Faisalabad - Public Forum on Social, Political and Legal Status of Women by Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation

Faisalabad, Pakistan: September 05, 2010, (PCTV Newsdesk)

On 28^th August 2010, Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM) organized a public forum on the theme “Social, Political and Legal Status of Women in the Society” in collaboration with Liaison for Enforcement of Human Rights (LEHR). Naseem Anthony (Executive Secretary-AWAM), Nazia Sardar, Zafar Iqbal, Mumtaz Kousar, Afsheen Patras and Pastor Obaid were among the speakers of the public forum held at Madina Town in Faisalabad. 

Naseem Anthony said, “Conservative factions of society believe that women are incapable to serve in public office, so they should be confined to home and domestic chores only, but their mindset about women is contrary to the fact that women have equal potential like men.” “It is imperative for the government and all of us to provide equal opportunities and representation to women in all fields of life for the progress of the country in general and for the empowerment of women in specific,” he added. 

Nazia Sardar said, “Women face discriminatory treatment at social level and discriminatory laws at state level despite article 22 of the constitution of Pakistan guarantees equality of all citizens before law, therefore government must remove discrimination against women from the constitution, laws and traditions, considering the equal status of citizens of a democratic state.” 

Zafar Iqbal said, “There are numerous laws for the protection of human rights of women, but administration is not playing its role for the proper implementation of these laws.” “The disapproval of the bill on domestic violence against women within three months period from the parliament is the proof of the insincerity of the government towards women’s rights,” he added. 

Pastor Obaid said, “Women should be economically empowerment in order to avoid bearing all forms of violence towards them.” “There are several obstacles in the way of women’s progress on the grounds of culture and traditions, therefore women should raise voice against injustice and inequality rather than ignoring exploitation of their rights,” he added. 

At this juncture, the speakers demanded that: bill on domestic violence against women should be reviewed and tabled in the parliament again for its approval in order to provide legal protection to women against domestic violence; public awareness about law against sexual harassment at workplaces must be multiplied and implementation of this law must be ensured; discrimination in laws, policies and constitution against women must be removed  in order to improve legal status of women; informal court system and customary practices against women must be banned; immediate justice irrespective of any discrimination, must be provided to the people in order to restore their confidence in judicial system and strict action must be taken against those people who take law into their hands.