Pakistani women face increasing abuse

Pakistani women are subject to increasing abuse, with 7,200 cases of violence reported last year - a staggering 5,000 of them in Punjab alone - a new report says quoting official figures.

The report of NGO White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) released Wednesday says that violence against women had taken many shapes and forms regardless of geographical location, culture or wealth.

According to the report, sexual harassment at the workplace, abuse, beating, and rape were some of the forms of violence against women.

WRC National Campaign Coordinator Omar Aftab said the interior ministry in its annual report had said cited 7,200 cases of violence against women - an alarming 5,000 of them in Punjab.

According to Aftab, the reasons for violence against women could be classified as social, economic and psychological.

'In our society, the main reasons were poor economic conditions of the household. Women also had to bear the brunt of men's failure to make a decent living,' Daily Times Thursday quoted him as saying.

Toward this, WRC had launched a two-pronged campaign: one to spread awareness of women's rights in a male dominated society, and to bring about a societal and behavioural change.

WRC's final goal was the elimination of all forms of violence against women, for which it had involved a number of young people in its campaign in order to ensure effective change.

Various methods of interacting with the youth had been employed, ranging from staging plays that questioned men's behaviour with women, and treating children who had been exposed to domestic violence.

Students of Forman Christians College (FCC), Government College University (GCU) and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) had participated in theatre activities under the guidance of WRC to highlight issues of domestic violence and to inculcate respect for women among the youth, Aftab pointed out.

He said that WRC aimed to expand its operations to southern Punjab in the cities of Khanewal, Dera Gazhi Khan and Rajanpur. It would also launch public-private partnership projects in collaboration with the Punjab government, as also with district governments in the next phase.

Pakistan's WRC is part of the International WRC (IWRC) that publishes annual reports in 40 countries on violence against women.

source:www.earthtimes.org

80-Year-Old Pakistani Man Kidnaps and Forcibly Marries A 12-Year-Old Girl

A case has been registered against an 80-year-old Pakistani man for allegedly kidnapping, forcibly marrying and keeping a 12-year-old girl in illegal confinement for a year.

Addressing a press conference, Shabana's father Sabir Shaikh said that he, along with his family, had gone to the house of his brother Abdullah Shaikh in Karachi last year.

The apprehended accused, Rasool, and his brother Abdul Malik who are also his relatives kidnapped his daughter, he added.

Shaikh lodged a non-cognizable report against Rasool at Tando Adam police station. He said that police did not register his FIR while on the registration of a case of robbery against the accused, the Frontier Post reports.

The police carried out raid in Panno Aqil and apprehended accused Rasool.

Police also recovered his abducted daughter Shabana. He said that now it has become clear that Rasool, who is an aged man, had forcibly made Nikah with his daughter and kept her in illegal confinement for over a year.

He said that he had embraced Islam but his relatives did not like it. They tried for a number of time to implicate him and his brother in false and fabricated cases.

Sabir appealed to the higher authorities to take immediate notice and ensure registration of his FIR against Rasool who is in custody of Tando Adam police station.

source:www.medindia.net

Women's Health Project, 1999 Investing in Women's Health: Delivering Better Health Care to All/Pakistan

The aim of this ADB-funded project is to improve the health of women, girls and infants in 20 predominantly rural districts in four provinces - Punjab, Sindh, North-West Frontier Province and Balochistan. The project comprises three main components. The first is to work with the Ministry of Health to expand basic women's health interventions to under served populations. This will include the expansion of community-based health care and family planning services through the recruitment and training of an additional 8,000 village women as Lady Health Workers; a 'safe delivery' campaign; and the promotion of women's health and nutritional needs, family planning, and women's rights through the mass media.

The second component is the development of 20 woman-friendly district health systems to provide quality women's health care at community, primary and first-referral levels. This component will focus on women's reproductive and other health needs, including pre- and postnatal care, control of sexually transmitted diseases, family planning, and control of urinary and reproductive tract infections, as well as female nutrition, and the prevention and treatment of women's abuse, tuberculosis, pneumonia and diarrhoeal diseases.

The third component of the project will support institutional and human resources development within the Ministry of Health and provincial health departments in order to sustain improvements in women's health. This includes project coordination, capacity building, advocacy, monitoring, evaluation, research and policy development. In terms of human resource development the project supports four new public health schools for lady health workers; hostels for female midwifery students, 44 international scholarships in women's health management, and 276 domestic fellowships in mother and child health and family planning, community nursing, theatre nursing, lady health worker training, and diploma-level obstetric surgery.

Background
The health status of women in Pakistan is directly linked to women's low social status. Pakistan's poor position internationally is seen in UNDP's Gender related Development Index (GDI) 2000, where Pakistan currently ranks 135 out of 174 countries. On the Gender Empowerment Measurement (GEM) 1999, Pakistan ranked 100 out of the 102 countries measured. In terms of health status, the figures are galling. Some 30,000 women die each year due to complications of pregnancy, and 10 times more women develop life-long, pregnancy-related disability. Rural women's health is generally poorest due to the lack of health facilities and skilled health providers. For example, the maternal mortality ratio in predominantly rural Balochistan is 800 maternal deaths to 100,000 live births, compared to the national average of 340 per 100,000.

The untimely death or disability of a woman, a tragedy in itself, adversely affects the health of her children, household productivity and the national economy. About 25 percent of children are born with low birth weight due to maternal problems. Ten percent of children do not reach their first birthday. High fertility, with an average of six children per woman, has resulted in high population growth of three percent per annum. Consequently, improving women's reproductive health through the use of contraceptives and spacing of children will not only improve women's health but also reduce population growth and allow women more time to pursue economic activities.

There are also marked differences between the health status of women and men in Pakistan. For example, malnutrition is a major public health problem in Pakistan that disproportionately affects women and girls. More girls than boys die between the ages of 1 and 4; in fact the female mortality rate here is 12 percent higher than for boys. This is a direct consequence of the lower social status accorded to women and girls, who as a result tend to eat less and face additional barriers when accessing health care. Women, girls and infants most often die of common communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, diarrhea, pneumonia and tetanus, which could have been easily prevented and treated. The high prevalence of communicable diseases and malnutrition is not only related to poor living conditions, but also to the lower social status of women and girls. In addition, because of social stigma and gender norms, as many as fifty percent of women suffer from recurrent reproductive tract infections.

Consequently, poor women's health in Pakistan is as much a social as medical problem. Underlying factors here are the lack of awareness of, and attention to, women's health needs; women's lower education and social status; and social constraints on women and girls, including the practice of seclusion.

Gender Inclusive Design
The Women's Health Project contains elements specifically designed to raise the level of awareness and commitment to women's health in Pakistan. In doing so the project will also contribute to the general improvement of women's social status. The project design addresses issues of access and affordability, including the provision of socially acceptable services; societal attitudes towards women and women's health; and the attitudes of health care providers towards women.

Issues of access and affordability include factors such as the cost of transport and city hospitals, and restrictions on women's movement in public. Some of these issues will be resolved by the extension of health care services at community and primary levels. As identified in the PPTA, some villages within the project area lack community-level services. This can mean that poor women have no access to health services, as families are less inclined to allow women to attend more distant and costly hospitals. The project will overcome some of these constraints expanding community and primary level health services to such areas. In addition, NGOs will be contracted to provide services in areas were the provincial government is unable.

The issue of socially acceptable services is also critical here. Even where services are available, existing gender norms make it very difficult for women to attend clinics, which lack trained female staff and cannot guarantee privacy for examinations. The project design therefore covers a number of strategies to assist in the development of appropriate services. For example, there is a large investment in the recruitment and training of lady health workers, female midwives and other female nursing staff. Furthermore, institutional capacity and human resource development within government health services will also cater for women's needs, including changing the attitude of health workers towards poor women and providing woman-friendly services.

This woman-friendly attitude will be extended within the public health system across all decision-making levels, capacity building and human resource initiatives, and systems development. For example, the project design aims to strengthen the role of female managers in the health sector through the training and appointment of female health managers at provincial and district levels. The project also proposes a substantial role for NGOs in implementation, particularly NGOs with past experience in women's health and social mobilization programs directed at women.

Finally the project tackles societal attitudes towards women and women's health. As the PPTA and fact-finding missions found, poor women in urban areas close to specialist obstetric services still have very high maternal mortality ratios. The issue here then is not so much lack of services, but lack of regard for women's health needs. For this reason a number of strategies are included to raise the level of awareness of women and society in general on the issue of women's health. For example, the project has a major social mobilization component designed to advocate the importance of women's health needs and services among community-based organizations and local leaders, including school teachers. Where there is strong female leadership, communities will be helped to develop community-based health organizations to support women's health, nutrition and family planning. Safe houses for victims of violence will also be established in six districts. More generally, the mass media will be used to promote women's health. Campaigns in local languages through the mass media will disseminate information on women's health and nutritional needs, family planning, timely referral of obstetric emergency and public respect for women's rights. Various audiences will be targeted including school children, local leaders and information sheets provided to lady health workers.

