>From: "ALL INDIA ANTI-IMPERIALIST FORUM" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>From: U Sinha Mahapatra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Sent: Wednesday, April 19, 2000 7:58 AM
>Subject: sacw dispatch (17 April 00) (fwd)
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>> South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
>> 17 April 2000
>> _________________________
>> #1. India: Feminist Activist From the Ranks of the Working Class
>> #2. Pakistan: Crimes Against women: within Chaddar & Chardiwari
>> _________________________
>>
>> #1.
>>
>> Source: IPS Gender Bulletin/
>> Women as Leaders Series
>> 3 April 2000
>>
>> INDIA: Feminist Activist From the Ranks of the Working Class
>>
>> By Laxmi Murthy
>>
>> NEW DELHI, 31 Mar (IPS) - From breaking stones under the blazing desert
>sun
>> in India's northwestern Rajasthan State, Shanti has defied convention at
>> every stage of her life.
>>
>> "Oh that one!" exclaims the keeper of a small shop in the lane near her
>> modest home, "she's not a woman, she's a storm."
>>
>> Shanti has her own explanation for the transformation of her life, from a
>> village woman to a fiery feminist activist crusading for the rights of
>> "single" women, a category she has helped to broaden to include deserted,
>> divorced and widowed women.
>>
>> "My personal situation forced me to search for answers and led to an
>> understanding of 'single women' as a category," she says. Aged "somewhere
>> in my fifties", Shanti has been a widow for the last 14 years. But she
>> refused to either wear widow's white or take help from her brothers.
>>
>> Her in-laws tried to grab her one-room house, but she waged a long battle
>> to assert her claim, standing up to the "double standards" in Indian
>> society that simultaneously sees widows as "vulnerable" (to pressure) and
>> sexually "available" (to male members of the family).
>>
>> Shanti has always been a rebel. Born into a poor family, which sometimes
>> could afford only dry 'rotis' (bread), she was married at 14 to a man
>twice
>> her age, but she refused to go to her husband's home, which was
>unthinkable
>> 40 years ago.
>>
>> A shocked village retaliated by ex-communicating Shanti when she married a
>> young man of her choice. They took refuge in the anonymity of Delhi,
>> settling down in Dakshinpuri, a soul-less resettlement colony for the
>> working class on the outskirts of the city.
>>
>> Here in the crowded warrens of the 'basti', where one-roomed homes open
>> into identical one-roomed homes, the alienated womenfolk, all migrants
>like
>> Shanti, gravitated to her to chat, to share their sorrow or just for a
>good
>> laugh. Shanti's knowledge of herbs and medicinal plants, as well as
>> experience as a mid-wife only added to her stature in the local community.
>>
>> Inevitably this natural vitality and dynamism drew her into the women's
>> movement; those were the early eighties, a time of great ferment when
>> "women's liberation" and "feminism" were not mere words but movements for
>> women emerging into their own.
>>
>> "I was completely ignorant about the women's movement, until an older
>women
>> >from my 'basti' who was working in a women's group introduced me to her
>> work," reminisces Shanti.
>>
>> A training workshop was her first exposure to feminist ideas and to women
>> questioning every aspect of their lives. Shanti says what struck her most
>> about the meeting was the strong linkages between women, whether they were
>> rich or poor.
>>
>> Before long she had joined as a full time worker with the 'Sabla Sangh'
>> women's group. At Subhash Camp, near her home, she interacted with
>hundreds
>> of women, assisting in their daily problems and battles with the
>> authorities and family.
>>
>> Although the most common problems were the lack of regular supplies of
>> drinking water, public toilets and the menace of liquor vends where the
>> menfolk drank away their meagre wages, Shanti forced open the issue of
>> domestic violence.
>>
>> For the first time, cases were registered with the police, while abusive
>> husbands and fathers were ostracised by the community. Abused women who
>> said they wanted to build a new life for themselves were given moral
>> support.
>>
>> Shanti's rock-solid presence, and that of a supportive womens groups right
>> in their midst, helped many women break the silence around wife-battering.
>> What the women's movement gave each one was a sense of self-worth. By
>> asserting the right of "single" women to register houses and ration cards
>> in their names, Shanti says they've succeeded in making public the many
>> women-headed households in 'bastis' like Dakshinpuri.
>>
>> Local leaders have grown to respect, albeit grudgingly, this assertive
>> woman who has little regard for social norms.
>>
>> "She is not what you would call the "ideal Indian woman", but she
>certainly
>> knows what the women of the basti want," is the opinion of the
>> representative of a right-wing political party, which holds extremely
>> atriarchal views.
>>
>> Over the years, inspired by Shanti, many women from the 'basti' have
>> enlisted as activists. Inevitably, the politicisation process has led to
>> their questioning the mainstream women's movement.
>>
>> Shanti offers a critique from below: feminist theorists, she says, are
>busy
>> attending seminars and workshops, and write books about our experience
>> while we still struggle with our lives.
>>
>> As if to illustrate her point, a desperate woman arrives at the Single
>> Women's Centre run by Jagori, which Shanti joined five years ago.
