Pakistan shadow report presented to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) at the UN

Pakistan acceded to CEDAW in 1996. Ten years overdue, the government of Pakistan presented its first report to CEDAW in May 2007. A group of over sixty NGOs from Pakistan, with the support of Justice and Peace Netherlands, CMC Mensen Mensen met een Missie, and ICCO & Kerk in Actie, took the initiative to write an NGO report (shadow report) to raise the most important women's rights violations and issues in Pakistan that were not fully tackled in Pakistan's government's report. They presented their report to the committee the day before the government of Pakistan presented its official report. Besides specific recommendations, the organizations endorsing this NGO report urged the government of Pakistan to ratify the optional protocol to CEDAW and to withdraw the limiting declaration that was made upon accession to the CEDAW convention.

In their discussion with the government of Pakistan, the experts of the CEDAW committee raised most of the issues that the delegation of Pakistani NGOs had brought up in their report and in their meeting with the experts the day before. The issues raised were violence against women, discriminatory legislation and the effectiveness of the recent changes in policies. The government of Pakistan claimed significant progress in areas concerning non-discrimination policy, legislation on the position of women and their welfare, and women's political participation. The hudood laws and citizenship act have been amended . It furthermore stated that violence against women is a global concern and that this phenomenon is entrenched in a stereotypical mindset. Pakistan is no exception to this.

In their concluding comments, the experts of the CEDAW committee presented strong recommendations to the government of Pakistan. Women's rights have to become a priority in Pakistan. The Committee expects the recommendations to be implemented before Pakistan's next report, which is due in 2009.

Recommendations to the government of Pakistan

Justice and Peace Netherlands and the National Commission for Justice and Peace Pakistan ask special attention for the following recommendations of the committee and urge the government of Pakistan to implement them before 2009:

• Withdraw the limiting declaration that was made upon accession to the convention.
• Include a definition of discrimination against women in the Constitution or in other appropriate legislation.
• Revise all discriminatory legislation, including the law on evidence and the hudood ordinances.
• Adoption of a comprehensive approach (see general comment no. 19 of CEDAW) to stop violence against women and girls, especially crimes in the name of honour, domestic violence and violence in rural areas .
• Develop mechanisms to modify stereotypical attitudes and traditional norms about women.
• Register all births and marriages.
• Reduce the illiteracy rate of women and eliminate gender stereotypes in textbooks.
• Adoption of a comprehensive approach to eliminate forced and early marriages.
• Ratify all human rights treaties.

Recommendations to the government of the Netherlands and other members of the United Nations Human Rights Council

Justice and Peace Netherlands and the National Commission for Justice and Peace Pakistan urge all members of the Human Rights Council to:

• Remind the government of Pakistan of their obligation to implement the abovementioned recommendations without delay.
• Discuss women's rights as often as possible in bilateral relations with the government of Pakistan.
• Include the concluding comments of CEDAW in United Nations Universal Periodic Review of Pakistan.
• Whenever discussing women's rights with the government of Pakistan, also consult national NGOs from Pakistan that work on women's rights.

Background

The situation of women in Pakistan varies depending on geographical location. Women fare better in urban areas, where there are greater opportunities for higher education and for paid and professional work. Seventy-five percent of Pakistan's female population however, live in rural areas, and the average Pakistani woman is beset with the crippling handicaps of illiteracy, constant motherhood and poor health. And, despite the relative privilege of some, all Pakistani women remain structurally disadvantaged and second-class citizens as a result of legal and societal discrimination premised on social and cultural norms and attitudes.

Clear violations of international law on the rights of women occur daily in Pakistan. Laws that discriminate against women remain in place and are actively enforced. Discrimination in access to government resources and services continues unchecked, and discriminatory practices go unpunished. In particular, violence against women remains a serious and widespread problem, to which the government responds with inaction and inertia.

Pakistan is a thoroughly tribal society. Social life is organised around ethnicity and extended family structures. Stereotypes and feudal power relations dictate gender roles, which results in inequality.

A women's rights struggle has been there since Pakistan's in independence in 1947. Also, The 1973 Constitution of Pakistan provides for non-discrimination against women and representation of women through reserved seats in the provincial and national assemblies. However, the laws passed in the 1980s and 1990s in the context of the islamisation of laws, such as the hudood ordinances, limited women's empowerment. Women's empowerment was even completely stalled during the 1990s. Orthodox forces see a socially active role of women as a threat to the social system. Religion and culture are commonly used as excuses to deny women their rights. Under repeated military rules, the authoritarian establishments crushed any political and cultural forces that had the ability and energy to emancipate society. Nowadays, civil society, specifically the legal profession, human rights organisations, and development NGOs, are at the forefront of the struggle for women's rights. Despite some small improvements in legislation, the regime has not taken any real steps towards the implementation of human rights standards and towards the revision of clearly discriminatory legislation.

Human Rights Watch, “Crime or custom? Violence Against Women in Pakistan”, http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/pakistan/.

Constitution of Pakistan 1973, Chapter 2 principles of policy, Article 34, Full participation of women in national life. ‘Steps shall be taken to ensure full participation of women in all spheres of national life'.

source : un.op.org