Can women be protected by a Bill?

This article has been published with some changes at
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1096492/can-women-be-protected-by-a-bill/

Protection of Women Against Violence Bill has been hailed as a big achievement by many in the secular liberal circles while the religious circles are in serious opposition. The argument of the liberals is that it is empowerment of women and a step towards eliminating domestic violence. It will keep those husbands in control who treat their women as their subjects and consequently exercise different forms of violence against them. While the 35 religious parties APC condemned the law and said “This act ... is redundant and would add to the miseries of women.”

Domestic violence is a reality in Pakistan and it needs to be reckoned with. According to Aurat Foundation, “In 2013, more than 5,800 cases of violence against women were reported in Punjab”. A 2011 Thomson Reuters Foundation expert poll showed that domestic abuse, economic discrimination and acid attacks made Pakistan the world’s third most dangerous country for women. These are some serious statistics with which the religious group’s stance is quite frankly, ignorant.

But then, let us dig into the secular liberal stance; Make a law to criminalize it and let us hope everything will turn out to be fine, is absolutely immature. They seem to blindly imitate the west in such laws and fail to consider our unique societal dynamics. Moreover, one can also argue the credibility of such laws implemented in western world. According to data obtained from Health & Social Care Information Centre, Britain, the number of acid attacks on women in the last 10 years has doubled to 925. Every minute police in the UK receive a domestic assistance call and 2 women are killed every week in England and Wales by a partner. In a recent article on Nytimes, “Every year in France, 223,000 women are physically or psychologically abused by their partners”. In 2014 alone, 134 women died as a result of violence by their husbands or partners. Even though the western world has strict and intelligent laws on women protection related matters but these laws are not solving this social problem.

So what is going wrong?  An article on “The limits of Law” published at “Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy” discusses the effectiveness and limits of a Law in a deep intellectual sense. Laws might fail and the failure could be dramatic without understanding the society and human behavior. For instance, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., explained in a 1932 letter. “When Prohibition (alcohol consumption in US from 1920 to 1933) was introduced, I hoped that it would be widely supported by public opinion and the day would soon come when the evil effects of alcohol would be recognized. I have slowly and reluctantly come to believe that this has not been the result. Instead, drinking has generally increased; the speakeasy has replaced the saloon; a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored Prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened; and crime has increased to a level never seen before.”

Knowing what works and what does not and what will be counterproductive is important knowledge. An article on “Law vs morality as regulators of conduct” by steven shavell of Harward law school presents an excellent perspective. He argues that a better sense of developing morality in many cases is the best manner of controlling a specific behavior pattern. For instance, morality and not Law is a means of control of much of our daily interactions and social discourse like fulfilling commitments or talking sensibly or treating guests or respecting the elderly etc. He rightly argues that establishing legal laws is not a very expensive process and does not take much time in being implemented. But the establishment of moral rules is extremely expensive and time consuming. Making a law to punish littering is easy but inculcating the moral rule that one should not litter requires constant effort over the years of childhood and social projects in elevating the values of a society.

Therefore, without understanding the social dynamics of a Pakistani household, the state will only make laws that fail miserably and are not practiced by the society at large. Pakistan’s family structure is strictly not individual and exhibits a family in the true sense. Therefore, in our society, the first priority is to resolve the issue within the husband and wife, but if it extends, the parents intervene and try to settle the disputes with utmost secrecy. They consider it a disgrace to discuss their family matters even with the ‘Khalas/chachus’ but where necessary, the elders intervene and try to resolve it. In such a climate of social bonding, interference and family dignity, a matter taken to the police is considered devastating for the family prestige. What consequences it can bring needs to be investigated before enacting laws.

Secondly, the issue of domestic violence is directly linked to the cultural upbringing of the males in the society which creates a male dominated society with high egos. Any sense of high feminist feature can create a backlash from the males in the family structure. The law that has a 24 hour helpline for women, women shelter homes, women being distanced from men using GPS etc. gives it a feminist color and comes in direct contradiction with a male’s ego. Problems are not solved by triggering the ego of another individual but by gradually changing the mindset. Moral awareness schemes, media, masjid sermons, education curriculum, etc on the basis of correct social values are fundamental in changing the mindset. 

Additionally, the style of discourse needs to change i.e. women are not a rare species which are being hunted down and need protection, let us consider women as companions living in a household setting with men, respectful home makers or professionals having an equal day to day contribution in any family’s life. They are as human as men and laws are same for them as they are for men. The current police structure should be formalized and educated in this regard rather than presenting a feminist style law could most probably backfire and increase the rise of separations and the rise of fatal violence.

We need to think deep about our societal dynamics to solve our problems and find ways which would work for us. Ignorance of problems or lack of an objective analysis are equally dangerous trends.