DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN PAKISTAN
MUKHTAR MAI
Mukhtar Mai was gang raped in 2002 and her situation prompted an international outcry. The 28-year-old woman, from a remote village in Pakistan, was attacked on the orders of the village jigra (council) as a punishment after her 12-year-old brother was wrongly accused of having an illicit relationship with an older woman from the dominant clan in the village” (Waheed). “Since the attack, Ms Mai, who was then illiterate, managed to start a school for girls and a women's refuge just a few hundred metres (yards) from the spot where she was raped” (“Baby Joy”). She transformed a place that exudes violence and cruelty into a place of hope and education. “With her rapists on death row, Mukhtaran did not merely resume her life as best as she could, but also established 2 primary schools, one each for boys and girls in her village” (Lal 2895). “The attack against her became the most infamous women's rights case in Pakistan for years” (“Baby Joy”).
Mai was one of the first women in Pakistan to press charges against her attackers and speak up for herself. “In 2005, when some of the men who assaulted her were acquitted on appeal, the government assigned her police protection. One of the officers, Nasir Abbas Gabol, fell in love with Mukhtaran” (Tirmizi). They ended up getting married. Pakistani rape victims often commit suicide, but Ms. Mukhtar instead successfully challenged her attackers in court, winning international renown for her bravery. She runs several schools, an ambulance service and a women’s aid group in her village and has written an autobiography. By marrying, she has defeated another stigma against rape victims in conservative Pakistani society. (Masood) Now Mai has children and continues to make a significant difference in her community, continually breaking the standards. She is an excellent role model for rape victims in Pakistan and a leader in her community.
ASSIYA RAFIQ
The story of a 16-year-old girl named Assiya Rafiq in Meerwala Pakistan illustrates the problems police officers contribute. A family friend sold her at the age of 16 to criminals. These criminals beat and raped her repeatedly for a year. The criminals gave the police Assiya and some money when the police agreed to blame the robbery on Assiya. She was still not safe because the police raped and beat her as well for the next two weeks. Assiya did not follow the normal response to rape and instead fought back. The next step for Assiya was obvious: She should commit suicide. That is the customary escape in rural Pakistan for a raped woman, as the only way to cleanse the disgrace to her entire family. Instead, Assiya did the unimaginable. She summoned the courage to go public and in doing so fought back. She sought prosecution both for her kidnappers and for the police, despite threats against her and her younger sisters. Assiya’s story implicates the police as part of the problem and shows how difficult and dangerous it is for abused women to stand up against the violence nonetheless. Assiya is an inspiring example of a better response to rape and an inspiration to women everywhere.
Sources: "Not a Victim, But a Hero"
​
SALMA
Salma is a thirty-nine-year-old who was arranged to marry a man named Farooq. Farooq would break her bones, give her black eyes, and not only beat her in the privacy of their home but also in public. As she shared in her interview with Zara Jamal from The Atlantic: “He had no mercy, not even when I was pregnant. I have miscarried three children because of him. I have two children, one daughter and one son, who was a twin; Farooq killed his brother by kicking me in the stomach” Many women like Salma often suffer from miscarriages due to the physical abuse they endure as well. Her husband also stole her salary and spent it on alcohol and drugs and psychologically abused her daughter by threatening to throw acid on Salma if she considered marrying again. Salma’s story is one of many similar stories that shows yet another effect that domestic violence has on women.
.png)
Source: "To Be a Woman in Pakistan"