Thanks for the updates and discussion of the Hudood laws in Pakistan. Hudood and the other discriminatory laws in Pakistan are topics of which most in the U.S. have no knowledge.
It is my hope that my experience might provide a few ideas for those on this list who want to take action on this important issue. I'm the daughter of a retired U.S. foreign service officer and a researcher on the politics of sexual violence around the world. Because I am an educator, I have been using school presentations and items in the news media to publicize the plight of Pakistani women. After I gave a guest lecture in a colleague's class on honor killings and the Hudood laws, I told my students about my father's reaction to all that I had told him about Hudood. He thought I was talking about the 12th century until I mentioned Bhutto and Zia! He then refused to purchase any goods made in Pakistan. Although I am glad he was moved to action, I'm not sure that such a boycott would help the women who are already disadvantaged in Pakistan. I asked the college students what THEY thought should be done. The responses were: Invade (from a male student)! More realistic suggestions: Pressure our representatives to tie the huge amounts of aid we are now giving Pakistan (to thank them for helping in the "war on terrorism") with improvements in women's human rights. Our government routinely "ties" aid to liberalization of the recipient country's economy, democratization, greater transparency, etc. Why not human rights of women? Establishment of NGOs to provide legal aid and education to women of the rural and disadvantaged classes in Pakistan, as they are disproportionately those charged with "zina" (fornication or adultery). Human rights advocates in Pakistan are doing what they can, but this is an area in which lawyers from overseas could assist. Although the educators themselves need to speak the regional languages, they could be hired and funded by overseas organizations. In addition, foreign donor support of the existing women's shelters (or more shelters) would help. My understanding is that many of the charges of adultery by husbands are the result of marital disputes. If a man is angry at his wife, or wants to separate, he can tell the police that she is an adulteress. The police don't need a warrant or even evidence to arrest her. Providing safe spaces to which women in bad marriages might flee could decrease the number of fraudulent adultery charges. Another area for assistance is rehabilitation for women charged, but not found guilty, of zina. Many of those women who are tried under Hudood, but not found guilty, do not have anywhere to go. The shame that surrounds such accusations may cause the parents or husband to abandon the woman. They can, at present, go to Darulaman, but they lose their freedom of mobility when they do so. Some psychological counseling and training in marketable skills would be both empowering and permit the women to be economically self-sufficient. I perceive the situation in Pakistan for women to be in many ways similar to apartheid in South Africa (although there are many differences). During the last decade or so of apartheid, the U.S. engaged in "constructive engagement" with South Africa. Although we voiced disapproval of apartheid, we continued to work with the racist government because we believed them to be important geostrategic allies in the war on Communism. It was eventually a combination of the anti-apartheid movements within South Africa and abroad that forced the oligarchy to recognize that its days of white rule were numbered. Especially influential was the pressure upon transnational financial organizations to divest from South Africa, which most of them eventually did. The U.S. public is told that Pakistan is our friend because they are our allies in the "war on terrorism." We don't hear very much about the human rights violations in Pakistan such as Hudood, honor killings, bonded labor, the sexual trafficking in Bengali girls, the imprisonment of juveniles with adults, the persecution of religious minorities, and so on. Just as in apartheid South Africa, there are many organizations and associations within Pakistan that bravely oppose the discriminatory laws and the tacit approval of honor killings and other forms of violence against women. The question for activists outside Pakistan who want to end Hudood becomes, "Which banks lend to the Pakistani federal and provincial governments?" Once these are identified, activists can then launch campaigns in the style of the anti-apartheid ones of the '80s that draw public attention to the problem and insist on divestment. Yours in struggle, Lisa Sharlach Dr. Lisa Sharlach Dept. of Political Science Dwight Beeson Hall Samford University Birmingham, AL 35229 ***End-violence is sponsored by UNIFEM and receives generous support from ICAP*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe end-violence OR type: unsubscribe end-violence Archives of previous End-violence messages can be found at: http://www.edc.org/GLG/end-violence/hypermail/
