Tag: victim blaming

  • Pakistan is the cradle of rape culture and sexism: are you surprised?

    Pakistan is the cradle of rape culture and sexism: are you surprised?

    The shocking rape of a 14-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped by her father and brother, has once again proven that there is no safe space for women in Pakistan. The girl, a resident of Azad Kashmir, was taken to a hospital by her mother after she complained of stomachache. Doctors discovered that the girl was pregnant and about to give birth. Investigation revealed that the victim’s brother and father raped her several times during the last few months. The DNA of the baby she birthed matches that of her brother’s.  Imagine the horror and fear of the girl who was not safe in her own house and where her own father and brother were her rapists and tormentors.

    Pakistan has staggering statistics that expose the rape epidemic in the country. In October last year, almost 21,900 women were reported to have been raped in Pakistan from 2017 to 2021. This meant that approximately 12 women were raped every day, or one every two hours, throughout the country. According to media reports, approximately 350 rape instances were recorded in Punjab, between May 2022 and August 2022. The Current records the tally of rape cases that are reported in news outlets on a daily basis to highlight the alarming situation. And not a single day goes by when rape isn’t reported in any city but that too doesn’t represent the actual figures because not all rape cases are reported. It’s hard to imagine what the real figures must be. Women around the country are raped, abused, and harassed every day, enduring it incessantly because the state and society has failed to ensure their safety. Occasionally, a rape case emerges in the media that elicits particular fury and ignites massive protests, while exposing the culpability of our society; the cradle for rape culture, the breeding ground that lets rapists get away by promoting victim-blaming.

    Everything about this incident tells the the horrifying story of impunity with which Pakistani men commit crimes, without an ounce of remorse. And then there are men like Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) Nabil Gabol, who have the audacity to pass disgusting comments about rape. In a recent interview, Gabol casually remarked: “When rape is inevitable, just enjoy it.” How can one be so heartless to say such sickening words? Gabol’s words garnered massive backlash, and rightly so. Pakistanis were angry, and outraged at the politician’s lack of sensitivity. The PPP politician apologised for his remarks later, saying that he regretted if his words had hurt women. But then he went on to blame Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters for launching a social media campaign against him. After issuing an apology for his misogynistic remarks, Nabil Gabol decided to defend his statement with a screenshot of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s interview with Time Magazine. Gabol wrote that Aurat March organisers or journalists had not called Khan out for his past problematic statements. Gabol further said if he lost weight and looked handsome like Khan, then the backlash wouldn’t have happened. This non-apology and attack on women who raise their voice for victims of abuse shows that Gabol only apologised because of the backlash on social media but didn’t mean it. As if his non-apology was not enough, Gabol’s son Nadir came out to defend his father’s thoughtlessness and said that his father had intended to say: “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.” It is shocking that even today men have the audacity to utter such nauseating words.

    And yet, we question and pass comments on the severity of the situation. To the hopelessness and rage that fills our hearts, may women find security, protectiveness and justice in this country. Will this ever stop, is a question we ask ourselves often. Our society and justice system have failed the women of Pakistan. It is because of these attitudes that Pakistan ranks as the second-worst country on the gender gap index. Are you surprised?

  • Punish the victim, protect the rapist. Will Pakistan change?

    Punish the victim, protect the rapist. Will Pakistan change?

    In a shocking incident, a young woman was raped by two armed men at the F-9 Park in Islamabad on February 2. According to the 24-year-old victim, she was visiting the F-9 Park along with a male companion around 8pm when two armed stopped them at gunpoint, separated them and then took her towards a thicket and raped her. They also threatened her to remain silent or they would call “more friends” to rape her. After raping her, she was told by the rapists that she should not have been in the park at night. A police complaint at Margalla police station mentioned that the woman had marks of torture on her legs and face. “I was slapped. My hair was pulled and I was thrown on the floor,” the woman’s statement to the police read.

    People in Pakistan have expressed anger over the country’s “rape epidemic” and also slammed negligence over such cases of violence against women. Hundreds of protesters gathered in the F-9 park slamming the law enforcement’s response to the assault as they tied their dupattas to the railings in solidarity with the rape victims and survivors.

    It was also quite shocking that the Islamabad Police asked people after this incident to only visit well-lit areas in the park when the rapists took the girl to a thicket to rape her at gunpoint. Instead of taking responsibility and providing security to citizens, the police want to restrict people’s movement. As anger and rage engulfed Pakistan over the issue of women’s safety, we still look for answers to whether this will ever end and whether women will find happiness, security and peace in Pakistan. Will victim-blaming ever stop? Will there ever come a time when society and the lawmakers all unanimously stand as one with the victims and survivors? Will the predators of such heinous crimes be punished? Will the war on women ever come to an end?

    To the hopelessness and rage that fills our hearts, may women find security, protectiveness and justice in this country. Will Pakistan ever stand with its women? The women are angry, and rightly so as they have been betrayed by their own system, society and law-enforcers.

  • Usman Mirza case: Stop blaming the victim

    Usman Mirza case: Stop blaming the victim

    A harrowing video recently went viral on social media in which a man, Usman Mirza, was seen harassing and assaulting a young couple. He had a few male accomplices with him, and he was also armed. Mirza beat up the couple, stripped them, and subjected them to sexual assault. Pakistani women on social media came out in support of the young couple and also voiced how unsafe and insecure they feel in a society full of misogyny and violence.