>>
>> The woman says her daughter was very ill, and she needs 5,000 rupees for
>an
>> operation. "If I don't lend her the money, her daughter will probably die.
>> For us this is the dilemma -- provide help or work only at changing the
>> larger picture."
>>
>> Not for one moment does Shanti regret the years she has spent working with
>> women, although she wonders about its effect on her six children.
>>
>> "Full-time feminism leaves little scope for child rearing. My notions of
>> motherhood underwent a sea change." But her innate optimism pushes away
>the
>> misgivings. "It is always tough to swim against the tide ... My women
>> friends in the basti are my true support," she says.
>>
>> As she rejoins a group of women at their weekly meeting, Shanti breaks
>into
>> a song she has composed: "Alone I haul the domestic cart. Let the world
>> dare to call me weak...". (END/IPS/lm/an/sm/00)
>> _________
>>
>> #2.
>> News on Sunday / The News International
>> 15 April 2000
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> CRIMES AGAINST WOMEN: WITHIN CHADDAR AND CHARDIWARI
>>
>>
>>
>> The Marital Rape --
>>
>> Violence sanctified under contractual legitimacy
>>
>>
>> by Shafqat Munir
>>
>>
>>
>> Rape is a serious crime against women whether it happens in or outside
>> marriage. But, it is not
>>
>> acknowledged as crime when happens in marriage. Like incest, we are not
>> bold enough to accept
>>
>> the fact that marital rape takes place in routine in most of the families.
>> Normally, people involved in
>> marital rape do not even realise that they used to rape their wives. The
>> victims of the marital rape
>>
>> even do not know whether they are being subjected to this sort of rape
>> rather they feel that
>>
>> whatever is being done is permitted in marriage contract.
>>
>>
>>
>> Marital rape is the worst form of domestic and gender based violence
>> against married women.
>>
>> Though no scientifically documented data is available on the marital rape
>> in Pakistan, a vast
>>
>> majority of Pakistan's male spouses (husbands) assume that they are the
>> masters of their wives.
>>
>> They do not give importance to consent and choice of their wives while
>> having sex or taking any
>>
>> decision to have babies. An overwhelming majority of husbands, under one
>> or the other pretext,
>>
>> do not like to share moments of enjoyment which is otherwise protected
>> under the UN Convention
>>
>> on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
>> Generally, it is
>>
>> viewed rather preached that women's enjoyment do not matter while having
>> sex with husbands
>>
>> and she is supposed to satisfy the male partner. This sort of
>> discrimination against women
>>
>> violates the principles of equality of rights and respect for human
>> dignity. Article 16 of the
>>
>> CEDAW which deals with marriage and family reads as: "Women shall have
>> equal rights and
>>
>> responsibilities with men in matters relating to marriage and family
>> relations in particular:
>>
>>
>>
>> * To enter into marriage; * To choose a spouse; * During the marriage and
>> its dissolution; * As
>>
>> parents, irrespective of marital status; * To choose freely the number and
>> spacing of their children
>>
>> and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them
>> to exercise these
>>
>> rights * With regard to guardianship, wardship, trusteeship and adoption
>> of children; * The same
>>
>> personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose a
>> family name, profession and
>>
>> occupation; * With regard to ownership, acquisition management,
>> administration, enjoyment and
>>
>> disposition of property. In daily life, due to shyness and traditions, our
>> women do not speak out
>>
>> or report sexual abuse by husbands considering they are entitled to do so
>> and the victims are
>>
>> destined to obey. Though another worst abuse of women is not found in
>> Pakistani society, in
>>
>> some parts of primitive Arab society, circumcision of women is a well
>> established tradition. Under
>>
>> this inhuman act, they use to cut off the labia minora or clitoris of a
>> female to what they call
>>
>> cleanse her from sin. They do this cruel act just to make their wives
>> 'pure' by depriving them of the
>>
>> part of skin or bodies which cause pleasure or sexual enjoyment for women.
>>
>>
>>
>> But in societies where women are not circumcised, they are deprived of
>> having enjoyment by
>> resorting to one-way sexual intercourse. This tantamount to marital rape.
>> Some sadists go to the
>>
>> extent of inserting outside objects in genitals of women. This is worst
>> kind of marital rape. A
>>
>> human rights watchdog organisation Human Rights Watch in its report "Crime
>> or custom?
>>
>> -Violence Against Women in Pakistan" has presented a set of
>> recommendations to the
>>
>> government of Pakistan on human rights violations of women. It said: "The
>> Offence of Zina
>>
>> Ordinance, which codifies Pakistan's current law on rape and
>> adultery/fornication, does not
>>
>> provide an adequate legal avenue for victims of rape to obtain justice and
>> should be repealed."
>>
>> Analysing the situation on ground, the recommendations say The Zina
>> Ordinance discourages
>>
>> rape victims from filing charges by presenting the threat of potential
>> prosecution for adultery.
