Journeyman Pictures Limited
64 Ember Lane Esher, Surrey KTl 0 8EP United Kingdom
Tel: 0181 3981495 Fax: 0181 3390502
E-mail:
~v ebsi te: http://ourvvorldcompuserve. comlhomepages/jou rm .. 'yman
PAKISTAN - NIGHTMARE BEHIND THE VEIL
0.02 A wom~n's life is precari0us in Pakistan. It's a
wedding. yet the men and women don't mix. The brid's
:upstairsl out of sight. ;. .
t .
~";.
0.12 Many husbans' don't allow their.. wives out of the house : ever; so once marrieod, women can virtually disappear. In most Pakistani households, the man's authority ",
0.25 Outside the headguarters of i privately Tun cedrit! in
the capital KaTachi, a baby's cot. On it, an appeal to
mothers, urging th~m to place their unwanted babies in
the cot rather than kill them.
0.39 A humane alternatIve to a not uncommOn practice. The
murder of unwanted daughters is customary in many areas.
0.47 In 1979, the late president, Zia Ul-Haq, intraduced Islamic Law into Pakistan. SInce then, women have been
subjected to widespread discrimindtion. On the streets of small villages, the they're under pressure to remain hidden from view.
1.05 JOURNALIST, NAFISA HOODBHOY: In this society a woman is considered very much the property of men. And that's the way a girl is treated from day One. Unless she conforms to the family's dictates she is considered rebellious and an outcast."
1.26 Some of those who do rebel wind up at this asylum for
the insane in Karachi. According to medical experts,
many pati$nts here lost their sanity as a result of
cruelty from their menfolk.
"
1.41 Pakistan, stress and overwork cause women to die on the
average younger than men. (PAUSE) However. of the
twelve-hundred here. some with their children, many
tppear; normal.
1.53 The doctor said this fifteen-year-old was in good
health. Her parents had brought her to the asylum
saying she'd b@come uncontrollable when her arranged
marriage was discussed.
2.04 Others were much more vociferous, demanding to know why
they were being detained.
2.13 Those in charge admit it's hard to separate the
mentally ill from the healthy. (PAUSE) Largely run by
patients now de~med 'cured', and with only one
psychiatrist for all the women, it"s a system which is
open to easy abuse.
2.08 Many of the problems experIenced ~y women are linked to
the fact that men are allowed to have more than one
wife. Young women are reportedly sold as slaves at
this house. (PAUSE) The buyers are mostly older, merried men. Up to three-thousand girls may be on offer daily on the streets of Karachi .
2.48 At this other house, run with private funds, former
slaves have found a haven of peace. Many of those who live at the centre are foreign: lured or kidnapped from their homes in Bangladish, they were brought to Pakistan to be sold.
3.07 Anna was Just ten when she was enslaved four years ag0.
3.11 ANNA SULTAN - IN URDU WITH EN(3L!SH TRANSLATION: "He
threatened me and said I'll tie you up in the room. I'll kill you, maybe I'll stranGle you. Nobody would ever know.” They didn’t treat me well. The would beat me. The food was not good and I was fed only time a day.
~-
3.26 Even when she escaped, two men she asked for help tried
to capture her , and sell her.
r •
3.31 ANNA SULTAN, IN URDU W!TH ENGLISH TRANSLATION: ·Thank God the last man sent me to this girls' home. If I hadn't come here they would have gone on selling me) end they would have wrecked my life.~
3.43 Lawyers are speaking out against the slave trade. So~~
two-hundred-thousanc 9irl~ have been sold in the past
ten years, often with police approval. Human rights
advocotes insist the practice must stop.
3.57 ZIA AHMED AWAN, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: "It's not simple trafficking. It's a complete mafia with the support of the border police as well as the local police. So they're all involved in it and theyy are getting their share. Whenever the girl has been sold a share will go to the man in charge of the police station and to the small policemen who are looking after that area. And that has been protected by the police."
4.24 Many other freed victims are arrested and taken to
women's prisons like this. Although the authorities
prefer to call it a home for' runaway women', everyone :here is under lock and key, and can't leave without court order.
~ ,
4.40 Fatima was arrested on arrival in Pakistan. Her pimp
went free. Slave gIrls are often charged under the
adultery laws. Fatima was acquitted, but 5he's still
here. But it’s not just former slaves who're jailed.
4.53 Women are here for fleeing arranged marriages, or
escaping from cruel husbands. Even for bei"9 raped,
they can be considered an accessory to the crime.
Without the testimony of four male witnesses, a victim
is likely to be imprisoned.