    Following an uproar on social media, the police arrested Usman Mirza and his accomplices. The police also reached out to the couple to record their statement. According to media reports, the couple recorded their statements separately under Section 161 of the Criminal Code. The incident took place last year in November and the couple was blackmailed by the culprit; they ended up paying more than a million rupees to Mirza. This was clearly not an isolated incident as more videos have been found from the mobile phones of the arrested men. It shows that this gang of criminals has been indulging in such nefarious activities for quite some time now.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken notice of the case. The Islamabad police chief briefed PM Khan on the case yesterday. Thankfully, the police have so far been extremely responsible and have not indulged in any victim-blaming, unlike the Motorway gang rape case where CCPO Lahore’s comments about the rape survivor were atrocious, to say the least. SSP (Investigations) Atta-ur-Rehman appeared on a few TV talk shows and actually talked about why such incidents are not reported by victims and survivors due to social taboos. Unfortunately, we still have people in our society who think the victims are somehow at fault instead of holding the culprits solely responsible for their crime. Just last month, PM Khan made a controversial statement in an interview where he said that if women wear very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men unless they are robots. And today, in a now-deleted tweet, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Hina Butt said that while beasts Usman Mirza should be condemned but is it not necessary that we teach our boys and girls why they become targets of such beasts. “Our youth should also introspect their own behaviour.”

    One wonders why the young couple should introspect when they were the victims and not the perpetrators of a despicable crime. In fact, those who are busy blaming and shaming innocent victims should be introspecting instead. Such attitudes do not just make victims and survivors more insecure but are extremely triggering for those who have faced sexual harassment, assault, and rape. Why is it that ‘honour’ is always linked to a woman in our society? Why is it that instead of empowering women, even empowered women end up blaming the victims of abuse? Why is it that everything depends on how a woman was dressed or where she was or who she was with or at what time she went out? Why? We need to uproot this deeply embedded misogyny from our minds. We need to make our women feel secure. We need to make our laws stronger and implement them so that these survivors have trust in the justice system and also in our society so that they do report such harrowing incidents instead of staying quiet due to expected backlash. When we start pointing fingers at the victim, we end up empowering the criminals, the perpetrators of violent crimes. Stop this trend. Enough is enough.

  • PM Khan stop victim-blaming, says Pakistani Twitterati

    PM Khan stop victim-blaming, says Pakistani Twitterati

    Prime minister Imran Khan (IK) in a recent interview with “Axios on HBO” with Jonathan Swan (JS), talked about his views on “rape” and “temptation”.

    The primer’s words have hurt the sentiments of many in the country.

    Here is a transcript of the part of his interview that concerns rape and his views on “If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on men, unless they are robots.”

    JS: You were asked about the epidemic of sexual violence and rape in Pakistan and you acknowledged the seriousness of the problem and you spoke about Pakistan’s strict laws. You were also quoted as saying that the practice of women wearing veils “is to stop temptation not every man has willpower”. You said on increasing vulgarity, will have consequences, and you were accused of rape victim-blaming. How do you respond to that?

    IK: It is such nonsense. I never said veils, this was never said. I said the concept of purdah and the concept of purdah is to avoid temptation in society. We don’t have discos here, we don’t have nightclubs, so it is a completely different society, way of life here, so if you raise temptation in society to the point and all these young guys have nowhere to go, it has consequences in the society.

    JS: Do you think what women wear has any effect? That this is part of that temptation?

    IK: If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men unless they’re robots. I mean it’s common sense.

    JS: But will it really provoke acts of sexual violence?

    IK: It depends on which society you live in. If in a society where people haven’t seen that sort of thing, it will have an impact on them. If you grow up in a society like you, maybe it won’t on you. This cultural imperialism, whatever is in our culture, must be acceptable to everyone else, it’s not.

    JS: Forgive me, when you were a cricket star, you were seen as a playboy, there were photos of you with your shirts off in your bedroom.

    IK: This is not about me.

    JS: You’re the messenger.

    IK: It’s about my society. My priority is how my society behaves, what reactions are caused in my society. So when I see sex crimes going through the roof, we sit down and discuss how are we going to tackle this. It is having an impact on my society.

    However, the premier’s comments caused an uproar on social media, prompting Pakistanis to call him out for his insensitive remarks.

    This isn’t the first time PM Imran was heard expressing his views on rape.

    Journalist Shahmir Sanni didn’t see the PM’s justification as legit. “Nearly every woman that has been raped in Pakistan has worn what he would prescribe as modest clothing,” he wrote.

    https://twitter.com/shahmiruk/status/1406901725634600962

    Mosharraf Zaidi spelled it out for everyone.

    So, what is the country saying about the PM? That perhaps he doesn’t understand what cultural imperialism is.

    https://twitter.com/Shehzad89/status/1406904010422980610

    Or he [PM Khan] doesn’t realise that out of control men are the problem.

    He’s [Imran Khan] a rape apologist who hates women.

    Disappointed and frankly sickening to see PM Khan repeat his victim blaming regarding reasons for sexual violence in Pakistan.

    People say we’re paying the price for his own guilt.

    Why aren’t men offended?

    The loud and persistent outcry from many people came out on Twitter yet again. Some shared their own personal experiences to make it more clear that why rape happens and why it is never okay to blame the victim.

    As #RapeApologistSelectedPM trends on Twitter, the question remains, “Is our Prime Minister listening to the public’s grief? When will he stop with the victim-blaming and giving rapists a free pass? When?”