>>
>> These laws are also seriously flawed because they fail to criminalise
>> marital rape and to establish
>>
>> the crime of statutory rape or sex with or without the consent of a minor.
>> Furthermore, the
>>
>> definition of rape encompassed by the Zina Ordinance is incomplete; the
>> definition of rape should
>>
>> include anal and oral penetrations as well as penetration by foreign
>> objects such as sticks, bottles,
>>
>> or knives. The Human Rights Watch recommends that the former provisions of
>> the Pakistan Penal
>>
>> Code on rape should be re-enacted into law with amendments to make marital
>> rape a criminal
>>
>> offense and to incorporate the broader definition of rape given above.
>>
>>
>>
>> According to the Human Rights Watch report, it is estimated that eight
>> women are raped every 24
>>
>> hours in Pakistan and 70 to 95 percent of women have experienced domestic
>> violence. Few women
>>
>> report the crimes and fewer still see their attackers brought to justice.
>> Though the report did not
>>
>> particularly given data about marital rape, it can easily be calculated
>> that when 70 to 95 percent
>>
>> women face domestic violence (visible), most of them usually face marital
>> rape (invisible). Rapes
>>
>> are reported to some extent, but marital rapes are not reported as both
>> the attackers (husbands)
>>
>> and the victims (wives) usually do not realise that rape (sexual
>> intercourse without consent of
>>
>> wives being the one sided pleasure game) is being done in routine. This
>> has been commonly
>>
>> observed that those husbands who commit domestic violence against their
>> wives use to have sex
>>
>> with them even if they (the victims) do not like. Such sort of marital
>> rape is common in our society,
>>
>> but it is not reported or complained about due to legal lacuna and social
>> and legal protection to
>>
>> wives. In Pakistan, a horrible case of marital rape and abuse was
>> unearthed in February, 1994 in
>>
>> which one Qari Muhammad Sharif, Imam of a local mosque in village Jhammat
>> in Attock district
>>
>> committed the worst kind of sexual torture and raped his wive Zainab Noor.
>> According to the
>>
>> medical evidence authenticated by a Speedy Trial Court in Rawalpindi, the
>> victim had lost atleast
>>
>> three organs of her body--vagina, anus and urinary bladder. Moreover she
>> lost her honour. The
>>
>> Speedy Trial Court awarded 30 years rigorous imprisonment to Qari Sharif.
>> Her life became
>>
>> miserable as she lives on artificial system that too after her
>> reconstructive surgery in London. She
>>
>> was sent to UK on the directives of the then prime minister Benazir
>Bhutto.
>>
>>
>>
>> Zainab Noor had narrated her tale in a dying voice: "I was beaten and
>> dragged in the house for
>>
>> hours till late in the evening. Then he (Qari) took me to bed, tied my
>> hands and legs with a rope,
>>
>> inserted two iron rods in ... attached two electric wires with each of the
>> two iron rods and
>>
>> connected them with the switch board. There was no electricity due to
>> loadshedding. The moment
>>
>> electricity came, he switched it on and played havoc.{ Though ill-fated
>> Zainab survived but with
>>
>> only a miserable life, an abnormal life. This case had created a lot of
>> debate in Pakistan. The human
>>
>> rights activists and international women bodies condemned this act. With
>> this case, a weak voice
>>
>> against marital rape and torture was raised which became louder and the
>> Human Rights Watch
>> mentioned marital rape in its recommendations for declaring it a crime.
>The
>> vulnerable women, the
>>
>> poor illiterate house-servants, used to face threats by their husbands on
>> suspicions. One such
>>
>> survived victim told this columnist that her husband has threatened her of
>> dire consequences for
>>
>> suspicions that she might have some outside relations. "One day, my
>> husband tortured me in the
>>
>> day and at night, he asked me for a sex. On my refusal, he brought an iron
>> rod and threatened that
>>
>> he would do what Qari had done with Zainab Noor. As soon as he positioned
>> the rod, I managed
>>
>> to escape and called in neighbours," she said. Many more cases could be
>> documented which
>>
>> relate to violence and sexual abuse in marriage. Since, there is no law
>> which guarantees women
>>
>> against marital rape, no victim even reports such rape to close relatives.
>> That is why the Human
>>
>> Rights Watch on the basis of a research in Pakistan's two major cities
>> Lahore and Karachi has
>>
>> recommended to declare marital rape as crime so that the victims can
>report.
>>
>>
>>
>> There seems to be two sorts of marital rapes. One in torturous and
>> intentional manner and the
>>
>> other in terms of having one-sided sexual act in which woman has no role.
>> There is need to change
>>
>> approach towards women's sexual feelings and needs. Fulfilment of these
>> needs, as in case of men
>>
>> is done, is not against the spirit of religion or law rather depriving
>> women of their enjoyment in
>>
>> either way is clear violation of basic rights of women. In any case, the
>> married women be protected
>>
>> against marital rape and torture. Their right to choose and consent must
>> be honoured as they are
>>
>> not a commodity in custody rather they are fully grown human beings who
>> enjoy all rights equal
>>
>> to men.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
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