While deep-rooted gender relations are difficult to change through health interventions alone, the design of the project recognizes that well-targeted health programs for women can nevertheless assist in reducing discrimination against women and improving women's social status.

source:www.adb.org

Women's Health in Pakistan

Due to a number of factors, including its rugged, diverse geography and civil unrest, many communities within Pakistan face severe limitations in their access to medical care. These problems persist outside of rural areas, where travel is often a major limiting factor. Squatter communities, often made up of mixed-nationality, conflict-displaced populations, pose similar challenges through lack of health infrastructure. As a result, Pakistan is plagued with very high rates of maternal mortality, child mortality, and child malnourishment. Additionally, cultural forces have led to under-education and under-employment of women, minimizing both their independence and their ability to advocate for issues disproportionately effecting them. This has also resulted in very few females employed in medical care, and in turn, culturally-driven gender conflicts between largely male health care providers and female patients. The barriers to health care access for women in Pakistan remain significant; thus, women’s independence and empowerment remains limited.

In an effort to address the lack of focus on women’s health issues within local health care systems and, more broadly, within underserved Pakistani communities, GHETS has established a collaboration with Ziauddin Medical University (ZMU) in Karachi and the associated Sikandrabad squatter community, the Women’s Health in Pakistani Squatter Settlements (WHIPSS) program. For five years, ZMU has trained Female Health Volunteers (FHV) who in turn provide information on immunization, breastfeeding, family planning, and control of common childhood diseases to local women through health centers in Sikandrabad. Through this existing network of FHV, WHIPSS is implementing the GHETS Women’s Health Learning Package (WHLP) to bolster the training of this visible, female-friendly healthcare workforce and provide additional training on topics such as violence against women and reproductive/sexual health. Secondly, this collaboration is seeking to partner with other Karachi medical institutions to promote the use of ZMU and GHETS women’s health materials in a more formal medical curriculum. Through this dual focus, WHIPSS provides support for a crucial women’s resource within these settlements, while fostering sensitivity to improving the quality of life for women.

source:Due to a number of factors, including its rugged, diverse geography and civil unrest, many communities within Pakistan face severe limitations in their access to medical care. These problems persist outside of rural areas, where travel is often a major limiting factor. Squatter communities, often made up of mixed-nationality, conflict-displaced populations, pose similar challenges through lack of health infrastructure. As a result, Pakistan is plagued with very high rates of maternal mortality, child mortality, and child malnourishment. Additionally, cultural forces have led to under-education and under-employment of women, minimizing both their independence and their ability to advocate for issues disproportionately effecting them. This has also resulted in very few females employed in medical care, and in turn, culturally-driven gender conflicts between largely male health care providers and female patients. The barriers to health care access for women in Pakistan remain significant; thus, women’s independence and empowerment remains limited.

In an effort to address the lack of focus on women’s health issues within local health care systems and, more broadly, within underserved Pakistani communities, GHETS has established a collaboration with Ziauddin Medical University (ZMU) in Karachi and the associated Sikandrabad squatter community, the Women’s Health in Pakistani Squatter Settlements (WHIPSS) program. For five years, ZMU has trained Female Health Volunteers (FHV) who in turn provide information on immunization, breastfeeding, family planning, and control of common childhood diseases to local women through health centers in Sikandrabad. Through this existing network of FHV, WHIPSS is implementing the GHETS Women’s Health Learning Package (WHLP) to bolster the training of this visible, female-friendly healthcare workforce and provide additional training on topics such as violence against women and reproductive/sexual health. Secondly, this collaboration is seeking to partner with other Karachi medical institutions to promote the use of ZMU and GHETS women’s health materials in a more formal medical curriculum. Through this dual focus, WHIPSS provides support for a crucial women’s resource within these settlements, while fostering sensitivity to improving the quality of life for women.

Due to a number of factors, including its rugged, diverse geography and civil unrest, many communities within Pakistan face severe limitations in their access to medical care. These problems persist outside of rural areas, where travel is often a major limiting factor. Squatter communities, often made up of mixed-nationality, conflict-displaced populations, pose similar challenges through lack of health infrastructure. As a result, Pakistan is plagued with very high rates of maternal mortality, child mortality, and child malnourishment. Additionally, cultural forces have led to under-education and under-employment of women, minimizing both their independence and their ability to advocate for issues disproportionately effecting them. This has also resulted in very few females employed in medical care, and in turn, culturally-driven gender conflicts between largely male health care providers and female patients. The barriers to health care access for women in Pakistan remain significant; thus, women’s independence and empowerment remains limited.

In an effort to address the lack of focus on women’s health issues within local health care systems and, more broadly, within underserved Pakistani communities, GHETS has established a collaboration with Ziauddin Medical University (ZMU) in Karachi and the associated Sikandrabad squatter community, the Women’s Health in Pakistani Squatter Settlements (WHIPSS) program. For five years, ZMU has trained Female Health Volunteers (FHV) who in turn provide information on immunization, breastfeeding, family planning, and control of common childhood diseases to local women through health centers in Sikandrabad. Through this existing network of FHV, WHIPSS is implementing the GHETS Women’s Health Learning Package (WHLP) to bolster the training of this visible, female-friendly healthcare workforce and provide additional training on topics such as violence against women and reproductive/sexual health. Secondly, this collaboration is seeking to partner with other Karachi medical institutions to promote the use of ZMU and GHETS women’s health materials in a more formal medical curriculum. Through this dual focus, WHIPSS provides support for a crucial women’s resource within these settlements, while fostering sensitivity to improving the quality of life for women.

source:ndex.php/2008/01/11/womens-health-in-pakistan/

"We Are All Pakistani Women Now!"

In an article entitled "Equal share in land, property for women urged" by Sikander Shaheen in The Nation (Pakistan) details a campaign by ActionAid within Pakistan, urging equal property rights for women. (ActionAid is an international anti-poverty organization that has been in operation for over 30 years.)



According to the article, Aqsa Khan, the Manager of Social & Women's Rights announced in a press conference:

...that the international organisation is all set to highlight the miseries of Pakistani women who are deprived of basic human rights including the right to land and share in property.

Ms. Khan announced:

“We have launched this campaign in response to the grim food crises that has hit the world hard across the globe. Pakistani too, has experienced its gravity,”

Citing the atrocious conditions throughout the country's many hard hit areas, Ms. Khan adds:

“Poor masses in rural areas are forced to sell their children, while women are committing suicides. This is indeed the most horrifying sight of human distress,” she revealed besides adding that parents in that region especially Bhakkar, Shadad Kot and their adjoining areas in rural Punjab and Sindh have withdrawn their children from school, on account of their inability to pay school dues.

ActionAid cites notes that women and girls are particularly susceptible to the effects of feuudal economics and culture, world market turmoil, corrupt land owners and Pakistan's legal Islamic legal system. According to the announceme nt by Ms. Aqsa, ActionAid has formed a comprehensive charter regarding womens’ rights.

Proven over and over again across the world, the only way to break the cycle of poverty, disease, starvation and war is to educate the women. Not religious education but fact based education. Things like reading, birth control, health care, math & science, technical / job skills will give them the ability to work and care for themselves. When any society deprives half of its population of intelligence, equality and rights; it dooms itself to abject failure.

There are a million causes to give one's money or time to. I ask you to look for $5 you can give to this one. Or, contact them and ask what you can do. The plight of women in Pakistan is the plight of us all.

SOURCE:discuss.epluribusmedia.net

Women's Rights in PAKISTAN

We, men and women, are the progeny of the same Supreme Consciousness. Women and men are equally divine and inherit similar and equal rights to life, liberty and expression. The significance of life does not lie only in living. Animals also live. But life to us means something more�rather something much more.

To us life means living for a great cause. Life implies the endeavor to have the freedom to express one�s potentialities in the physical, economic, psychic and spiritual realms. It means real liberty and not license to commit anything good or bad.

In the annals of human history we do find women whose memory glorifies not only womanhood, but the entire human world. In philosophy and spirituality, social reform and educational pursuits, science and technology, they stand second to none. Women are found discussing the riddles of philosophy, solving problems of social and educational reform, and are inspiring men in times of struggle. They have their potentiality no less than men. The difference in natural and biological characteristics between men and women speaks only of coordinated co-operation not of subordinated co-operation.

Yet the annals of history depict the sad and painful episodes of women�s exploitation throughout the world. To fulfill this sinister design, dogmas were created which led to psycho-economic exploitation. Dogmas were cunningly popularized and women were degenerated to slavery. Psychic exploitation has been infused into the minds of women and many symbols, which are religiously observed, are nothing but symbols of slavery. In many religions of the world today women are not allowed to become priests in the religious hierarchy.

Women�s exploitation is more or less the same everywhere. Is it not a fact that in many countries even franchise rights were not given equally to men and women?
Even today women are slaves to the male-dominated social order. This is not only bad but deplorable. We should decry such domination of women and their psycho-economic exploitation through the evil design of dogmas. To abolish dogma and liberate women from psychic exploitation, there should be:

(1) Free education for all women in all countries of the world.
(2) No discrimination in the social, educational and religious realms.
(3) The provision of economic and social security to all women.

We stand to create a powerful, dynamic and upsurging social consciousness, especially amongst women, so that they are inspired to rise, abolish dogma and annihilate all symbols of slavery, and usher in a new era of coordinated co-operation and glorious achievement. Let women be the vanguard of a new revolution which humanity must achieve for a glorious tomorrow.

One World, One Humanity, One Family!

