Violence Against Women: A Case-Study of Mukhtaran Mai

Zamurrad Awan & Rabia Sarwar

Abstract

Pakistani society is a patriarchal society with the dominance of male member over the women folk.The cultural obligations of Pakistani society has supported the male dominance and cause violence by male members against women.Women in Pakistan even become worse when the act of violence appears in different forms.Mukhtara Mai is a victim of violence and she raised her voice against inhuman customs and traditions.

Chapter:1 Introduction

In Pakistan, societal attitudes and norms as well as cultural practices plays a discriminatory attitudes towards women.

There are many kinds of violence like:a) Domestic violenceb) Sexual harassmentc) Raped) Verbal abusee) Honour killing etc In order to eliminate the violence, state needs to ensure the full

protection of women rights.

Statement of Problem

Violence is an act of aggression which negates fundamental rights of others and used by the stronger person against a weaker one.

Violence against women is a gender based violence which results in to the physical, sexual or mental harm.

Violence affects the million of women, in all socio-economic and educational classes.

A Male living in every corner of the world take women as his personal property.

Kinds of violence against urban women is quite different from the rural class women.

Background of the problem

Pakistan is a patriarchal society, where women considered no more than a secondary citizen.

The role and status of Pakistani women in all walks of life is undermined by the male members of our society.

In the third world country the scenario has changed.

Mukhtara Mai became a victim of honour killing.

She fought for her rights and set examples for the women regarding the awareness of their rights.

Still there are many cases been reported about the violence against women.

Rationale

The researcher wants: To see all sort to violence occurring in a society

and find out different ways to overcome violence in a society.

To find out the reasons behind the domestic violence.

To Analyze the problem of rural class women.

Hypothesis formulation

The patriarchal nature of Pakistani society has always undermined the role of women in all the fields of life. Although, the awareness movements carried on by different NGOs and media could not make any difference in Pakistani society and the encroachment upon women rights can be observed in society in different forms and criteria.

Chapter: 2 Literature review Patel (2003) stated in his book “Women Versus Man: socio-legal gender

inequality in Pakistan.” that how to proceed with the struggle to achieve equal human rights for women in the Muslim world.

Kiran and Usman (2007) in there article “Domestic Violence in a Male Dominated and Conservative society” explain the effects of domestic violence.

Balchin (1996) stated in the book “Women, Law and Society” that the violence indoor and outdoor of the family.

Kristof (2006) explains in her book “In the Name of Honour: A Memoir” about the gang-raped of Mukhtaran Mai. This book guides researcher to analyses the Mai issue that how she suffers and how she come forward and set many example for women.

Jahangir and Jillani (1991) tell us in an article “Is Incest Impossible?” that Incest is a very brutal issue and in that case many families do not support their girls.

Anonymous (2004) stated in the article “It’s in Our Hand. Stop Violence Against Women” that societal attitude in turn has had a deep and debilitating impact on the rights of women suffering from such violence and their ability to seek and get justice.

Shah (1999) stated in her book “Concept of Honour” that the preservation within a society is upheld by a strict code of conduct by the members of a community and shapes and forms the way women are regarded in a particular culture and dictates the rules that determine acceptable women behaviour and their sexual some cases shape and influence the formal system of law making where these societal concepts conduct.

Nair (2008) explains in her book “Women and violence” She tells us about the meaning of gender and sexuality and the balance of power between women and men at all levels of society

Khawaja (1991) tells in the article “The Burning Issues” that the numbers of deaths are increasing. Deaths attributed to stove blast more than doubled from 1988 to 1999, rising from 800 to 1800.There is a need to stop the most heinous act of violence.

McGirk (2005) expresses in his book “Women's Rights in Pakistan: The Woman Who Dared to Cry Rape.” about the case of Mukhtara Mai.

Abbas (2009) stated in her article, “Women’s Progress is a Mirage in Pakistan” that women of urban and rural area, violence has not been done as yet but the over all increase in violence stems from various basic deficiencies that mainly include employment and judicial structure

Leigh (2000) tells us in his article “Musharraf says 'honour killing' is murder.” that honour killing should consider as a murder he announced a series of steps designed to improve human rights, including legislation to treat "honour killings" of women as murder.