5.10 ERNESTINE PINTO, OF THE WOMEN'S FORUM: "Most of them are innocent. They don't know what's happening. When we meet them sometimes they 5ay, we ask why are you here, what's happened to you, what have you done
wrong? She says, I just don't know. I didn't agree to marry, I didn't like that fellow, or he wanted to rape me and I just made a racket and I ran away and I've been trapped and put here."
5.33 In private, some police officers say they would welcome
a change, but they have to abide by, and uphold the
law.
5.42 They say their hands are tied: under Pakistan's Islamic
Laws, rdpe vIctims can be dccuspd of having engaged In
illegal sexual intercourse with their aggressor.
5.52 In the cells of the High Court, women char9~d with
adultery wait for their cases to be heard, alongside
hardened male convicts. Rugaiya Khan has refused the
man her parents wanted her to marry; she's in love with, another. Her parents prBssed charges against her; she won't be released unless they relent
6.12 RUOAIYA KAHAN - IN URDU WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION: ·My parents dfdn't want me to get an education because they thought I would become morally corrupt. Our school had both boys and girls. They thought I would run away with ~ boy, so they arranged a marriage for me. This was how the antagonism started."
6.34 Arguably, one cannot blame religion alone for the
plight of women in Pakistan. Religious leaders say
that Islam prohibits sexual relations before marria8~
They argue that the Koran instructs boys and men net
only to respect their female counterparts but also tr.
give them freedom of choice in marriage. Perhaps much
of the discrimination stems from a deep-rooted belief
that women belong at,home.
6.59 RELIGIOUS LEADER, NIAMAT ULLAH KAHN: "She doesn't need any job in society. She should remain in her home and try to rear her children, which is the next
generation. She should not unn8cess~rily GO into the society, unnecessary.p
7.15 At nightfall. Karachi's no dlffer'ent from any other
city. Every night I men who frequent this estdblishment
commit adultery, with impunity- The women are licensed
(to dance) but everyone knows sex can be bought here and
at many other clubs like this. Human rights
campaigners say it's time for WQmen to challenge the
status quo.
7.36 JOURNALIST NAFISA HOODBHOY: "There must be a push to
raise the awareness of wc,me-n about their rights and to rna ke them much more aggressive in demanding a full share.
.
7.47 Pakistan. hopeful1y, is not impervious to change after
all, one of its chief opposition leaders is female,
But as long as most women are unable to challenge their
menfolk's ascendancy, equality will remain a distant
dream.
8.03 Ends
64 Ember Lane Esher, Surrey KTl 0 8EP United Kingdom
Tel: 0181 3981495 Fax: 0181 3390502
E-mail:
~v ebsi te: http://ourvvorldcompuserve. comlhomepages/jou rm .. 'yman
PAKISTAN - NIGHTMARE BEHIND THE VEIL
0.02 A wom~n's life is precari0us in Pakistan. It's a
wedding. yet the men and women don't mix. The brid's
:upstairsl out of sight. ;. .
t .
~";.
0.12 Many husbans' don't allow their.. wives out of the house : ever; so once marrieod, women can virtually disappear. In most Pakistani households, the man's authority ",
0.25 Outside the headguarters of i privately Tun cedrit! in
the capital KaTachi, a baby's cot. On it, an appeal to
mothers, urging th~m to place their unwanted babies in
the cot rather than kill them.
0.39 A humane alternatIve to a not uncommOn practice. The
murder of unwanted daughters is customary in many areas.
0.47 In 1979, the late president, Zia Ul-Haq, intraduced Islamic Law into Pakistan. SInce then, women have been
subjected to widespread discrimindtion. On the streets of small villages, the they're under pressure to remain hidden from view.
1.05 JOURNALIST, NAFISA HOODBHOY: In this society a woman is considered very much the property of men. And that's the way a girl is treated from day One. Unless she conforms to the family's dictates she is considered rebellious and an outcast."
1.26 Some of those who do rebel wind up at this asylum for
the insane in Karachi. According to medical experts,
many pati$nts here lost their sanity as a result of
cruelty from their menfolk.
"
1.41 Pakistan, stress and overwork cause women to die on the
average younger than men. (PAUSE) However. of the
twelve-hundred here. some with their children, many
tppear; normal.
1.53 The doctor said this fifteen-year-old was in good
health. Her parents had brought her to the asylum
saying she'd b@come uncontrollable when her arranged
marriage was discussed.
2.04 Others were much more vociferous, demanding to know why
they were being detained.
2.13 Those in charge admit it's hard to separate the
mentally ill from the healthy. (PAUSE) Largely run by
patients now de~med 'cured', and with only one
psychiatrist for all the women, it"s a system which is
open to easy abuse.