SOURCE:www.worldproutassembly.org

More than Words for Women's Rights/PAKISTAN

on International Women’s Day, people around the world celebrated the latest triumphs in the global struggle for women’s rights and recommitted to the pursuit of gender equality.

Indeed, tremendous progress has been made since World War II in codifying women’s rights and gender equality within the law at both the international and individual country levels. Unfortunately, limited progress has been made in realizing those rights. Although women and girls today tend to enjoy better health, more rights, and longer lives than their grandmothers did, for far too many women, human rights still are not a reality.

In particular, many women do not enjoy full reproductive rights. These rights are recognized as human rights because women cannot fully participate in society unless they are able to control the number, spacing, and timing of their children, and they cannot enjoy general health and well-being unless they have reproductive and sexual health. The overwhelming majority of the world’s nations have committed to promoting and protecting these rights, but governments often shirk their responsibilities—and it is women who pay the price.

Surviving pregnancy and childbirth is inherent to the right to life, liberty, and security. Yet pregnancy itself poses a grave health risk to women around the world: Complications during pregnancy are the leading cause of death globally for young women aged 15 to 19, and women die of pregnancy-related causes at a rate of about one per minute, or approximately 536,000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2005.

The right to decide the number and spacing of children is also recognized as a human right itself. All too often, women have little to no say over how many children they will bear or even if, when, or how frequently they will become pregnant. Two hundred million women lack access to contraceptives globally. The United Nations Population Fund estimates that universal access to contraception would save the lives of one in three women who die of causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, or roughly 160,800 women per year.

The right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment is enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. This right is violated when women are denied sexual and reproductive self-determination. Rape, especially when used as a tool of war, is a clear infringement of this right.

Forced sterilizations are another example. During the 1990s, for instance, the Peruvian government undertook a “massive, compulsory, and systematic” sterilization campaign targeting the country’s most marginalized population—the indigenous and poor. Thousands of women, as well as some men, were coerced by government officials into undergoing sterilization. Many women died as a result of botched surgeries, and the Peruvian government was eventually forced to acknowledge its responsibility in violating the reproductive rights of these women.

Bans on abortion violate not only the right to health, but rights to life, liberty, bodily integrity, privacy, nondiscrimination and equality, as well as the right to choose the number and spacing of children. Abortion bans do not, however, prevent women from terminating pregnancies. In fact, abortion remains one of the most common medical procedures in the world, regardless of whether it is legal. Approximately 70,000 women per year die from unsafe abortions, and at least 5 million others suffer serious injury. These deaths and injuries are almost entirely preventable.

The consequences of a 2006 decision in Nicaragua to criminalize abortion under all circumstances—even when necessary to save a woman’s life—demonstrate the consequences to women’s lives when these rights are denied. A Human Rights Watch investigation carried out shortly after the ban was implemented found that, despite protocols requiring doctors to treat certain obstetric emergencies, a pervasive fear of prosecution among health care providers resulted in the delay or denial of care. Women who were refused treatment suffered sterility, maiming and, in at least 80 cases, death.

In the United States, the Supreme Court established a right to legal abortion in 1973. Yet today this right is effectively denied to poor women as a result of subsequent policies and court rulings. Since 1976, the Hyde Amendment has limited public funding for abortion in most circumstances, leaving approximately 12 million women of reproductive age enrolled in Medicaid without coverage for the procedure. Almost all of these women are poor, and a majority are women of color. These women and others affected by similar funding bans struggle to find the money they need for abortion care; they forgo food, shelter, and other necessities; and often they delay treatment, which increases their health risks.

The international community must work to ensure that governments adhere to their existing commitments to reproductive rights standards and to guarantee reproductive autonomy for all. For decades, a vibrant global network of committed advocates has worked tirelessly to promote the right of women and men to control their own reproduction and sexuality. Thanks largely to their persistence, reproductive rights are now accepted as integral to human rights. But now these rights must be recognized as even more: integral to a life lived with dignity. Women around the world are demanding the ability to control their own bodies; it is time for their leaders to listen.

SOURCE:www.americanprogress.org

She is living under police security not because there is threat of criminals or terrorists, but because her own parents are out to rake her! In other words, her parents are her worst foes at this moment because what she did, hardly any girl of her community dares to. This is the story of ill-fated Khaleda Begum, 25, whose fancy for marriage turned into a nightmare when she was forced to marry her own cousin, who was 20 years older to her. Khaleda is not the only victim of such brutal and savage custom, but many like her are forced to keep up the same brutal tradition. However, most of the girls surrender to such rituals or practices. This somewhere shows how the brutal practice like a tumor is stilling swelling up, if not openly, secretly at least.


It’s true that consanguineous marriage amongst Muslims is not a new phenomenon, however, when it comes to Muslims living in countries like England, it’s, indeed, shocking! It’s also true that customs prevailing in other communities are full of irrational ideologies but when it comes to Islam, customs and cruelty seem conspiring against women on a larger scale. The main reason for fast growing conflicts between modernity and radical Islam is that both stands head to head, especially when it comes to ideology. Supposing people brought up under the very shade of modernity, to cling to old trite traditions is quite ironic. Isn’t it? At a time when entire world is fast moving ahead, wrapping civilization in its fold, shrunk ideologies deny a woman the right to freedom, right to lead life in her own way, to choose her life partner and most ironically force her to marry her cousin or some other relative, whom she would have called brother or would have played with him. Isn’t it just a subterfuge to ravish her honor?

Here the main issue is not consanguineous marriage but brutality against women, against her honor, which is seething secretly on our world, one way or the other. For instance, the nightmarish treatment meted out to 15-year old Muslim, Turkish-German girl is there, who was rewarded with a vicious blow to the head that knocked her nearly unconscious to the floor. Her fault was just that she snapped out about herself, stating that she was too young to marry. Ironically, it was her father who gave her the deadly blow! It’s not surprising to know that just like England other developing countries also have similar tortuous pangs for Muslim women. For instance, an estimate proves that 30,000 women among Germany’s 3.2 million Muslim populations, of which 2.7 million are of Turkish origin, are subjected to forced marriages every year. In addition, thousands of Muslim women in Germany groan under brutal domestic violence. So, the question arises- Is the violence against Muslim women a global phenomenon.

SOURCE:www.themuslimwoman.org

Crimes against women/Women in Pakistan

The status of women in Pakistan varies considerably across classes, regions, and the rural/urban divide due to uneven socioeconomic development and the impact of tribal, feudal, and capitalist social formations on women's lives. The Pakistani women of today enjoy a better status than most Muslim and Middle Eastern women. However, on an average, the women's situation vis-à-vis men is one of systemic subordination, although there have been attempts by the government and enlightened groups to elevate the status of women in Pakistani society.
The violence against women in Pakistan is a major problem. Feminists and women's groups in Pakistan have criticized the Pakistani government and its leaders for whitewashing the persecution of women and trying to suppress information about their plight in the international arena. Skepticism and biased attitudes against women's complaints of violence are common among prosecutors, police officers and medicolegal doctors in Pakistan. According to reports from 1990s, such complaints often face delayed/mishandled processing and inadequate/improper investigations.

Sexual violence
Rape is one of the most common crimes against women but grossly underreported due to the shame attached to the victim. Many cases of sexual harassment and acid attacks have also been reported.
Marital rape is not recognized as a criminal offense in Pakistani law. Many cases of rape in police custody have also been reported.According to Report of the Commission of Inquiry for Women (1997), 70 percent of women in police stations were subjected to sexual and physical violence.

Trafficking
Trafficking of women is on the rise in Pakistan. Foreign women from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar are brought to Pakistan and sold.

Dowry abuse
Main article: dowry
Many cases of bride burning due to dowry issues have been reported in Pakistan. In some cases, accidents are engineered (such as the tampering of a kitchen stove to cause victim's death) or the victims are set ablaze, claimed to be yet another accident or suicide. According to a 1999 report, of the sixty "bride-burning" cases that made it to the prosecution stage (though 1,600 cases were actually reported), only two resulted in convictions. However Dowry abuse cases are low after 2001.

Domestic violence
Domestic violence is not explicitly prohibited in Pakistani domestic lawand most acts of domestic violence are encompassed by the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance. The police and judges often tend to treat domestic violence as a non-justiciable, private or family matter or, an issue for civil courts, rather than criminal courts.

A 1987 study conducted by the Women's Division and another study by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in 1996 suggested that domestic violence takes place in approximately 80 percent of the households in the country. Domestic violence occurs in forms of beatings, sexual violence or torture, mutilation, acid attacks and burning the victim alive.

SOURCE:en.wikipedia.org

Pakistan: Ruling party gives in to MMA's demand of 'no reform' in rape laws

Supporters of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam party protesting against the repeal of Hudood Law

Lot many liberal women right groups in Pakistan is disappointed by the setback faced in the reform of the rape laws. President Musharraf did his part of job by initiating the issue among the political parties in the Parliament, but now there are lot much opposition coming in from many different quarters.

The strongest voice that is up against the amendment of the ‘rape law’ is few women right activists as well as the 11 party alliance MMA group.

According to the new bill, the allied parties of President Muasharraf was supportive of incorporating rape in the penal code of Pakistan, but the opposition groups are completely against any such reform.

Ultimately, we are back to square one again with the decision about the bill still caught up in an ambiguous situation.