Akhtar (2008), explains in his article “90 honour killings reported in first quarter of 2008” the proportion of the number of honour killing in all provinces of Pakistan.

Najam (1999) explains in her article “Honour killing in Pakistan” about the fundamental rights of the women. Every woman has a right to live and liberty.

Aims and objectives of the study

The aim of the researcher behind the research on this sensitive topic is:

To detect the reasons behind domestic violence with the special reference of Pakistan.

To expose various kinds of violence existing in Pakistan and to describe the ways through which it affects the lives of Pakistani women.

To critically evaluate the standings of Pakistani government over the issues relate to women.

To analyze the role of patriarchal society behind the different acts of violence against women.

To compare the lives of rural women with the women living in urban areas of Pakistan.

Chapter: 3 Research Methodology This work is based on literature available on violence

against women and the researcher has selected the case of Mukhtaran Mai as her sample of research.

The research is qualitative and it includes secondary resources. Therefore the tools which have been used by the researcher to prove her hypothesis are books, newspaper articles and online journals along with the material available in the resource centre of Shirkat Gah and Aurat foundation.

Chapter:4 Results Mukhtara Mai was courageous, and she became the

first woman in Pakistan to reclaim her honour by fighting back against a barbarous tradition that almost destroyed her.

Four men raped her for the revenge of honour crime but Mai faced every situation very boldly.

Government helped her and give her many awards. On 2nd August she got Fatima Jinnah gold medal for

her bravery and courage.

On 2nd November 2005, the US magazine named Mukhtara as their Woman of The Year.

According to the New York Times, "Her autobiography is the No. 3 best seller in France.

On 12 January 2006, Mukhtara Mai published her memoir with the collaboration of Marie-Therese Cuny under the title “Deshonoree.”

In March 2007, Mukhtara formally received the 2006 North- south Prize of the Council of Europe for her contribution to human rights.

Mukhtar Mai received Glamour's women of the year award at New York's Lincoln Center.

On 31st October 2006, Mukhtaran’s was released in the United States, titled “In the Name of Honor: A Memoir.”

Her biggest achievment was the establishment of her school.

Discussions

Mukhtara Mai was born in 1972; she belongs to Meerwala, a small village in southern Punjab.

On 22nd June, Mai suffered a gang-rape as a form of honour revenge.

The punishment is provoked by an accusation that her young brother, Shakur seduced a woman, Salma, of Matoi clan.

Mukhtara parents wanted to settle the dispute.

She decided to fight back and to take her culprits to court.

She was duly supported by her family, especially her father.

Pakistani Chief Justice called Mukhtara rape the most heinous crime of twenty first century.

She got her case registered and goes through many legal procedures.

Policemen get assigned to her home to protect her and her family.

Government awarded Mukhtara Mai with a sum of 500,000 rupees (8,200 US dollars).

Mukhtara did not leave her struggle. She worked to educate girls, and to promote

education with a view towards raising awareness to prevent future Honour crimes.

She successfully builds her case to inspire and motivate people, especially women, to fight for their rights and honour, to realize their strength and fight back.

She has learned to exist and to respect herself as a woman.

Women empowerment through education. Mai fought to maintain her dignity and to protect

other women from abusive traditions

On march 15,2009 Mukhtara Mai, married with Nasirh Abbas Gabol.

She opened a center for refuge and education and Mukhtara Mai Women Welfare Organization.

She have made woman enough active that now woman can fight for her right.

Conclusion

The culture since independence exhibits the patrilineal mind set in Pakistani society, in which woman find herself extremely dependent and an ignored entity.

The history of women struggle for her rights witnessed that her voice for the equal status at par with male counterparts couldn’t acquire the expected results.

the wrong interpretations of Islam by the orthodox ulemas further make the status of women awkward in society.

the women are becoming aware about their rights by the efforts of different NGOs along with the media movements regarding violence against women.

of Mukhtara Mai serves as an inspiration for the women of our society. She stood up against brutal torrents and fought for her rights.

Mukhtara Mai serves as an inspiration for the women of our society. She stood up against brutal torrents and fought for her rights.

Many acts of violence have been committed against women but they rarely got reported. Today, the responsible media, vibrant civil society and an emancipated new section of well-aware female society are working towards women empowerment and alleviation of violence against women.

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