s Wing, MPA Shazia Marri, announced this on Friday at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club and highlighted the achievements of the party for women and future planning and claimed that no other political party has tangible programme, other than the PPP, vis-‡-vis improvement of life and protection of women.
Shazia Marri said that it was the PPP that established women police stations, employed over 50,000 lady health workers, appointed female judges in high courts, appointed female ambassadors to represent the country in abroad and established women banks and provided equal jobs opportunities to women.
Announcing the future party plans, she enunciated a national policy for women- facilitating job creation and women participation in the economy, increasing 10 per cent job quota, enacting effective legislation to enable legal ownership of assets and resources for women to facilitate their financial independence, taking institutional initiatives to prevent crimes against women in the name of tribalism, such as honour killings and forced marriages, establishing family courts presided over by women judges to hear family law cases, implementing right of maintenance and child custody as per law, appointing women to superior judiciary, making ministry of women development as part of important policy making bodies to ensure that gender priorities are reflected in all policy initiatives, besides establishing safe houses for women across the country.
She said the party would also initiate working on information technology, better healthcare and education etc.
She also expressed solidarity with all the women who were victims of the regime’s ‘misogynistic mindset’ and appreciated the bravery of women like Mukhtaran Mai, Dr Shazia Khalid, Naseema Labano and all others who were maligned and brutalised by the previous regime and added that the PPP would support them wholeheartedly.
Shazia Marri pointed out that previous regime was insensitive to women issues and said that the PPP initiated legislation in the Sindh Assembly on domestic violence against women, women shelter homes and gender harassment but the Q-League government bulldozed these bills by virtue of its majority in the assembly. The newly-elected MPA, Farzana Baloch and others were also present on the occasion.
http://www.apnaislamabad.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=137&Itemid=2
Hillary Clinton: Engage men and boys in eliminating violence against women
Ending violence against women is not the work of a day or even a year. It will require concentrated efforts on many fronts with governments, non-profit organizations, and citizen leaders all pulling together. Most importantly, it will require fully tapping the largest and most natural group of allies women have: men.
One in three women around the world will experience gender-based violence in her lifetime. In some countries, that number is as high as 70 percent. Whether it happens behind closed doors or as a public tactic of intimidation, violence against women has consequences for the entire community – men and women alike. When women are abused, businesses close, incomes shrink, families go hungry, and children grow up internalizing beliefs and behaviors that perpetuate the cycle of violence. A community that is unsafe for women is unsafe for everyone. On the other hand, protecting and educating girls contributes to economic growth and helps entire countries prosper.
So men and boys have an interest in ending violence against women. They are also uniquely positioned to help do it. In societies where women are marginalized, men can make the case for nonviolence and gender equality. They can challenge harmful cultural practices that enable gender discrimination. I often say that we need to empower women because no country can make economic progress if it leaves half the population behind. It’s just as true that no country can stop violence against women with the other half of the population sitting on the sidelines.
There are stories from all over the world demonstrating how men and boys can get involved and speak out against gender-based violence. One group based in Senegal, Tostan, has taken this approach to changing the dangerous custom of female genital cutting. This severely painful practice can cause hemorrhaging, infection, increased risk during childbirth, infertility, or even death. Tostan learned that abandoning this centuries-old tradition needed to be a collective and community-led decision with the participation of male leaders. So they organized a discussion for the entire village where men and boys could hear their mothers and sisters describe the pain and health problems associated with it. Eventually, the village voted to end the practice.
But the story doesn’t end there. The male leaders then traveled to other villages to explain how harmful female genital cutting is, and those villages also voted to end the practice. Within two years, Senegal’s government passed a law banning it, and today Tostan has helped nearly 5,000 communities across Senegal, Guinea, The Gambia, Burkina Faso, and Somalia decide to abandon the tradition.
In Afghanistan, male civic and religious leaders are helping raise awareness and change deeply ingrained attitudes about women. The example of a local Mufti in Jalalabad is particularly striking. For years, he taught his followers that human rights were a western imposition that violated Islam. Then he attended a training workshop with 250 other local Afghan leaders focusing on the rights of women, family, and children in the context of Muslim teachings. Their discussions highlighted the benefits of gender equality and the importance of respect and tolerance for diversity in Islam. Today that Mufti has not only changed his beliefs, he frequently speaks out on rights-based issues during Friday prayer services and on his regional radio program. He has become a powerful voice supporting women in Afghanistan.
At the United States Department of State, we are taking action on the ground: working with NGOs to ensure men’s engagement in preventing violence against women, promoting women’s economic and entrepreneurial opportunities, and training peacekeepers on gender-based violence awareness and prevention activities. In places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where mass rape is blatantly and repeatedly used as a weapon of war, we are helping make sure that both men and women are working to investigate sexual violence and prioritize the
protection of women and girls.
November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It is a day to recommit ourselves to the cause of changing attitudes and ending all forms of violence against women. This year also marks the 15th anniversary of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing where the world declared the critical connection between women’s rights and human rights, and the 10th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on the links between women, peace, and security. This is a stark reminder that eliminating gender discrimination and violence against women is a long-term struggle and a commitment we must all make together. With men and women working hand in hand, we can end the epidemic of gender-based violence, one person and one community at a time.
http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Hillary+Clinton+Engage+boys+eliminating+violence+against+women/3884477/story.html
Women play pivotal role in country’s development: Shazia Marri
KARACHI: Sindh Minister for Tourism Shazia Marri said that women play a pivotal role in a country’s development.
She said this while talking to media men here on Thursday on the day commemorating the elimination of violence against women.