SOURCE:www.themuslimwoman.org

Women rights violations in Pakistan

Women rights issue has always been a controversial one in Pakistan. For the elite class, and the foreign funded organizations, it is often exploited to target the Islamic tenets, while for a majority poor and rural population, it stands much behind in the priority list.
Not only the men, but Pakistani women too stand divided on the definition of women rights.
The differences within the ranks of women rights organizations once again surfaced on the issue of a recently introduced domestic violence bill under which those found guilty of beating women or children will be jailed and fined.
The bill, approved by the national assembly on August 4, 2009 will come into effect after being voted by the Senate and signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari.
The law classifies domestic violence as acts of physical, sexual or mental assault, force, criminal intimidation, harassment, hurt, confinement and deprivation of economic or financial resources.
A magistrate will hear a case of domestic violence after its registration and a decision will be announced within 30 days.
NGOs claim that violence against women, particularly inside homes, goes unreported in Pakistan.
According to a recently conducted survey by Aurat Foundation, a NGO working for women rights, 160 out of 234 participants complained about domestic violence and verbal abuses by their husbands.
Shazia Aurungzeb Khan, a women rights activist and member of the country’s conservative northwestern frontier province (NWFP) terms the bill a great development. She believes If this bill is implemented, the rate of domestic violence will certainly drop. Ismat Mehdi, a lawyer by profession, supports efforts against domestic violence but is not a fan of the bill.
"This is nothing more than a publicity stunt by the government," she said.
"Theoretically, we can say it is a good step, but practically it will not work. Similar laws are already there to protect women and children, but practically they have contributed nothing."
The differences between Pakistani women rights organizations on domestic violence bill depicts the very condition of women rights issue and the efforts aimed at dealing with that in Pakistan.
The constitution of Pakistan provides full protection to women rights and accords a highly venerated social position. It acknowledges the rights and privileges of the women in society, and does not impose any restrictions that may hamper the social growth and development of the women
Pakistan is the first country in the Muslim world that has elected a woman as its prime minister twice.
However, this is true, that there is a full protection to women rights in the constitution, but when it comes to implementation of that rights, the situation is not commendable.
Before discussing whether women have rights in Pakistani society or not, first understand Pakistani society.
Pakistan is an Islamic state, where people, not only take pride in strictly adhering to the Islamic values but are ready to sacrifice their loved belongings for the glory and sanctity of Islam. Islam has accorded a highly venerated social position to women. Islam acknowledges the rights and privileges of the women in society. Likewise, Islam does not impose any restrictions that may hamper the social growth and development of the woman. A woman is equally important member of society. The woman plays a vital role in building the society on healthier and stronger foundations.
But, their development in society is hindered due to many factors. Particularly in the country’s rural areas where around 70 per cent of the total population reside, women have been suffering from poor health facilities, and a low role in participation.
Most of women in rural areas have to bear double burden of domestic and outside work. They are the first to rise and last to bed. They lit the fire to prepare breakfast, wash the utensils and cleans the house before setting out on their outside work. When every member has ridden the bed after completing day's work, they are engaged in working.
It is alas that most of women rights organizations, funded by foreign donors, do not highlight the health, and educational problems faced by Pakistani women. Their focus is on Hudood Ordinance, eloping of women and girls, and honour killings.
Undoubtedly, Karo-kari (honor killing) is a gruesome phenomenon, which must be checked by the government and the society, however, breaking of family system, and eloping of women must not be supported under the guise of efforts against Karo-Kari phenomenon.
These women rights organizations, mostly belonging to elite class, unfortunately do not figure out that this is a Muslim society. This is not France or UK, where definitions of women rights is totally different. Under no circumstances, whatsoever, a majority of Pakistanis cannot support the calculated campaign for promoting western culture here in the name of women rights.
These NGOs are more interested in holding and supporting mixed marathon races instead of pressing the women parliamentarians to work for better health and educational facilities for Pakistani women.
Is marathon race the real issue of Pakistan or health and education are more important? These women rights organizations must pause over that, if they are really serious and sincere in their efforts. Otherwise, if they simply need publicity and money, that they would get in any case.
OLD TABOOS: No doubt, the old taboos about women’s role and competence are vanishing with every passing day. And a testimony to the fact is the growing number of women in parliament, politics, economic, and other sectors.
However, a lot need to be done, especially vis-à-vis better health facilities and their role in decision making.
In rural areas many taboos regarding women continue to persist. In most of the rural areas, women are still being denied access to male doctors, no matter how badly she is unwell. In case of pregnancy, she is treated by untrained and unskilled midwives rather than a trained and qualified gynecologists.
According to health ministry statistics, which could be contested though, every one pregnant woman out of 10 dies due to absence of proper health facilities in rural areas of Pakistan. The situation is more deplorable in southeastern Balochistan province, and north western frontier province, which borders war-torn Afghanistan, where women enjoy the least health facilities.
The local tribal customs, which have nothing to do with Islam, rule the local society. They have devised their own rule for women. They cannot be treated by male doctors, they cannot go to the hospital to deliver the baby, no matter how serious their conditions are. They could die at home, but won’t be taken to the hospital.
Life in tribal society is governed and regulated by so-called beliefs and behavioral patterns. A woman has no say in many aspect of her life, including her marriage. However, in southern Sindh and western Punjab provinces, which are relatively rich, a woman may keep her connections with her family after marriage. She expects support from her brothers and father in case of separation and divorce from her husband. In Punjab and Sindh, women are seen working in the fields with their men-folk collecting fuels and in some cases working on the construction sites shifting material from one place to another.
Although the conditions of women in urban areas are better than those of the rural women. However it could not be dubbed as ideal.
Numerically the women in Pakistan are almost equal to men. They are equal in potential as the men. The Pakistani women live in the most diversified location of the tribal, feudal or urban environments. She can be a highly qualified and self-confident professional or a diffident peasant toiling along with her men-folk.
Despite all the above-mentioned social and financial hurdles, Pakistan is the first Muslim state, where a woman has been elected as Prime Minister twice.
Another kind of women rights violations which is often ignored in the west, is thriving the women into prostitution business due to poverty.
Though, there is a strict ban on prostitution in Pakistan, and there are punitive punishments in the law for prostitution, however organized mafias, backed by police, politicians, and so-called film industry bigwigs are constantly engaged in attracting and forcing the poor and needy women towards this heinous business.
Unfortunately, no attention has so far been paid towards this worst kind of women rights violations in Pakistan by any women rights organization at all. In fact, most of the women rights organizations are engaged in getting this gory business regularized in the name of “sex workers”.
Instead of helping the women to get rid of this vicious circle, these so-called women rights organizations are trying to get them status of sex worker leaving them and their coming generations in prostitution business forever.

SOURCE:www.weeklypulse.org

Pakistani Women at crossroads?

Everyone has the right to live with, liberty and security of the person. Woman is entitled to equal rights as citizen of Pakistan and live in a family, which is the natural and fundamental unit of society and is entitled to be protected by society and state. The women power in Pakistan is nearly 52% of the population, but while considering the status of 'women' in Pakistan, our women still look like to be living in the dark ages. Their right for acquiring education and economic freedom is not encourage; it is a matter of deep distress that being Muslims we have completely forgotten the status of women given by Islam, as per teaching of our beloved prophet, Mohammad (P.B.U.H) that women are dignified, respected and secure in Islam than in other faith. Women are more protected by Islam then by the faith and society which preaches monogamy. Islam was the first religion to recognize the equality of sexes and granted women all rights, 1400 years ago, in those early days of Islam.

But since the creation of Pakistan the rights of women were ignored just as similarly as the rights of Pakistani to rule this country and decide the fate of their own future. After the independence of Pakistan the socio-political system does not change, little or no reform were carried out and therefore the status quo of the society remain the same as it was before. The feudal remain in power as they were before, under the rule of British Empire and even before them.

The survival of the feudal system remains in brutality, ignorance, illiteracy and poverty’s it is the system to be blame for humiliation, exploitation and cruelty with women’s. The right of women cannot be protected till we provide ample opportunity to women for uplift, such as education with skill development and an opportunity to utilize that kill to enhance economic activities such as their participation in the production and services in the country.

We must feel proud in developing and implementing our values and stop looking at the west as passage/light for women’s right, women is most exploited in the west, in the name of democracy and equal rights, the freedom allowed in the west is not for the protection of women from exploitation and maintain the dignity. Even in these modern world women is being humiliated in socio-economic and cultural front by the dominant man power. Everybody is talking about the women’s right with special reference to job, education and equal opportunity in the society with dignity and respect. But, Women’s are being exploited even since the commencement of modern society. At work place in the factory, in search of job and better chances to avail for better income and prosperous life, even in the offices women are exploited by the influential people, one way or the other.

The most exploited women’s are from working class due to economic problems, middle class in order to maintain fake standard of living and the upper class for the sake of enjoyment of life and for getting rid off frustration in their social domestic life.
It is true that women in Pakistan have never been disassociated with the struggle for democracy. However, the women's gained more maturity in its understanding of national issues because of this interaction and participation in the movement for democracy, women have been engaged in the debate on insecurity and instability and its links to critical domestic condition.
Pakistan is an Islamic state, where people, not only take pride in strictly adhering to the Islamic values but are ready to sacrifice their loved belongings for the glory and sanctity of Islam. Islam has accorded a highly respected social position to women. Islam acknowledges the rights and privileges of the women in society. Likewise, Islam does not impose any restrictions that may hamper the social growth and development of the woman within the framework of Islamic society. A woman is equally important member of society. The woman plays a vital role in building the society on healthier and stronger foundations.

