Baloch woman activist hits out at Pak for gender inequality

A Baloch woman political activist has hit out at Islamabad for allowing religious groups to launch an assault against women's freedom throughout Pakistan, especially in Balochistan.

Karima Baloch, the former chairperson of Baloch Students Organisation-Azad told the United Nations during the 39th Session of Human Rights Council, "Pakistan has been ranked at the second-last place on the UN's Gender Gap Report for the last two years. It is only ahead of Yemen and Syria. The country is standing at the 121st rank, out of 157 countries in the Global Gender Gap Index."

She added, "Despite all the assurances to international human rights bodies, Pakistan's constitution clearly states that the country's laws must conform with centuries-old Islamic doctrine."

Speaking harshly on Islamic laws prevalent in the country, Karima elucidated, "If a woman is killed by her brother in the name of honour, the Islamic law allows him to settle the case with the father or the rest of the family. In most of the cases, the family forgives the murderer who goes scot-free. Also, as a testimony of two women is equal to one man, rape cases are less likely to be decided in favour of the victims. Apart from these basic flaws in the legal system, religious groups have launched an assault against the women's freedom throughout Pakistan, especially in Balochistan".

"Attacks and threats against girls' education have caused a significant surge in the number of girls dropping out of education. According to the media, the dropout rate is an appalling 70 per cent. Because of this and other discriminations against women, Balochistan has the lowest female literacy rate in Pakistan," she said.

The activist further highlighted the worsening situation of human rights in Balochistan.

"As a woman from Balochistan, I can testify that life of a woman in Pakistan is a tough one. If you get raped, there must be something wrong with you. If you get killed, you must have done something to deserve it. If you counter a man in a verbal argument, it reflects badly on your character. If I am talking about the abuses and violence against women at this forum, I am bringing a bad name to Pakistan. But who cares!" she asserted.