Shazia Marri said that Nov 25 is the day to mark the elimination of all forms of violence against women. She was of the view that it is our responsibility as civilised individuals to help those who are facing violence of any kind.
Shazia was of the view that the most important role that any woman plays is the one at home but unfortunately she is never paid for it. There is also no appreciation of the hard work she puts in.
The minister said that this day also marks the significant role of women as family labour. We condemn all forms of domestic violence against women, she said.
Shazia said that Pakistan was a signatory to Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto envisioned the fulfillment of this commitment, which is being implemented today.
She further stated that right from the vision of our founding fathers to the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, which guarantees equal participation of women in all national spheres, there is nothing that can stop our women from achieving their desired goals.
However, Shazia said that there still is a mindset that works against the empowerment of women.
She said that the women are abused and victimized in an attempt to undermine their potential.
Shazia said that the present democratic government was cognizant of such anti-women mindset and continues to fight against it. She said that Islam is a religion of tolerance.
She said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) firmly believes in women empowerment and is religiously working in light of the vision given by Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
She said that the real strength of Pakistan lies in the development of women.
Shazia said that the Quaid’s message stands true today and it is from this that we must derive inspiration.
We must all unite against those who undermine our strength and together build a society with zero tolerance for any form of violence against women, she further said. app
UN official calls for action against violence on women
November 25, 2010
Accra, Nov. 25, GNA – A senior European Union official, on Thursday, called on the international community to work harder to counter violence against women worldwide.
The EU High Representative, Catherine Ashton, in a declaration made on behalf of the EU on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which falls on Thursday, said violence against women and girls was probably the most “widespread human rights violation of our time”.
She noted that the violence claimed millions of victims each year and cuts across age, socio-economic, educational and geographic boundaries and affected all societies.
“Sexual violence and rape as a tool of war, brings about grave suffering and undermine peace-building as well as economic development,” Ashton said.
She pointed out that the 10th anniversary of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 was an opportunity to strengthen the fight against sexual violence, to empower women to take action in securing peace and to bring perpetrators to justice, saying the EU was ready to lead by example.
Ashton stressed that violence against women was by no means a problem limited to conflicts.
“Eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls is a priority for the European Union. I urge all countries to step up their fight against impunity and to protect and reintegrate victims of violence.”
Ashton said these included women and girls affected by harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, female infanticide and pre-natal sex selection, as well as victims of domestic violence, which was one of the most common and least visible forms of violence against women.
She pledged that the EU would support third world countries in their efforts.
Ashton said the establishment of a new UN entity, the “UN Women,” dedicated to women’s rights and gender equality, should help bolster the capacity of the international community to counter violence against women, adding that she was looking forward to a close collaboration with UN Women.
GNA
Pakistan: UN addresses gender-based violence against flood victims
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is seeking to prevent and respond to gender-based violence against women and girls among the more than 20 million victims of Pakistan”s recent floods, the country”s worst natural disaster in living memory.
“Crises like the floods that inundated much of the country in August break down social networks and systems that normally protect women and girls, such as cohesive families, livelihoods, and safe shelter,” UNFPA said in a news release today, noting that it is providing financial and technical aid for health care and psychosocial support to victims of such violence.
“Displacement creates a host of risk factors that increase the vulnerability of women and girls to many forms of violence. The rights, needs and vulnerabilities of women and girls are sometimes overlooked in emergencies, when many humanitarian actors are focused on reaching a large number of people in the shortest period of time,” it added.
“There is a great need to recognize that gender-based violence can, and very often does, occur in these situations and to build survivor-centred response services.” The floods, which began in late July, killed nearly 2,000 people and caused $9.7 billion in damages to infrastructure, homes, crops and livestock.
The subject of gender-based violence is sensitive in most societies, and particularly so in Pakistan, where it is rarely discussed, said UNFPA. Programmes that address the problem do so discretely, but experts say there is a huge gap in service provision.
UNFPA has undertaken capacity-building initiatives in Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab and Sindh provinces, introducing participants and future trainers from Government and humanitarian agencies to basic principles to fight the scourge, including case management, using a confidential, survivor-centred, and comprehensive approach.
As part of a coordinated inter-agency response, UNFPA and the UN Children”s Fund (UNICEF) are co-leading response and prevention efforts. Donors have provided over $1 million to UNFPA to support such services.
Meanwhile, UNICEF reported today that in one of the flood-devastated rural areas, Shadatkot in Sindh, the waters caused near-total destruction with returnees finding no homes, food, schools or livelihoods. A UNICEF mission early this week found that while the majority of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) were returning in Sindh, stagnant flood waters continued to block some.
Over 270 schools were still being used for shelter, housing some 40,000 people, while an additional 54,000 IDPs, including over 31, 000 children, remained in camps in Balochistan province, UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado told a news briefing in Geneva.
The November 2010 Damage and Needs Assessment, conducted by the Pakistani Government, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, estimated overall flood recovery and reconstruction costs at between $8.7 billion and $10.8 billion.
UNICEF has provided 2.8 million people with clean drinking water on a daily basis, along with vital sanitation and hygiene facilities and 10 million vaccines, and set up or helped maintain hundreds of treatment centres for malnourished children and women.
To date, UNICEF has received $169 million of its $251 million appeal and Ms. Mercado warned that unless the remaining third was received, UNICEF’s emergency and recovery operations would be affected as of January, with an impact on all aspects of its activities. Even before the floods, 40 per cent of children in Pakistan were underweight, she noted.
Source: UN News
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