The women in Pakistan have been constantly complaining of having being isolated from the mainstream of society. Women feel disillusioned on being maltreated by the male-oriented set up in Pakistan. They strongly claim that if they are given a chance, they can contribute more positively towards the development of all social aspects. Pakistani women are at crossroad and need a serious concentration on the route cause of exploitation of women’s right; the reason, the route cause is the prevailing system in the country which is needed to be changed. The current democracy and the representation of women within the assembly does not represent common Pakistani women, they are part and partial of rich and feudal families.
Therefore, Islamic Democratic Party has decided to give back dignity and respect to the women, but that dignity and respect cannot be achieved without the change of socio-political system in the country. However, to give back honor and dignity to the women, we are suggesting to the women of Pakistan;

• Education and Technical knowledge to be provided to every capable woman in separate and safe environment.
• After enhancement of knowledge and skill, provide safe and separate environment for women to work and join national production force.
• A guarantee for job opportunity should be provided to every woman wanted to work in safe and separate environment.
• When, 52% women power will join production and services sector, national gross production /services will increase and so the increase in revenue.
• Working women will earn for the family and bring happiness to the family and so the self satisfaction, dignity and respect within the family will increase.
• A separate working environment reduces the objection from the male member of the family.
• An educated mother can train new generation in better way and be a supporting partner in family as and when needed.
• Being earning member of the family, self confidence of women will enhance and so the intrinsic skill will further developed.
• The medical facilities and insurance coverage should be provided to every working woman.

• Equal participation in political wing for women in the political parties.

• Only the society base on tolerance, equality and justice can be the real guarantee for the prosperous and strong Pakistan.

Therefore, we, invite the women from all walks of life to come forward and join the rank and file of Islamic Democratic Party and take the rain for the change of socio-political system in their hands to acquire peace and progress for better life with women’s dignity, respect and equal opportunity in Pakistan.

SOURCE:www.thesouthasian.org

Pakistani Communities Celebrate Women's Day

Like other parts of the country International Women Day was also celebrated by Shundor women Forum (SWF) in collaboration with Aga Khan Social Welfare Board (AKSWB) Chitral at Booni some 85 KM from here. The program was started with the recitation from the Holy Quran. Miss Farzad Bibi Education officer was chief guest on the occasion while Mrs. Mehrab presided over the ceremony besides them Mrs. Noshaba an Educationist was also setting on the daises.

Miss Fatma Taj performed as stage secretary. Maqsooda Bibi presented Hamd Sharif while Shamim Akhtar read Naath Sharif. Mrs. Noshaba Chair Person of SWF highlighted importance of this day. And stressed upon women folk especially on mothers to treat their daughters equally as comparative to their sons.

She also highlighted aim and objectives of their women forum which working for development of women of the area.

Miss Amreen Ghazala delivered speech on women role in development of the country and lamented mothers for discriminating their daughters for no interest in them at early childhood while they patronizing their sons. She said those children became robbers, addict who are ignoring by their mothers in childhood. Meher Amroz a lady health worker, Miss Farzana, Mrs. Yasmin Gul, Miss Nargus, , Miss Farzana SET, Mrs. Mehrin Nisa Principal Govt. Girls high school Warijun, Miss Rehana etc spoke on the occasion and highlighted women role in Islam. Beside male participants Saslamat Khan social welfare officer of AKSWB and Rahmat Nabi of Nani Early child development institution also participated the function.


Meanwhile an other function in memorandum of international women day was held at Drosh by Drosh women forum in collaboration with Legal Aid Forum for Human Rights financially supported by TROCAIRE. The women folk delivered speeches on women role in uplift of the area and building of society. They highly appreciated women role in development of the country and caring of their children. Besides other Niaz Ali Shah General Secretary LAFH also attended the ceremony.

G.H. Farooqi reports from Chitral



A “Working Women Assembly” was organized at Press Club Hyderabad on March 7, 2008. Among the participants were peasants, agriculture workers, kiln workers, stone crackers, domestic workers, factory workers, bangle workers, sex workers, health workers, councilors, academicians, advocates, nurses, doctors, journalists, social workers, police women, officials, parliamentarians, political leaders and those who earn for their families.

More than 250 women from different districts of Sindh participated in the Assembly. The program was like an assembly in true sense where every participants was regarded as a member of the assembly and her profession was assumed her constituency. A speaker panel (Mrs. Nazir Qureshi from Sindhiyani Tehreek acted as speaker, Parveen Soomro of GRDO acted as deputy speaker, Shabana Khan from PPP acted as leader of treasury benches and Nasreen Shakeel Pathan acted as leader of opposition) run the assembly and gave ruling at the end of the assembly. Dr. G. Hyder, Director of GRDO, described the aims and objective of the assembly. The ruling in the form of charter of demands will be handed over to parliamentarians for consideration in political parties and to be discussed at the floor of national and provincial assemblies for legislation.

During and after the Assembly Green Theatre Group performed theatres and tablos on bonded labor and on honor killing.

Resolutions:

â–º Participants of this assembly who belong to different caste, creed, class, religion, race and profession unanimously agree that they are part of the international Movement for women rights.

â–º Government must take strong initiatives to minimize the unemployment.

â–º Government should announce 8th March as “Women Holiday” as women may celebrate this freely to get their voice heard.

â–º Assembly understands the importance of recent elections as a success of people of Pakistan over non-democratic powers and aspires from the sacrifice of a women leader as beacon of democracy and demands impartial enquiry of her death and corporal punishment be given to assassinators and master minds behind the killing.

â–º We demand the restoration of judiciary and demands for the freedom of women and children of the judges under illegal confinement of law enforcing agencies.

â–º Equal employment opportunities and wages be given to women.

â–º Women and children are the most victimized of bonded labor so government must take serious actions to abolish bonded labor from Pakistan.

â–º We demand for recovery of the family members of Manu Bheel under illegal confinement of a landlord.

â–º We express our solidarity with all those whose dear ones were picked up by law enforcing agencies and are missing. We demand their earliest recovery and if they there are allegations on them then they must be produced before the court of law.

â–º This Assembly condemn the sexual, physical and mental torture women are victimized of and demand from the government to give punishment to the culprits.

â–º As International Women Day/week is being celebrated all over the world to honor women’s dignity and rights but the so-called champion of human rights and democracy (U.S.A government) is busy in making hell the lands of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other parts of the world. We demand from the U.S.A government to stop immediately its destructive activities and quit from the said areas of the world.

Bisharat Ali with GRDO reports from Hyderabad, Sindh

It is always easy to do self projection then to be correct.We cellebrate Valentines like no other day, then we cellebrate Halloweens ..what next Mardegra?
Womens day...Tell me what concrete steps have been taken in the last five years to promote women of Pakistan and what are the facts and the figures. We celebrete this day like any other by Mrs XYZ giving long long lectures. We dress up in a designer wear, wear dimonds and propose ideas, as for the results.....none. Figures are what i am actually interested in seeing. Today , an average Pakistani is devided to the ones who have and the "Have nots". As for those who have, are either ones to have a very thick skinned that the poverty and inflation is not affecting them , or just social climbers who will do anything to be in Page 3 of a news paper or have their photographs in magazines. Its time the citizins of this country move their butt and start working. That will be the only way we are going to progress.

SOURCE:www.thesouthasian.org

A small step towards empowerment and equality of Women in Pakistan.

Asian Heroes - Asma Jahangir

At 152 centimeters tall, Asma Jahangir is a mere sparrow of a woman. But she's got a big voice, which she isn't afraid to use. Jahangir and her colleagues at the Lahore-based Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent body of lawyers and activists, defend Christians and Muslims sentenced to death by stoning under harsh and capricious blasphemy laws. She shelters women whose families want to murder them—only because they deserted cruel husbands. She investigates the fate of prisoners who vanish in police custody and battles for their release through the courts and in the press. In short, Jahangir rails against the myriad injustices that plague her homeland, a type of cage rattling that doesn't always get popular support. "People aren't willing to believe that these injustices happen in our society," says Jahangir, 51. "But it's all going on next door."

Jahangir's father, Malik Jilani, was a politician who spent years in jail and under house arrest for opposing a string of military dictatorships, so his daughter grew up in Lahore with secret policemen at the garden gate. "Asma was always charging off against bullies," says Seema Iftikhar, a childhood friend, "or challenging the school's silly rules." She earned a law degree in 1978 and managed in the mid-1980s to overturn a death sentence against a blind woman who was gang-raped and then, grotesquely, charged with adultery. Since then, she and I.A. Rehman, director of the Human Rights Commission, have defended thousands of hopeless cases.

Yet many Pakistanis wish Jahangir would just shut up. President Pervez Musharraf occasionally explodes into fury against her, saying she is unpatriotic. Eight years back, five gunmen burst into her house, searching for her and her young son; fortunately, neither were home. Five years ago, a policeman was caught creeping up to her house with a dagger.

