IS WOMEN PROTECTION LAW ENOUGH TO CURBING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN?
A change in attitude & effectuation of Women Protection Laws are prerequisites of halting violence against women.
Last Wednesday, Punjab Assembly (PA) passed a Punjab Women Protection Law, which was previously proposed in May 2015 & pending since then. The bill is highly comprehensive bringing several, previously ignored offenses under its gamut and encompasses domestic violence, emotional, economic and psychological abuse, cyber crime, stalking and abetting of offenders. This law indeed is very much welcomed by our society as it's a major step towards women protection & gives the right of filing an FIR against sexual crime committed against them. On the contrary it is severely criticized by some orthodox personalities who consider Women Empowerment an act repugnant to Islamic commandments. But merely passing a law is not enough until it is auspiciously effectuated. Its implementation is being discussed time & again; and we look forward to see efficacy of authorities in enforcement of this law.
Here a question arises whether passing & effectuating a Women Protection Law can alone control violence cases or if some other prerequisites are to be taken vis-à-vis. This is patently about changing attitude & teaching men about how to treat women in his society be it his wife, colleague or a stranger. A change in our social attitude works side by side enforcing above mentioned laws. As prevention is always better than cure, we can halt such harassment & violence cases against women before they're committed. While a number of such cases are not going to be contemplated black and white even after such laws are promulgated, when women have no access to police stations or they're just too worried about their family's repute to open their mouth. We're in dire need of changing our minds generally, & of men particularly about respecting women.
In this patriarchal society, boy kids are brought up in a way that they begin having a feeling of superiority over girls. This leads them to think harassing women at public places or in offices (a matter of education isn't discussed here) & torturing their wives is their social right or at least their acts are not questionable or obnoxious. Although educated homo sapiens are involved in harassment cases at offices or other working places, yet education alone is not a matter of concern here. It's about the environment, home, family & educational institutes as well that are some leading factors in making up one's mind.
"It takes four generations to recover from any act of violence" - Rebecca Adamson
In an environment where wives are psychologically & physically tortured by their husbands in front of their children & where women swallow such maltreatment, it automatically creates a sense of complex in girls' minds & a sense of intimidation in boys' minds. Such children are more prone to adopt such practices themselves. If boys aren't being watch dogged by their parents about their social activities, instead they're invigorated while their sisters are suppressed at home, such boys tend to be more involved in sexual harassment acts. This practice continues for generations unless. Then why not take some measures against such malpractices that breed such crime actors.
It's about time each & every member of our society accepted their responsibility to curb such crimes against women. The lesson of gender equality is needed to be practically indoctrinated by these factors. Parents need to equally bring up their offsprings irrespective of their genders. Similarly, educational institutes need to instruct the lesson of gender equality & women's rights & their significances in this male dominant yet an Islamic society. So men are to be taught about how to respect women & women to be confident enough about raising their voice against any violence. Unless our social mindset doesn't change the children aren't held accountable for their deeds by their parents, girls aren't discriminated, Women Protection Laws aren't implemented & violators of these laws aren't sentenced, things will remain unmodified.
Written by Urooj Hayat (a student of Political Science & freelance writer)
Last Wednesday, Punjab Assembly (PA) passed a Punjab Women Protection Law, which was previously proposed in May 2015 & pending since then. The bill is highly comprehensive bringing several, previously ignored offenses under its gamut and encompasses domestic violence, emotional, economic and psychological abuse, cyber crime, stalking and abetting of offenders. This law indeed is very much welcomed by our society as it's a major step towards women protection & gives the right of filing an FIR against sexual crime committed against them. On the contrary it is severely criticized by some orthodox personalities who consider Women Empowerment an act repugnant to Islamic commandments. But merely passing a law is not enough until it is auspiciously effectuated. Its implementation is being discussed time & again; and we look forward to see efficacy of authorities in enforcement of this law.
Here a question arises whether passing & effectuating a Women Protection Law can alone control violence cases or if some other prerequisites are to be taken vis-à-vis. This is patently about changing attitude & teaching men about how to treat women in his society be it his wife, colleague or a stranger. A change in our social attitude works side by side enforcing above mentioned laws. As prevention is always better than cure, we can halt such harassment & violence cases against women before they're committed. While a number of such cases are not going to be contemplated black and white even after such laws are promulgated, when women have no access to police stations or they're just too worried about their family's repute to open their mouth. We're in dire need of changing our minds generally, & of men particularly about respecting women.
In this patriarchal society, boy kids are brought up in a way that they begin having a feeling of superiority over girls. This leads them to think harassing women at public places or in offices (a matter of education isn't discussed here) & torturing their wives is their social right or at least their acts are not questionable or obnoxious. Although educated homo sapiens are involved in harassment cases at offices or other working places, yet education alone is not a matter of concern here. It's about the environment, home, family & educational institutes as well that are some leading factors in making up one's mind.
"It takes four generations to recover from any act of violence" - Rebecca Adamson
In an environment where wives are psychologically & physically tortured by their husbands in front of their children & where women swallow such maltreatment, it automatically creates a sense of complex in girls' minds & a sense of intimidation in boys' minds. Such children are more prone to adopt such practices themselves. If boys aren't being watch dogged by their parents about their social activities, instead they're invigorated while their sisters are suppressed at home, such boys tend to be more involved in sexual harassment acts. This practice continues for generations unless. Then why not take some measures against such malpractices that breed such crime actors.
It's about time each & every member of our society accepted their responsibility to curb such crimes against women. The lesson of gender equality is needed to be practically indoctrinated by these factors. Parents need to equally bring up their offsprings irrespective of their genders. Similarly, educational institutes need to instruct the lesson of gender equality & women's rights & their significances in this male dominant yet an Islamic society. So men are to be taught about how to respect women & women to be confident enough about raising their voice against any violence. Unless our social mindset doesn't change the children aren't held accountable for their deeds by their parents, girls aren't discriminated, Women Protection Laws aren't implemented & violators of these laws aren't sentenced, things will remain unmodified.
Written by Urooj Hayat (a student of Political Science & freelance writer)
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