Violence against women is an unfortunate but common human rights violation, particularly in Asia and a more unfortunate fact is that a large section of women have accepted it as their fate. These violations vary from plain domestic violence to gross form of honour killings.

Due to recent media attention, the problem of “honour killings” has come under increasing global scrutiny. Government organizations, NGO’s and other activist’s group are constantly making move to curb it and make strict laws against it.

Laws are often formulated; countless of them, for each and every hitch persistent in the society but the dilemma occurs when it comes when it comes to the implementation.

This is a major set back as far as legal implementation is concerned in our sub-continent, what is lacking is the ability and conscience of the large number of people to accept these laws and not see them something alien to their prolonged traditional practices.

Females are believed to be the repositories of such ‘honour’, as well as being the possessions of men. When this honour is besmirched, and when a possession is thought to be ‘tainted’, such killing is allowed as retribution and as a means to defend ‘honour’.

It is paradoxical that women who enjoy such a poor status in society and have no standing in family should become a focal point of a false and primitive concept of family honour, and often the women themselves are not able to raise a voice against cause its conditioned within them throughout their upbringing that this is what happens, this is what is correct and concept of ‘culture’ and religious practices, which are inevitable. They accept such violation and torture as ‘normal’.

Culture and Religion provides both the individual and the community with values and interests to be pursued in life as well as the legitimate means of pursuing them but often or more than often it is observed that culture is invoked to explain forms of violence largely against women.

But it is now time to ask that whether our religion and our culture really uphold such practices or it is just a concept of male domination to undermine the spirit and aspiration of women folks. In a garb of protecting the dignity of their body, repeatedly what is harmed is their desire to do what they yearn for.

The answer is definitely in ‘no’; no religion can confer such cruelty on a particular sect of human beings. Yet such violations are carried out in the name of religion and the authorities often stand as dumb spectators fearing to interfere in religious matters.

Honour killings’ are a just a glaring example of such violations, there are hundreds of other abuses carried out against women in both public and private sphere, manifestly or in a latent manner. Generally the conception is that honour killings are restricted to Islamic countries only but surprisingly in India among the Hindu communities too this problem is very much persistent, a woman or a man, or the couple, are victimized for marrying outside their caste or community. Their marriages lead to punishing ostracism, and to violence in a sickening variety of forms. Less drastic than murder but almost as painful is a long list of honour-driven violence: sexual assault on the women members of the accused family, usually belonging to the lower caste or the “other community” as “revenge;” public beating, stripping, blackening of the face; shaving of the head; incarceration, huge fines, social boycott or being driven out of the village.

The setback crop up when the legislative law comes in conflict or in disagreement with the existing social-cultural norm or practice, which the majority is hesitant to give up in acceptance for a new law. Such cultural practices are not necessarily in consonance with the basic ethics of religion, may it be Islam or Hinduism, rather aberrations or deviance. 

To over come these violations and to restore to the womenfolk their endangered dignity there can be two suggestive measures.

Firstly, a more modern interpretation of religious norms i.e. to find principles in religion which speaks about equal rights to women, provide more freedom than restricted by the male dominant society. To substantiate the laws by interrelating them with religious principles, so that there level of acceptance is more influential.

Secondly, and most importantly is education, it is vital to provide girls and young women with information on their rights and the help and remedies that are available for them, including human rights education and particularly information on the functioning of the criminal justice system, availability of victim support services and legal assistance. Men, generally overtly hungry for power will not give away such rights to women easily, so it becomes even more important to educate the men that women in a society deserve equal status, equal rights and equal opportunity to grow. 

A blatant assertion of rights will not beget any success to women; it’s not a feminist perspective, which will help the women neither begging for their rights.  Rather we need a holistic arrangement where men and women work mutually for providing and guaranteeing rights.

And lastly to quote, from the Holy Quran (13; 11), “verily never will God change the condition of people until they change it themselves.”

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Comments (4)

1. Blame is always on men Written by Parvez, on 25-04-2007 00:32 Dear Soumya,  With all due respect to your concerns and worries about women's conditions all over subcontinent, and knowing your intentions are only to give voice to Women's issue., most Laws are made so that they are in favor of women.    I do not know about Pakistan, but in India, recently Domentic Violence Act was made, in which woman can just put a blame on man of being guilty of violence and onus in on man to prove it.    Such and other laws are used by some women to harass men and exploit them, since headache of man is to prove himself free of guilt.    Taking all your comments, so called men who subjugate women should be treated severely both by men as well as women, but men's are in trouble due to over enthu feminists and over sympathatic system.    Even in family, women harass other women more than men. I see men are grossly and unjustly generalized and attacked by saying they take women their possessions and do not want to give rights to women    Sympathy goes to women and blame is to men.

4. hmmmm Written by shagun, on 22-02-2007 07:59 we realy need to do something to stop this all.this is too much.   realy nice article girl