Today, in addition to her work for the Human Rights Commission, Jahangir serves as a United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, a job that has taken her to Afghanistan, Central America and Colombia. "There have to be principles, justice," she insists. "Otherwise, we fall into a cycle of revenge." And back home, people are starting to recognize that a voice capable of challenging authority is invaluable. Checking in at the Lahore airport recently, she was asked by fellow passengers to confront an immigration official who was harassing passengers for bribes. She did, and the official swiftly backed down. "I couldn't resist," Jahangir says with a laugh. She's a small lady—with a large job.

SOURCE:www.blogger.com

Women's rights in Pakistan

Know about rights of women in a Pakistani society.



'Women's rights in Pakistan' is a big question often raised in the West. It is believed that women has no rights or privileges in the male dominated society of Pakistan.

Before discussing whether women have rights in Pakistani society or not, first understand Pakistani society.


Pakistan is an Islamic state, where people, not only take pride in strictly adhering to the Islamic values but are ready to sacrifice their loved belongings for the glory and sanctity of Islam. Islam has accorded a highly venerated social position to women. Islam acknowledges the rights and privileges of the women in society. Likewise, Islam does not impose any restrictions that may hamper the social growth and development of the woman. A woman is equally important member of society. The woman plays a vital role in building the society on healthier and stronger foundations.



The women in Pakistan have been constantly complaining of having being isolated from the mainstream of society. Women feel disillusioned on being maltreated by the male-oriented set up in Pakistan. They strongly claim that if they are given a chance, they can contribute more positively towards the development of all social aspects.


However the Pakistani society usually adopts a hostile attitude towards the women. Their development in society is hindered due to many factors. Particularly the rural woman has to sustain, sometimes, unbearable dominance by the other sections of society.


Numerically the women in Pakistan are almost equal to men. They are equal in potential as the men. The Pakistani women live in the most diversified location of the tribal, feudal or urban environments. She can be a highly qualified and self-confident professional or a diffident peasant toiling along with her men-folk.


Women in Pakistan observe 'Pardha' while coming out of domestic environs or mixing up with other sections of society. 'Pardha,' or veil, is meant to segregate the women-folk from the male section of the society. The women are not prohibited from working but at the same time are supposed to observe strictly the rules of morality.


Due to pardha system, most of women (particularly of low education) have to take up work at home. They involve themselves in knitting, dressmaking, embroidery, etc.


In the areas like NWFP and Balochistan, life is governed and regulated by strict beliefs and behavioral patterns. A woman has no say in any aspect of her life, including her marriage. In the populated provinces of Sindh and Punjab, a woman may keep her connections with her family after marriage. She expect support from her brothers and father in case of separation and divorce from her husband. In Punjab and Sindh, women are seen working in the fields with their men-folk collecting fuels and in some cases working on the construction sites shifting material from one place to another.


Most of women in rural areas have to bear double burden of domestic and outside work. They are the first to rise and last to bed. They lit the fire to prepare breakfast, wash the utensils and cleans the house before setting out on their outside work. When every member has ridden the bed after completing day's work, they are engaged in working.


Although the conditions of women in urban areas are better than those of the rural women. Yet the old traditions and religious restraints have hindered the independent and free movement of the women.


Pakistan is the first country in the Muslim world that has elected a woman as its prime minister twice.

SOURCE:www.essortment.com

DEVELOPMENT: Reaching out/PAKISTAN

While several family planning or even health campaigns have been effectively launched in Pakistan, they have sometimes faced unexpected opposition. The polio eradication campaign, for example, was banned by extremist elements in several parts of the NWFP last year

Spreading knowledge about different circumstances and their impact on the lives of people around the world is an intrinsic feature of the media revolution. Gradually, media tools like advertising and marketing have also been adapted to address varied social development issues, particularly over the past two decades. This adaptation has its benefits, as well as shortcomings, in helping deprived segments of society.

The origins of concepts like social marketing as a discipline can be traced to assertions in the early 1970s that marketing techniques can potentially be applied to many other sectors besides business. Professionals working in the non-profit sector were initially hesitant to waste public money on marketing which they considered to be too intrusive and manipulative for social causes.

It took about twenty years for social marketing concepts to become widely accepted as effective means to achieve development goals. In the health sector alone, tackling issues such as nutrition, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, and malaria have since benefited from social marketing.

Advertising can also contribute to promoting economic development, environmental protection and social responsibility due to its specific role in the marketplace. To achieve sustainability through the market, effective competition is essential to promote innovation and efficiency, and more varied choices for consumers.

Competition in turn relies on advertising to bring down the price of goods and services. Advertising does so by indirectly increasing consumer choice through the provision of information about products available in the marketplace.

Besides facilitating pricing and product improvement through consumer choice, there are many opportunities for advertising to promote sustainable development more directly as well. It is not uncommon for product campaigns to often include health education or environmental messages, for example, either as part of corporate or public service campaigns, or else by highlighting the environmental, social and/or economic performance of companies.

However, on the flipside, advertising has been blamed for spreading unsustainable consumption patterns around the world, and for fuelling excessive consumption. Perhaps this is to misunderstand what advertising can and cannot do.

Proponents argue that advertising cannot make people buy things they don’t want or need, nor can it change values or create new values. However, it is very skilled in detecting new values and trends in consumers, and using them as a basis for accentuating product information which imbibe these desired attributes. Therefore, as the recognition for sustainability increases in consumers, they can make more informed product choices on the basis of information provided by advertising.

Development agencies can also undertake public advocacy using marketing and advertising principles to highlight the need for greater corporate social responsibility. Usually, such campaigns are based on research studies on important topics, such as adverse impact of unregulated use of groundwater by bottled water companies, which can exacerbate the groundwater scarcity for local farmers.

Clearly the development value of social marketing or advertising is not only theoretical but has also been put to practice within numerous rich and poor countries alike. For instance, using social marketing, a non-profit organisation called Population Services International has implemented innovative youth-oriented programmes in Cameroon, Madagascar, and Rwanda to prevent unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections among young adults.

In addition to advertising products like contraceptives, which is a common feature of social marketing campaigns concerning family planning, this organisation has used a creative mix of commercial marketing and interpersonal approaches to motivate behaviour change, or else seek medical treatment, if required. The formulated campaigns were informed by research concerning the specific barriers facing the intended target audiences.

Rather than adopting a preaching mode, the mass media campaigns initiated by this project used the television, radio, print media, and peer educators to treat the targeted youth as savvy consumers and portrayed safe behaviour as a socially acceptable choice for them. Resultantly, this effort paid off by bringing about measurable changes in youth perceptions and behaviour in countries where HIV/AIDS is a serious problem.

Population Services International has also worked in Pakistan with a local partner organisation to help curb unsustainable family sizes in the country. The campaigns devised for Pakistan successfully began to target men in their family planning campaigns in order to motivate them to take their responsibility for family planning more seriously.

In the mid-nineties, these efforts were funded by the German Government Development Bank, which enabled the initiation of the fifth largest (out of more than 50) social marketing project in the world. In 2003, two other bilateral donor agencies, along with the United Nations Population Fund, began contributing resources in social marketing programmes of Green Star to reach women in the semi-urban and rural areas of Pakistan, and offer them a wider range of options, better information and closer linkages with service delivery outlets. Measures such as these have played a significant role in curbing the population growth rate of Pakistan over the past decade.

While several family planning or even health campaigns have been effectively launched in Pakistan, they have sometimes faced unexpected opposition. The polio eradication campaign, for example, was banned by extremist elements in several parts of the NWFP last year. Even more recently, the office of an internationally reputable reproductive health and family planning NGO was brutally attacked in Mansehra.

While such instances of retaliation are not really provoked by social marketing campaigns, these campaigns do often challenge social values and can cause offence if handled insensitively. Also media and advertising campaigns can be better used to counter the criticism on ground, subsequent to identifying the underlying reasons for it.

Moreover, social marketing or advertising must remain focused on their message and its intended audiences, and try to avoid placing organisations and individuals in the media spotlight, which does no more then undermine genuine public appeal.

Thus instead of having spending millions on billboards, or on buying prime airtime to inform urban listeners of radio channels like FM 89 about the need for educating children, media pundits should have taken their awareness raising message to the streets of areas with low literacy rates. Failure to effectively reach out to the masses obviously dilutes the intended impact and turns social marketing into nothing more than a mere publicity stunt.

SOURCE:www.dailytimes.com.pk

‘Women should resist wars of globalisation’

Women should resist globalisation wars and violence against themselves while trying to find new roads to peace through justice, said participants at the World Court on Women on Thursday.

‘Women’s Resistance to War, Wars of Globalization and Wars Against Women’ was the theme of the court, which was arranged by the Simorgh Women’s Resource and Publication Centre in collaboration with the Asian Women’s Human Rights’ Council and Women’s Action Forum (Lahore), at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s Dorab Patel Auditorium. Participants from Pakistan, India, Iraq, Indonesia, Kenya and Bangladesh presented their papers and commented on women’s resistance to war.