2.08 Many of the problems experIenced ~y women are linked to
the fact that men are allowed to have more than one
wife. Young women are reportedly sold as slaves at
this house. (PAUSE) The buyers are mostly older, merried men. Up to three-thousand girls may be on offer daily on the streets of Karachi .
2.48 At this other house, run with private funds, former
slaves have found a haven of peace. Many of those who live at the centre are foreign: lured or kidnapped from their homes in Bangladish, they were brought to Pakistan to be sold.
3.07 Anna was Just ten when she was enslaved four years ag0.
3.11 ANNA SULTAN - IN URDU WITH EN(3L!SH TRANSLATION: "He
threatened me and said I'll tie you up in the room. I'll kill you, maybe I'll stranGle you. Nobody would ever know.” They didn’t treat me well. The would beat me. The food was not good and I was fed only time a day.
~-
3.26 Even when she escaped, two men she asked for help tried
to capture her , and sell her.
r •
3.31 ANNA SULTAN, IN URDU W!TH ENGLISH TRANSLATION: ·Thank God the last man sent me to this girls' home. If I hadn't come here they would have gone on selling me) end they would have wrecked my life.~
3.43 Lawyers are speaking out against the slave trade. So~~
two-hundred-thousanc 9irl~ have been sold in the past
ten years, often with police approval. Human rights
advocotes insist the practice must stop.
3.57 ZIA AHMED AWAN, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: "It's not simple trafficking. It's a complete mafia with the support of the border police as well as the local police. So they're all involved in it and theyy are getting their share. Whenever the girl has been sold a share will go to the man in charge of the police station and to the small policemen who are looking after that area. And that has been protected by the police."
4.24 Many other freed victims are arrested and taken to
women's prisons like this. Although the authorities
prefer to call it a home for' runaway women', everyone :here is under lock and key, and can't leave without court order.
~ ,
4.40 Fatima was arrested on arrival in Pakistan. Her pimp
went free. Slave gIrls are often charged under the
adultery laws. Fatima was acquitted, but 5he's still
here. But it’s not just former slaves who're jailed.
4.53 Women are here for fleeing arranged marriages, or
escaping from cruel husbands. Even for bei"9 raped,
they can be considered an accessory to the crime.
Without the testimony of four male witnesses, a victim
is likely to be imprisoned.
5.10 ERNESTINE PINTO, OF THE WOMEN'S FORUM: "Most of them are innocent. They don't know what's happening. When we meet them sometimes they 5ay, we ask why are you here, what's happened to you, what have you done
wrong? She says, I just don't know. I didn't agree to marry, I didn't like that fellow, or he wanted to rape me and I just made a racket and I ran away and I've been trapped and put here."
5.33 In private, some police officers say they would welcome
a change, but they have to abide by, and uphold the
law.
5.42 They say their hands are tied: under Pakistan's Islamic
Laws, rdpe vIctims can be dccuspd of having engaged In
illegal sexual intercourse with their aggressor.
5.52 In the cells of the High Court, women char9~d with
adultery wait for their cases to be heard, alongside
hardened male convicts. Rugaiya Khan has refused the
man her parents wanted her to marry; she's in love with, another. Her parents prBssed charges against her; she won't be released unless they relent
6.12 RUOAIYA KAHAN - IN URDU WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION: ·My parents dfdn't want me to get an education because they thought I would become morally corrupt. Our school had both boys and girls. They thought I would run away with ~ boy, so they arranged a marriage for me. This was how the antagonism started."
6.34 Arguably, one cannot blame religion alone for the
plight of women in Pakistan. Religious leaders say
that Islam prohibits sexual relations before marria8~
They argue that the Koran instructs boys and men net
only to respect their female counterparts but also tr.
give them freedom of choice in marriage. Perhaps much
of the discrimination stems from a deep-rooted belief
that women belong at,home.
6.59 RELIGIOUS LEADER, NIAMAT ULLAH KAHN: "She doesn't need any job in society. She should remain in her home and try to rear her children, which is the next
generation. She should not unn8cess~rily GO into the society, unnecessary.p
7.15 At nightfall. Karachi's no dlffer'ent from any other
city. Every night I men who frequent this estdblishment
commit adultery, with impunity- The women are licensed
(to dance) but everyone knows sex can be bought here and
at many other clubs like this. Human rights
campaigners say it's time for WQmen to challenge the
status quo.
7.36 JOURNALIST NAFISA HOODBHOY: "There must be a push to
raise the awareness of wc,me-n about their rights and to rna ke them much more aggressive in demanding a full share.
.
7.47 Pakistan. hopeful1y, is not impervious to change after
all, one of its chief opposition leaders is female,
But as long as most women are unable to challenge their
menfolk's ascendancy, equality will remain a distant
dream.
8.03 Ends