Press For Peace (PFP) welcomes new law against domestic violence in Pakistan

Islamabad, Thursday, 6 August, 2009:

The need for protection of the women rights and eliminating gender disparities has long been felt in the country which further intensified in a wake of introduction of Hadood Ordinance under military regime of Late General Zia-ul-Haq. Due to absence of legal mechanism and loopholes in honour killings laws, large numbers of women were bound to face injustice at the hands of law and police. The current step by the National Assembly of Pakistan deserves kudos as it labels the domestic violence to be an offence and criminal activity, said Director Research Press For Peace (PFP) T.H Shah here on Thursday.
Pakistan moved towards outlawing domestic violence when its National Assembly approved a bill Tuesday that will punish those found guilty of beating women or children with jail terms and fines.
The law was passed unanimously in the lower house of parliament or national assembly and it will come into effect after the senate, or upper house of parliament, approves the law and President of Pakistan signs it into legislation. Those found guilty of beating women or children would face a minimum six months behind bars and a fine of at least 100,000 rupees.
While appreciating upon this governmental initiative, he called it a step in right direction and now women and children when faced with domestic violence will have say and hope of getting justice.

“Under the previous government of Pervez Mushraff, though attempts has been made to amend Hadood Ordinance and honour killings laws, but it still remained many loopholes on account of which we see wave of honour killings crimes in various parts of the country”, he further said.

He remarked that the situation of hindrance and resistance on the part of religious parties become main cause of lingering the matter as in crimes of honour killings, the Islamic Laws of Qisas and Diyyat are invoked. He emphasised that it is moral responsibility of all religious scholars to make Ijtehad (Philosophical Reasoning) on Qisas and Diyyat in those cases relating to honour killings so as to provide safety and security to the lives of innocent women and children.
T.H Shah appealed the government to come forward and also make blaspheme laws in lines with human rights model so as to avoid the exploitation and manipulation of these laws in the country.