CONSTITUTIONAL FEMINISM IN PAKISTAN

SUBMITTED BY
GHAZAAL KHAN
 INTRODUCTION
“The notion of feminism is described as the promotion of the equality of both gender male
and female and their equal rights in society where they live, and the apprehensions in the
course of theory and action, not on the basis of sexual or biological orientations and roles
but their individual participation and assistance on the basis of
equality in society”

Women in Pakistan generally remain subject to a broad range

of discriminations imposed on them through the collusion of
tribal customs, religious interpretations, and an entrenched
feudal system. Pakistani society offers a polarised picture
of gender equality for women based on their education and
socio-economic backgrounds.
 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

To comprehend the true nature of gender discourse and female position in today’s
Pakistani society and organisations, it is imperative to investigate the historical
evolution of Muslim feminist thought in the pre-1947 colonial India.

Given the intense nature of seclusion faced by Muslim women who had little
access to education and other
intellectual resources,
it is not a surprise that men
led the way of gender reforms
in colonial India.
 STORY OF THREE GENERATIONS
Minault treats women’s question as the story of three generations (1998: 11):
the first, men born before 1857, trained in the traditional Islamic knowledge and literature, who first
reflected upon Muslim family life, rituals and customs and proposed education programmes for
women within tightly private domains of religion and the four walls of a house;
the second, the post-1857 generation with a blend of Islamic and western education, who became
skilled religious and social controversialists, and
who first founded books, journals and schools for
women’s education and debated Purdah
and the third, the first generation of women
trained in schools, who contributed in public life
through teaching in schools and writing on
women’s issues.
 POST COLONIAL PERIOD
● As a result of the diverse movements for
gender reforms, there was a growing trend in the upper
and middle class urban Muslim women to attend
modern schools and colleges.The revival of the Muslim
League in the 1930s under the leadership of
Muhammad Ali Jinnah opened a fresh chapter for
Muslim women in the subcontinent. Women were
encouraged to partake of public life though not as
claimants of their rights so much as symbols of Muslims cultural identity (Jalal 1991: 84).
The Muslim League in 1932 passed a resolution favouring suffrage, adequate
representation and equality for women.
● Government of India Act of 1935 granted women a limited franchise, they were to have 6
out of 150 seats in the council of state and 9 out of 250 seats in the federal assembly.
 CONT.
● In 1937 the Muslim Personal Law restored rights (such as inheritance of property) that had
been lost by women under the Anglicisation of certain civil laws (FRD 1994).
● Following the creation of Pakistan, women attained voting
rights and the right to elect. As earlier mentioned, the first
legislature of Pakistan in 1947 had two women
representatives, Begum Jahan Ara Shah Nawaz and
Begum Shaista Ikramullah.
● These women mobilised support that led to passage
of the Muslim Personal Law of Shariah in 1948,
which recognised a woman's right to inherit all forms of
property in the newly created state of Pakistan.
● They were also behind the futile attempt to have
the government include a Charter of Women's Rights in the
● 1956 constitution.
 CONT.
Under the Family Laws Ordinance, women were officially able to inherit agricultural
property (in consonance with Islamic law), second marriages were made contingent upon
agreement by the first wife, divorce was made more difficult for the male, women
obtained the right to initiate divorce for the first time, and a system of registration of
marriages was also introduced.
 HUDOOD ORDINANCE
● In the last few decades, laws regarding women have changed from one extreme
to another. In Pakistan’s male dominated society with feudal traditions and a
colonial heritage, the laws themselves were very liberal in protecting women at
least until 1979 when the Hudood Ordinance was introduced by the then military
dictator General Zia-ul-Haq.
● These laws were to prove particularly detrimental for women and adversely
impacted on women’s roles outside their sanctuary
● of Chardiwari (four walls of a house).
● The Hudood Ordinance sanctioned flogging for
adultery and rape, with little to distinguish the two,
and a Law of Evidence reduced a woman's evidence
to half that of a man.
 LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR GENDER EQUALITY

There are a number of parallel judicial systems operating in Pakistan. Some of these
systems are applicable to only tribal areas, whereas others are applicable throughout the
country. For example, the Constitution of Pakistan includes three distinct judicial systems
that function alongside the ordinary judicial system. These include the Federal Shariat
Court, the Appellate Shariat Branch and the Criminal Law Forums.

Pakistan’s Constitution (Article 25) guarantees equality of rights to all citizens irrespective
of sex, race and class and empowers the Government to take affirmative action to protect
and promote women’s rights.
 DISCRIMINATORY LAWS IN PAKISTAN

Under the Muslim Family Law, women have

● unequal rights to inheritance,

● termination of marriage,
● minimum age of marriage and
● natural guardianship of children;
● polygamy has not been banned or even sufficiently restricted by law and
● there are grossly inadequate provisions for women’s financial security after
termination of marriage.
OTHER PROVISIONS WHICH ENSURE GENDER EQUALITY

● Article 25 (3) states, ‘Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special
provision for the protection of women and children.’
● Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act Section viii (d), the interference with the property of the
wife and preventing her from exercising her legal right over it is a valid ground for the wife to
seek dissolution of her marriage
● Article 37(e), ‘The State shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work,
ensuring that children and women are not employed in vocations unsuited to their age or gender,
and for maternity benefits for women in employment.
● Article 35 states, ‘The State shall protect the marriage, the family, the mother and
the child.’ Both of these articles are only the principles of policy, yet to be enacted as
the rules of law.
SPECIAL TREATMENT OF WOMEN UNDER THE CrPC

The Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC.) 1898 provides for special treatment of women,
when confronted with the law. The police may not enter a residential house, for arrest or
search, which is occupied by a woman, till notice is given and such woman is facilitated to
withdraw (Section 48. CrPC.) An accused woman can be arrested or searched only by a
woman (Section 52- CrPC.)

