Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Ligue Internationale de Femmes pour la Paix et la Liberté Liga Internacional de Mujeres por la Paz y la Libertad Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC, UNCTAD and UNESCO; Special Consultative Relations with FAO, ILO, and UNICEF. 1 17 th October 2012 WILPF Pakistan UPR Recommendations To state the obvious, there are numerous human rights concerns in Pakistan, all are interlinked and require serious changes in policy, law and implementation on the part of the government. Whilst recognising this, however, WILPF would focus on raising the issue of violence, particularly violence against women. The number of violent deaths in Pakistan is increasing rapidly, reaching 24,500 in 2009 1 and more than 2,000 women being killed in the name of honour from 2008 until the end of 2010 2 . Women and girls are being targeted for using their freedom of speech and the state of insecurity is preventing them from actively participating in education and public life. The roots of this violence in society are institutional and structural. Militarization contributes to trivializing violence and hinders access to justice. The spread, possession, and use of arms, mainly in the hands of men, represent a threat to all women outside and inside their household. Furthermore, the escalation of budget allocated to the military is made at the expense of social services. Yet, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan spent 3.2% of their GDP on the military whilst only 2.7% was spent on education and 2.2% on health 3 . WILPF International would like to suggest Member States the following recommendations for the review of Pakistan’s UPR: • Ensure the strict regulation and control of trade and sales of small arms in the hands of civil society as they increase the insecurity of women at in and outside the household and increase the fatality of violence against women • The prevention of honour killings through the immediate removal of the Qisas and Diyat provisions allowing for a compromise or a pardoning of the killer by the heirs of the deceased WILPF Pakistan would like to endorse the following recommendations: 1. Women’s Political Participation • Increase women’s seats in the Parliament and Provincial Assemblies to 33% and restore the elected Local Government System with 33% reserved seats for women. 1 The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence, p.64 2 The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development Global Burden of Armed Violence 2008 p.120 3 The World Bank http://data.worldbank.org (17 October 2012).
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Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Ligue Internationale de Femmes pour la Paix et la Liberté Liga Internacional de Mujeres por la Paz y la Libertad Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC, UNCTAD and UNESCO; Special Consultative Relations with FAO, ILO, and UNICEF.
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17th October 2012
WILPF -‐ Pakistan UPR Recommendations To state the obvious, there are numerous human rights concerns in Pakistan, all are interlinked and require serious changes in policy, law and implementation on the part of the government. Whilst recognising this, however, WILPF would focus on raising the issue of violence, particularly violence against women. The number of violent deaths in Pakistan is increasing rapidly, reaching 24,500 in 20091 and more than 2,000 women being killed in the name of honour from 2008 until the end of 20102. Women and girls are being targeted for using their freedom of speech and the state of insecurity is preventing them from actively participating in education and public life.
The roots of this violence in society are institutional and structural. Militarization contributes to trivializing violence and hinders access to justice. The spread, possession, and use of arms, mainly in the hands of men, represent a threat to all women outside and inside their household. Furthermore, the escalation of budget allocated to the military is made at the expense of social services.
Yet, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan spent 3.2% of their GDP on the military whilst only 2.7% was spent on education and 2.2% on health3.
WILPF International would like to suggest Member States the following recommendations for the review of Pakistan’s UPR:
• Ensure the strict regulation and control of trade and sales of small arms in the hands of civil society as they increase the insecurity of women at in and outside the household and increase the fatality of violence against women
• The prevention of honour killings through the immediate removal of the Qisas and Diyat provisions allowing for a compromise or a pardoning of the killer by the heirs of the deceased
WILPF Pakistan would like to endorse the following recommendations: 1. Women’s Political Participation
• Increase women’s seats in the Parliament and Provincial Assemblies to 33% and restore the elected Local Government System with 33% reserved seats for women.
1 The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence, p.64 2 The Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development Global Burden of Armed Violence 2008 p.120 3 The World Bank http://data.worldbank.org (17 October 2012).
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Ligue Internationale de Femmes pour la Paix et la Liberté Liga Internacional de Mujeres por la Paz y la Libertad Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC, UNCTAD and UNESCO; Special Consultative Relations with FAO, ILO, and UNICEF.
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2. Legislation Implementation • Ensure the implementation of existing legislation in letter and spirit and develop the
requisite rules under these laws where required. Mechanisms for the effective enforcement of all new legislation that has been introduced for the protection of women should be developed with Standard Operatonal Procedures (SOPs) for the relevant duty bearers.
• Laws that are discriminatory towards women to be abolished. These include the provisions of Qisas and Diyat and the Law of Inheritance 33.
• Address gaps and biasis in legal medical textbooks and police training curriculum for the advancement of a gender-‐sensitive and rights based approach.
• Train officials especially of law enforcing agencies and prison staff on gender-‐sensitivity and equality.
3. Violence against women • Establish new and strengthen existing support structures for victims of violence
(Women’s Shelters. Crisis Centers and Burn Units for treatment of women victims at District level in all Provinces)
• Prevent early and forced marriage. • Recognise marital rape in legislation.
4. Rural Women, Farmers, and Home Based Workers
• The Government to recognize rural women farmers and home based workers as contributors to economy and ensure their inclusion in social safety nets.
• Increase budget allocations for rural population prioritizing the needs of women and girls.
5. Minority Women’s Rights • Legislative and administrative efforts to be made to end forced conversions to Islam
of Vulnerable women belonging to religious minorities. The victims of this practice should be provided with effective redress and protection.
6. Women’s Rights
• Under ‘Islamization’ of Criminal Laws: The Qisas and Diyat provisions allowing for a compromise or a pardoning of the killer by the heirs of the deceased should be removed immediately for prevention of ‘Honour’ killings.
• Amend inheritance laws to equalize inheritance for sons and daughters and change the procedures of succession to facilitate succession and control over inheritance.
• The Government should take effective measures against all informal dispute resolution mechanisms that perpetrate and perpetuate violence against women.
• Standardization of age of marriage at 18 years for females and males. • Establish burn units for treatment of women victims at district level. • Train officials especially of law enforcement agencies and prison staff on gender-‐
sensitivity and equality.
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Ligue Internationale de Femmes pour la Paix et la Liberté Liga Internacional de Mujeres por la Paz y la Libertad Consultative Status with UN ECOSOC, UNCTAD and UNESCO; Special Consultative Relations with FAO, ILO, and UNICEF.
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7. General Suggestions • Arrange translation in national language and wider dissemination of
recommendations by UPR working group. • Incorporate the human rights education curriculum in educational institutions
(government and private) • Ensure security of human rights defenders. • Adopt the pending laws for protection of child rights. • Make laws against honor killing.
A side event “Women’s Rights in Pakistan-‐ Status, Challenges and Possible Solutions” will take place on 31st of October to analyse the recommendations by the UPR working group to Pakistan.
