Definition
Before Islam, in the Age of Ignorance (Jahiliyyah), daughters were sometimes buried alive; Islam, as the religion of nature (Deen-e-Fitrat), restored women's honour by declaring all human beings equal in basic rights.
Quran: "O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate, and dispersed from both of them many men and women" (Surah An-Nisa 4:1) — men and women share equal creational status. Righteous men and women receive equal reward from Allah (Surah Aal-e-Imran 3:195).
Hadith: "Whoever takes care of two daughters, he and I will enter Paradise together like these two fingers" (Tirmidhi 1913); the Prophet (PBUH) also instructed believers to fear Allah regarding women and treat them well (Tirmidhi 1911).
Islam granted women: the right to inheritance, mahr (dower), education, khula (wife-initiated divorce), consent in marriage, the right to life (vs. infanticide), and consultation in economic/political matters. The Hajj ritual of sa'i between Safa and Marwa commemorates the Sunnah of Hazrat Hajira (AS), reflecting women's elevated status in Islam.
Definition
Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah remained shoulder to shoulder with Quaid-e-Azam, raising awareness among Muslim women.
Begum Salma Tassaduq Hussain campaigned to enrol women in the Muslim League; at the March 1940 Lahore session, leaders' wives hosted delegations and were elected joint secretaries of the Punjab Muslim Women's League.
Fatima Sughra, only 14 years old, unfurled the Muslim League flag on Lahore's Civil Secretariat.
Begum Shaista Ikramullah organised girls through the Muslim Girls Federation. Begum Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan worked on refugee rehabilitation and founded the All Pakistan Women's Association (APWA). Begum Jahan Ara Shahnawaz represented Muslim women at the Round Table Conferences. Lady Nusrat Haroon founded "Islah-ul-Khawateen" in Karachi (1925).
Definition
Politics: Fatima Jinnah, Begum Nusrat Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto (first woman PM of the Muslim world), Kulsoom Nawaz (courageous role in the 1999–2008 democracy-restoration movement), Dr. Fehmida Mirza (first woman Speaker, National Assembly), Maryam Nawaz Sharif (first woman Chief Minister of Punjab).
Economy: Shamshad Akhtar, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and later Federal Finance Minister.
Judiciary: Justice Ayesha Malik, first woman Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court.
Armed forces: Lieutenant General Nigar Johar Khan (Army Medical Corps), first woman Lieutenant General of the Pakistan Armed Forces.
Social welfare: Mohtarma Bilquis Edhi improved millions of lives.
Sports/adventure and technology: Samina Baig, first Pakistani woman to summit Everest and all seven summits; Arfa Karim, world's youngest Microsoft Certified Professional at age nine.
Definition
Violence (WHO): the intentional use of physical force or power resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, or deprivation. Violence against women: gender-based acts causing physical, mental or sexual harm/suffering — e.g. honour killing, harassment, acid throwing, domestic violence, and dowry-related in-law violence (physical, emotional and economic forms).
Causes: society has generally accepted violence as common practice, and punishment against offenders is often not properly enforced.
Effects on society: unrest, women deprived of rights, rising lawlessness/crime, and the powerful taking away weaker individuals' rights — a society with inequality and insecurity cannot achieve progress or prosperity.
Definition
District-level Violence Against Women Centres (open morning to evening) provide medical, legal and psychological help, headed by a District Women Protection Officer (DWPO), supported by District Women Protection Committees (DWPC).
Complaints: toll-free helpline 1043, or SMS to 8787.
Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act passed 24 February 2016. The Punjab Marriage Restraint Act was amended in 2015, prescribing imprisonment and heavy fines to prevent child marriage.
Legal age of marriage in Punjab: 16 years for girls, 18 years for boys.
Pakistan has ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 1979.
Quick Recap
- ●Islam restored women's rights (Quran 4:1, 3:195; Hadith on raising daughters) — inheritance, mahr, education, khula, consent in marriage
- ●Pakistan Movement: Fatima Jinnah, Fatima Sughra (age 14, hoisted flag), Begum Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan (APWA), Begum Shaista Ikramullah, Begum Jahan Ara Shahnawaz
- ●Trailblazers: Benazir Bhutto (PM), Maryam Nawaz Sharif (CM Punjab), Justice Ayesha Malik (Chief Justice LHC), Lt. Gen. Nigar Johar Khan, Shamshad Akhtar, Samina Baig, Arfa Karim, Bilquis Edhi
- ●Violence against women: honour killing, harassment, domestic/dowry violence — causes rooted in societal acceptance and weak enforcement
- ●Government action: District Violence Against Women Centres (DWPO/DWPC), helpline 1043/SMS 8787, Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act (2016), CEDAW ratification