Despite these provisions, in practice most police stations

in Pakistan do not have a female officer. Women are
generally kept in custody of male officers and become
easy victim to police manhandling.
SPECIAL PROTECTION OF WOMEN UNDER LABOUR
LAWS

There is an important provision to protect women from working ‘unsuitable hours’ in The Mines Act
1923 - Section 23(C) and The Factories Act 1934 – Section 45. The laws prohibit employers to
engage women between 7:00 pm and 6:00 am (roughly from sunset to sunrise)

There are similar protective provisions in labour laws (Hazardous Occupation Rules 1963) that
prohibit women’s work in particular hazardous areas such as chemical factories. Other laws relating to
social care include maternity benefit laws (such as The West Pakistan Maternity Benefit Rules
1961) and social security laws (such as The Provincial Social Security Ordinance 1965) that
provide for maternity benefits to a mother for a maximum of 12 weeks. However the scope of many of
these laws in practice remains marginal.
 MINISTRY OF WOMEN DEVELOPMENT

The Ministry of Women Development (MOWD) is responsible for the implementation of the policy
and is required to brief the Cabinet on the progress of the implementation of the policy and facilitate
gender sensitisation and training programmes for all other Ministries. Women Development
Departments (WDDs) at provincial and district levels are required to do the same.

THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THE MINISTRY:

(1) increasing women's capacity to earn by increasing women's

access to sources of livelihood, in particular, agriculture and
livestock production and promoting equal employment
opportunities that accommodate women oriented work policies
for paid work;
 CONTD...
(2) improving facilities for the education, training and skills development for women, to
enter and re-enter the labour force, including special arrangements for the female relatives
of workers;

(3) ensuring appropriate legislation, by giving effect to the ILO Convention 100 ratified
by Pakistan in 2001 by enacting a law to ensure equal remuneration for men and women
for work of equal value, and undertaking other necessary measures to make workplaces
conducive for women workers so they can work without fear of discrimination and
harassment; and

4) providing special courses for women in entrepreneurial skills to assist and engage them
to establish their own small scale enterprises.
 CONTD...

To achieve these objective, the National Policy for Development and Empowerment of
Women has been announced by the Government of Pakistan with this goal:
‘Empowerment of Pakistani women, irrespective of caste, creed, religion, or other
consideration for the realisation of their full potential in all spheres of life, especially
social, economic, personal and political and in keeping with our Islamic way of life.’
 Role of NGO’s in the development of feminism
Work had always been done regarding women empowerment and equality but it did not receive any just amount of
recognition until 1980’s.

Started in 1979, during Zia’s era when he introduced legislation and Islamization against women.

Before that organizations were working but specifically for the welfare of society.

But with the passage of time these women organized and pressurized the state authorities to address women issues and started
criticizing the loopholes of state machinery.

But with the passage of time these women organized and pressurized the state authorities to address women issues and started
criticizing the loopholes of state machinery.

Since 1980’s organizations like Aurat foundation, Shirkat Gah and Applied Socio-Economic Research Resource
Centre and many more organizations of such sorts are working.
Criticized as “ western agendas” by religious fundamentalists because they were funded internationally. During

1990, 25k-30k registered and unregistered NGO’s used international funding.

 Their works

Acting as ‘ watchdogs’ over the policies and plans of the state.

Act as a network and platform to highlight women’s concerns.

advocacy

public awareness

Lobbying

Coordinating with the government for development

 The Case of Samia Sarwar
Samia Sarwar married her cousin in 1989 in Peshawar. During the time of her marriage
she was subjected to years of severe physical abuse at the hands of her husband. In April
of 1995, she returned to her family's home to escape her abusive husband because he had
thrown her down the stairs while she was pregnant with her second child When Sarwar
expressed her 38 intention to get a divorce, her parents threatened to kill her
On March 26, 1999, Samia took the opportunity of her parents' absence for a pilgrimage to
Mecca to flee to Lahore and seek help at the Dastak.
Because her life had been threatened, Sarwar refused to meet with any of her male
relatives. However, because she needed her marriage papers in order to get a divorce,
Sarwar agreed to meet with her mother who was accompanied by an uncle and a driver.
At that point Habibur Rehman pulled out a gun and shot Samia in the head,
killing her instantly. Though this crime was committed in full public view with
several witnesses, nothing has been done to prosecute Sarwar's family. On April
20, police officers went to Sarwar's village to issue warrants for the family's
arrest, but they were "shooed away"
according to human rights
organizations
 Sher Bano Case
There have been several reported cases of fathers bringing charges of zina against their
daughters for marrying of their own accord. In one such case a woman, Sher Bano had
eloped with a man who she had willfully married and was apprehended and arrested under
the Zina Ordinance. On August 6, 1997 she was shot dead by her brother as she emerged
from the courtroom in Peshawar (AI 15). In this way the Hudood Ordinance reinforces the
practice of honor killing by legally formalizing the social control of women and their
status as bearers of honor.
 CONCLUSION

Despite the Constitutional emphasis on gender equity, some laws (such as Hudood Ordinance) serve to restrict women’s
participation in education and employment. Consequently, Pakistani women appear to enjoy varying degrees of freedom
depending upon their tribal or patriarchal perspectives about women’s rights and roles. Some women firmly adhere to
traditional roles observing strict Purdah (veil) and limiting their activities to within the Chardiwari (four walls of a house).
Other women pursue careers and work side by side with men in a variety of professions.