No end in sight: 19-year-old Pakistani boxer Razia Banu training at the Pak Shaheen Boxing Club in Karachi. Each year, the women of Pakistan march a step forward but are pushed more than two steps back by the formidable knights of orthodoxy, patriarchy and pseudo-religious militancy. — AFP
THIS year, Pakistan’s women activists are observing 16 days of activism against gender violence (Nov 25 to Dec 10) with greater fervour than previously. At the same time, no sooner is a law to curb forced conversions adopted in Sindh than the orthodoxy is out in battle dress to kill it. The fight for women’s rights in this country is going to get even more bitter.
Our women suffer every possible form of deprivation, insult and injury. Over the years, they have also won a few concessions in the form of somewhat favourable laws and policies. They have scored these successes largely through their own struggles. They have certainly received some support from governments, though more in the form of rhetoric than benevolent measures. And they have been helped by a tiny percentage of men who can risk being taunted by big, burly clerics as wives slaves, or worse, as the West’s stooges.
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