‘Single woman — Single Witnesss’, ‘Think Globally — Act Locallyy’ and ‘We Stand for Peace’ were some of the slogans displayed on banners, highlighting the theme of the court. Issues of brick kiln workers, bonded labour and women; land issues; globalisation and poverty; globalisation as genocide; displacement and dams and globalisation and food security were the first session’s main topics, while violence against women; rape survivors; trafficking and globalisation; war of occupation; war in Iraq and fundamentalism and state terrorism were the main topics of the second session. Justice (r) Nasir Zahid (Pakistan), Wahu Kaara (Kenya), Fareeda Shaheed (Pakistan), Ita Nadia (Indonesia), Najma Sadeque (Pakistan) and Khawar Mumtaz (Pakistan) made up the jury, which said the struggle against women’s violence and wars against globalization should be organised. The jury criticised governments for not dealing with women’s issues seriously.

The objective paper of the court said that the 20th century had seen much violence while politics and cultures had been militarized. The court condemned violence against women and said that civilians were being targeted while the war against terrorism had legitimised the terror of a racist war to an unprecedented degree. Neelam Hussain, coordinator of the SWRPC, said the court had been held to educate people on women’s issues.

SOURCE:www.dailytimes.com.pk

PMA report roasts health policy, practice

The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has revealed in its 2003 annual report that there are more than 10.2 thousands unemployed MBBS doctors in Pakistan, who need urgent attention from the government.

Released at a recent meeting and available with Daily Times, the report says the mortality rate is high, hepatitis B vaccinations are unavailable for the whole country, pregnancy complications have increased, there is no national health policy, drug policy and an accountability procedure to motivate doctors. According to the report, it might be claimed that more money was spent on healthcare but a majority of people still have no access to primary healthcare, emergency obstetrical care or emergency healthcare in Pakistan.

Facts and figures: According to the figure, quoted from the international and national agencies, the population soared to 141.50 million in 2003. At least one-third of the population lives below the poverty line and the annual fertility rate is 4.7 percent with a life expectancy of 63 years.

According to government sources, the report says, more than 78,000 people were infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) virus and yet there is no immediate plan to fight the disease. Two percent of the population is blind and 11 percent suffer from diabetes with a 90 percent chance of developing retinopathy in later life.

Health spending levels of 0.9 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the public sector and 3.2 percent of GDP in the private sector were extremely low. Political stability, economic growth and eradication of corruption were needed for a successful healthcare system in Pakistan. The PMA believes the government should spend at least six percent of the GDP on public health to make the system work effectively.

Jobless rate: More than 5,000 doctors in the Punjab, 3,000 in Sindh, 1,200 in Balochistan and 1,000 in the North West Frontier Province were jobless and the government has no immediate plan to recruit them into the Health Department with the result that most of the health units in the country were without doctors because provincial governments have a policy to recruit doctors on contract only if they pass the Public Service Commission examination.

Healthcare facilities: A large proportion of the population is unable to drink clean water or access to proper sanitation facilities. The water-borne bacterial problem is the main cause of mortality in children and adults. About 78 percent one-year-old babies were immunised against tuberculosis and only 54 against measles. But the hepatitis B vaccination was not available for all people. The number of hepatitis B and hepatitis C patients increased gradually.

It is important to note that despite more than 40 rounds of polio vaccination Pakistan continues to report new polio cases. A majority of adults with diabetes have no access to medical treatment, especially with a blindness problem. Most of the government eye hospitals do not have working a laser therapy unit working there. Sindh and Balochistan had no laser equipment in government hospitals.

According to government figures, more than 340 per 100,000 women die in Pakistan during pregnancy due to the unavailability of emergency obstetrical care. More than 80 percent of women give birth with the help of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs). Pregnancy complications (fistula, infertility, loss of uterus etc) is on the rise due to a lack of healthcare facilities for under-privileged women in cities and rural areas.

Medical education: The provincial governments’ policy regarding admissions to medical colleges remains poor. More women doctors are being trained with a long-term impact on the health delivery system. At the same time, provincial governments have a liberal policy regarding private medical colleges in all the four provinces. Low-quality medical education is available for high fees. In a small number of medical colleges in the government sector, especially in Balochistan, Sindh and NWFP, medical education is below standard and these colleges require immediate intervention.

No structured postgraduate teaching: Teaching hospitals in the public sector with the exception of a few departments had no structured postgraduate teaching programme and a majority of postgraduate students work unsupervised or with little supervision. Provincial health departments have no plans, understanding or a vision to solve chronic problems related to medical education and the postgraduate training. On the intervention of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan (CPSP), the government fixed stipends for doctors but hospitals did not pay for obligatory training workshops and examinations.

The report demanded that postgraduate training centres in private and public sectors pay for all workshops and examinations held for their staff.

Private sector: With the exception of a few private hospitals, a majority of hospitals do not provide standard healthcare and they exploit young doctors by paying them low salaries and forcing them to work in unhealthy conditions. A majority of teaching hospitals in the private sector also have no structured programmes for training and work on the principle of self-learning. Private sector hospitals have also failed to develop a code of conduct for healthcare.

Drugs and drug policy: The government failed to produce a drug policy to control the use of ‘wonder drugs’ to treat cancer or sexual dysfunction. While many essential drugs are not available in the market, it is full of copied and substandard versions. There is a need for a system in which essential drugs are available for reasonable prices round the year.

Lack of vision: The report said the federal Health Ministry and provincial health departments work without direction and the government has not shown the commitment or the will to address health problems in Pakistan. According to figures, Pakistan produces one nurse for eight doctors and only one doctor is available to treat 2,300 patients. Federal and provincial governments have no understanding or plans to produce a sufficient number of nurses and paramedical staff.

The federal government’s plan to train midwives is not well thought out and the suggested one-year midwifery training course in the absence of trained teachers would not produce efficient health workers. The government has also failed to understand the role of paramedical staff in the healthcare system. An army of paramedical staff is required to run Basic Health Units, Rural Health Centres, Taluka Headquarters, District Headquarters and the Tertiary Health Care system. None of the governments has a policy to produce professionals and neither is there an appropriate career structure for them.

Accountability: Because of this policy, lack of accountability and the politicisation of the health departments, a great many doctors are under-motivated. A system of accountability, audit, punishment and reward is required to motivate doctors. No provincial government is ready to develop a career structure for doctors working in non-teaching health units in the country. Like previous democratic governments the present set-up is also not ready to address these issues to improve healthcare facilities for the poor and needy in Pakistan.

The report said a strong accountability system is required to deal with cases of unethical medical practice in government and private healthcare units. According to the report, no practical measures have been taken to rid the country of more than 6,000,00 quacks. Over the last two years the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC) played a vital role in Pakistan asserting the rules and regulations. The government should not interfere in the PMDC’s working and the PMDC should continue to play its role independently to monitor healthcare, medical education and training.

Role of district governments: District governments should create a system through which healthcare facilities should have the minimum staff. Private hospitals, laboratories, clinics and nursing homes should be held answerable in case of negligence on the part of doctors.

SOURCE:www.dailytimes.com.pk

Pregnant women stay away from planets that hide their faces

Pregnant women are warned, according to some schools of thought, to be careful while cutting something, touching a sharp object or passing by a reflecting surface (including mirrors) during the eclipse. Such fears are held by some superstitious people. Others, especially those in the medical field, reject this hypothesis.

“This is not superstitious but a proven fact! If, during a lunar or solar eclipse, a pregnant woman or her husband cut something, their newborn is born with a physical deformity, which may include a missing/cut/cleft lip, ear, nose, finger or any other body part(s). I have seen hundreds of babies with these defects,” claimed the elderly Bhani, a caretaker of a Hindu temple. The Hindus believe that the sun and the moon have been punished for the sins of mankind and they have been tied in motion as a result.

“During the eclipses we pray for the forgiveness of the moon and sun. Most Hindus do not consume any food during the eclipse as well since it is prohibited. They will fast instead,” said the caretaker.

Meanwhile, medical experts have clearly rejected the hypothesis of bad omens associated with the eclipse, stating that the only thing to fear from it is eye problems. “During the eclipse, contact with ultraviolet rays increases 10 times and looking at the eclipse directly without sunglasses can even result in the loss of eyesight. The different impacts on unborn babies because of the eclipse are only a myth from India and Pakistan,” said Mehmood Parekh, an eye specialist.

Dr Jamil Akhtar, another eye specialist, also rejected the religious hypothesis. “The cleft lips are because of a fault in the embryo and have nothing to do with the eclipse,” he said.

According to Christian mythology, the eclipse is a symbol of human sins. “The eclipse basically means that the sins in this world have increased to such an extent that even the planets are covering their faces from the sinners to remind us that it is time to redeem ourselves,” said Bishop Aijaz, the chairman of the Interfaith Friendship Forum. Quoting verses from the Bible, the bishop said that the sun is a symbol of life and it gives us heat, the same heat we get from our food.

According to the Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics, there will be a total solar eclipse on Friday, August 1 but it will be observable in Canada, Greenland, regions close to North Pole and some towns of Russia only. A partial eclipse will be observable in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Bangladesh.

The partial solar eclipse in Pakistan will be first visible in the North Western part of the country, while the people of Peshawar will be able to get a glimpse of it around 4:18 p.m. (PST) and it will continue for about two hours.

SOURCE:www.dailytimes.com.pk

Female Medical Teams in Pakistan Reach More Women and Save More Lives than before the Earthquake

When the earthquake struck on 8 October 2005, Larmirjan’s house collapsed. She was badly injured, and her 18-year-old son was killed. Throughout northern Pakistan, 73,000 died and 3.5 million were left homeless.

