Women harassment
In Mardan, seven-year-old innocent girl Asma was killed after being sexually assaulted and similarly in Nowshera district, seven-year-old Noor was sexually assaulted and then this innocent girl was killed. In both these incidents, the accused have been sentenced by the Sessions Courts.
Sharmeen told her story that I have been working as a government teacher for the past twenty-six years and have served in various schools¡ people think that teaching is more secure profession due to being inside the wall but the reality is different, I have been harassed many times by the officers during my career and I have also faced forced transfers many times in case of not fulfilling the “demands”.
The fear of leaving my job has made me mentally ill,” her voice was filled with words. However, even today, i cannot tell all this to my family because the honor of my brothers will not allow this and for the honor of my family I cannot go to the police and file an FIR, those who face harassment are victims of social pressure and insecurity. According to Swat police, We have received only one case of harassment in the last five years. Swat is a rural area.
According to the traditions and values of this area, women here are bound by the veil, so we are trying to provide an environment for women inside police stations where women should consider themselves safe without fear. Women police counters have been set up in police stations where educated and qualified women police officers are posted. Oppressed women will be able to put their requests and grievances in front of them with ease and their problems will be solved immediately.
It has been one and a half years since it was established, but only one case of harassment has been reported here, such cases are resolved among themselves through the jirga system for the sake of family honour and are not brought to police stations. According to the information received from the Police Department under the Right to Information Act. According to police reports, in five-year data no harassment cases have been reported but 70 people, including 38 women, have been killed in the name of honour in the Swat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In the last five years, 14 people are killed in the name of honour every year in Swat. 12 cases of honour killings were registered in 2017, out of which 1 man and 11 women were killed. In 2018, 11 cases were registered in which 6 men and 5 women were killed. In 2019, 12 cases were registered in which three men and nine women were killed in the name of honour. In the year 2020, 8 cases were registered in which 1 man and 7 women were killed. In 2021, 11 cases were registered in which five men and six women were killed in the name of honour, all these incidents took place in Swat and most of them were based on women having unjustified relations being killed.
According to the police data, 21 people have been arrested in the rape cases and the cases of some are ongoing and some have been sentenced. While in the last seven years, out of 228 cases of honor killings, 80 percent of the criminals have been legally sentenced and 20 percent of the cases are ongoing and will be punished by the court as soon as possible. But sometimes it also happens that after the court convicts the accused, the victims agree to forgive the culprits. It is further included in data that 14 cases of rape registered in 2020, 24 cases in 2021 and 37 rape cases registered in 2022. 25-year-old Alishba from Swat says that even if we want to study, society does not allow us to study. When I was returning from the university, four or five boys tried to harass me, but I showed courage and made a noise in the street, all the people of the street gathered and the boys ran away, but the local people pressured my parents that today we were there, tomorrow if we are not, anything can happen and my parents forced me to stop my regular studies and now I am studying as private student. I am studying but this study is of no use.
According to journalist Sana Gul, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, women are “punished if they speak, vilified if they don’t”. Most cases of sexual harassment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa go unreported because those who come forward are mistreated and their character and morals are judged. #MeToo or not, in KP, Instead of the perpetrator, the victim is shamed and blamed, often resulting in suffering in silence. According to information received through RTI from Rukhshanda Naz, who was appointed as the first female anti-harassment ombudsman of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in January 2019, that most of the harassment complaints come from the Health Department and the Education Department because they have a large number of female employees. We have fired four employees so far when harassment was proved.” She said that ’59 cases of cyber harassment were reported to the provincial ombudsman which we referred to the FIA cybercrime wing, there are more complaints of harassment on social media, blackmail through photo or video, or immorality messages are sent. She further said that, due to the traditions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the past, the numbers of women working in various government, semi-government and private institutions were very low, but now it is increasing. Ombudsman Rukhshanda Naz has taken strict measures to solve this problem and notices have been issued to set up committees for the protection of women’s rights to around 1000 organisations from the office of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa female Ombudsman Rukhshanda Naz said that after the notices were issued to the institutions, they are getting positive responses from most of the institutions regarding taking women’s rights into consideration and around 700 organisations have so far assured to set up committees for it. Women in the province have pointed out the complexity of the procedure for filing harassment complaints.
Provincial Ombudsman Rukhshanda Naz further informed that a committee was directed to be formed within the offices to inquire into workplace harassment. The offices or administrators who do not follow this are being fined. But the management of institutions still tries to suppress such incidents. She said that the employees are not informed about the establishment of an anti-harassment committee. This is a major hurdle in reporting. In some cases the victim withdraws her complaint, it is also important to investigate whether she withdraws the complaint willingly or she is intimidated. In some offices, the woman is urged to withdraw the complaint for the sake of discrediting the institution. According to the provincial ombudsman, in offices where the committees do not play their role, they are being fined from 25 thousand to 1 lakh rupees.
—The writer is a contributing columnist based in Mardan, KPK.
Laraib Athar <meelaryb@gmail.com>.