While most survivors are now back in their home villages, Larmirjan and her family have nowhere to go. She and her husband came here from Indian-administered Kashmir 15 years ago. They face another hard winter with their four young daughters in a tent in a refugee camp.

But Larmirjan, who is over 40 and nine months pregnant, will at least have the chance to give birth safely, in a fully equipped hospital. She has had regular prenatal care at mobile clinic that regularly visits her camp and is staffed by a female doctor and a midwife.

These services are supported by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.

Last October, UNFPA was one of many aid groups that responded to the crisis, working in partnership with the Government to restore medical services throughout the affected region. UNFPA moved quickly to establish and equip emergency medical facilities in two of the most severely damaged districts – Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Mansehra in North West Frontier Province – with a focus on enabling pregnant women to deliver safely.

One year on, Pakistan’s internationally supported recovery effort has moved from emergency operations to a longer-term recovery phase. As part of this joint endeavour, UNFPA has set up temporary health centres, complete with women staff, equipment and supplies for quality reproductive and maternal health care.

Indications are that more women in the two districts, including those in remote areas, are using prenatal services, skilled delivery assistance, child health care and family planning than before the earthquake. In some places the level of care exceeds what was previously available.

But enormous challenges remain in meeting health needs. As a second winter approaches, the vast majority of displaced people continue to live in makeshift shelters or tents. Reconstruction of some homes is under way, but only barely. Exposure, crowding, weak diets, bad water and inadequate sanitation compound health problems that existed in this poor region before the earthquake, including those related to pregnancy and childbirth.

“Eighty per cent of the health facilities were destroyed – that’s over 500 facilities,” notes Jan Vandemoortele, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Pakistan. “We had a successful relief operation. We now have a very complex reconstruction.

“This winter the acid test of our preparedness will be the health sector,” he says.

At least 5,000 women give birth each month in the affected areas, where mothers often have six or seven children. Most deliver at home, and maternal mortality is high. Post-earthquake stress and rough living conditions have increased the risks for women.

“Nine out of every ten pregnant women we see are anaemic,” reports Dr. Fouzia Shakeel, a female physician in the UNFPA-supported maternity centre at Battal Civil Hospital. This leads to low-weight infants and an elevated risk of miscarriage or haemorrhage during delivery. Dr. Shakeel and her team deliver 30-45 babies each month.

Post-traumatic stress and poor diets contribute to a high rate of pregnancy complications and miscarriages among the earthquake survivors. At the Battal centre, two or three patients each month undergo lifesaving procedures after suffering incomplete miscarriages. Up to five women per month have convulsions or obstructed labour and must be sent by ambulance to a hospital in Mansehra or Abbotabad.

Before the earthquake, such women would have been more likely to die.

In recent months, pre-fabricated metal buildings have replaced the medical tents that numerous relief organizations put up in the weeks after the disaster. UNFPA is part of this effort, erecting and staffing 34 maternal and child health facilities in the hardest-hit areas.

In a region where cultural norms do not allow women to be examined by male physicians, the all-female, live-in staff provide primary care, prenatal checkups, and skilled deliveries round the clock.

At pre-fab rural health centres, a woman doctor and one or two skilled nurses known as lady health visitors treat up to 100 outpatients a day. In Chikkar, high in the hills above the Jheelum Valley, gynaecologist Dr. Aneela Adil and her assistant have in the past month performed 70 deliveries, provided lifesaving care to 35 women after miscarriages, and referred four patients to a hospital for Caesarean-sections.

“Mentally, these women have suffered a lot,” Dr. Adil says. “Most are coming with epigastric pain. They are anxious. They are living in stressful conditions. Winter is coming and they don’t have proper shelter. They need more counselling than medicine.”

A huge share of those killed last October were children, and many grieving parents now want new babies to take the place of those who perished. “Women are coming to me who had two or three children who all died,” says Dr. Adil. “So they are looking to me for conception help.”

Mobile maternal and child health clinic staff and equipment on the road to the isolated village of Mastana Gali.
Photo: Marc Westhof/UNFPA
At the same time, health workers report that, as more and more women learn that comprehensive reproductive health care is available, with women providers, increasing numbers are coming for family planning services.

In the busy rural health centre at Chattar Plain, Mansehra district, Nargis, 32, asks Dr. Seemi Khan to help her avoid another pregnancy. She is the mother of four – all survived the earthquake – and she says her husband has no job and doesn’t help her with the children. She has been getting contraceptive injections but wants a longer-lasting method. Dr. Khan shows her an intra-uterine device and explains how it works.

One reason demand for services is growing is the network of ‘lady health workers’ (LHWs) whom the Government trains and supports to educate women in their villages about hygiene and basic well-being, including healthy childbirth. Nargis and several other clients interviewed at the Chattar Plain centre said they had come at the urging of their local health worker.

The health workers report regularly to medical officers on their activities and on health conditions in their villages. During one such meeting at the Battal facility, several health workers spoke about widespread problems such as scabies, and complained about poor water quality. But they also said that villagers are now more likely to listen to their advice, to practise family planning, and to come with them to the clinic for assisted delivery.

Further evidence of the impact of the lady health workers is found in the sprawling Jawa tent camp outside Mansehra, the last such encampment in the district. One group of residents came last July, after rains flooded their post-earthquake settlement on a river bank, displacing them for a second time.

Two LHWs in this group say they are continuing their work in the camp. Kauser Shaeen distributes contraceptives and has a small supply in her tent. She proudly points out that she has just one child after five years of marriage.

Another group of residents in the same camp come from a remote part of the district not covered by the health education programme. At the camp’s maternal and child health tent, Dr. Mehnaz Akbar says that prenatal clients from this community have little knowledge of hygiene and often decline tetanus vaccinations and other care because of misconceptions.

“The biggest problem is poverty,” she stresses. Because of iodine-deficient diets, many patients have thyroid conditions that can aggravate pregnancy complications.

MOBILE SERVICES REACH REMOTE VILLAGES

For the first time ever, mobile service teams are driving up mountain roads to visit isolated villages like Mastana Gali in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where the earthquake wrecked 80 per cent of the homes and nearly everyone lives in tents or corrugated iron shacks. A female doctor and her assistant see patients in a tent, which can be set up in a few minutes. Their vehicle serves as a delivery room when the need arises.

News of the clinic’s arrival spreads fast, and up to 200 children and adults may show up in a single day. Team leader Dr. Shela Nawaz, a recent medical school graduate from Karachi, reports that patients suffer a variety of ailments, many related to poor hygiene and inadeqate water; scabies, respiratory infections and diarrhoea are among the most common. Villagers are grateful that the mobile clinic provides free medicines.

One young mother has brought her son whose ear is infected; she is also sick to her stomach. It is the first time she has seen a doctor, she says.

According to one resident, 100 babies have been born in this village of 6,000 since the earthquake. Among those who come to the clinic is Naseema, two months pregnant. Dr. Nawaz gives her a prenatal exam and guidance on nutrition and health, and advises her to go down to the nearest health centre to deliver her baby safely when it comes.

Dr. Shela Nawaz’s mobile clinic treats up to 200 patients per day in remote villages like Mastana Gali.
Photo: Marc Westhof/UNFPA
A growing number of women are following such advice. At the Garhi Dopatta rural health centre where the mobile unit is based, Dr. Afsheen Qayyum and her team have delivered three or four babies each day for the past two months. “Sure I’m tired,” she says with a laugh. “We work day and night, seven days a week.”

The staff is well trained to identify prenatal patients who might have problems that the rural health centres are not equipped to handle. They are sent by ambulance to higher-level facilities, like the pre-fab maternity centre at the Hattian Bala hospital, in the Jhelum Valley.

In the post-delivery room at Hattian Bala are several first-time mothers who were referred here for ultrasound exams before delivery. One is Nazia, 19. A month before the earthquake she got married and moved out of her home village, near Chakkar. The village was buried under a massive landslide, killing 3,000 people including her father, brother and sister.

“We had two deliveries last night and one D&C [treatment for incomplete miscarriage],” says staff nurse Saneesh Rahim, describing her previous12-hour shift. “Fortunately, none were problems for us.”

Patients who are likely to require surgery can be referred to the even more advanced Abbas Institute of Medicine in Muzaffarabad, usually referred to as the AIMS Hospital, or to the district hospital in Mansehra. UNFPA has provided equipment and staff for maternity wards in both hospitals.

“Last month we had 406 deliveries including 76 C-sections,” says Dr. Miriam Zubair at the AIMS Hospital. “Every day we see one or two patients with eclampsia or hypertension. We need more beds and equipment, but patients are being managed well. No one has died.”

Dr. Zubair delivered Perveen’s baby by Caesarean section. Perveen, who lives in a tent, had five children before the earthquake. The three youngest were killed. One was just a day old.

UNFPA’s work to help Pakistan restore maternal and health services is part of a joint Early Recovery Plan, developed in collaboration among the Government’s Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority, UN agencies and civil society partners. Funding has come from Norway, Germany, Kuwait, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO).

A baby boom continues in the region devastated one year ago. Rebuilding will take years, but health care for many women and their children is already better than before the earthquake.

SOURCE:www.unfpa.org