If women’s rights are to be protected

If women’s rights are to be protected, they must become a respected part of the culture and traditions of our society. The institution of marriage was introduced so that man and woman could live together in a social, legal and religious bond. However, it is never as simple as it sounds, because married women, particularly young girls, often do not turn out to be cognizant of their rights as wives. Despite the fact that slavery is illegal in Pakistan, girls and women are regularly traded to settle debts and conflicts. Forced marriages of young girls continue to be reported despite a legal minimum age of 16. In Sukkur, in 2000, a six-year-old girl was married to a 60-year-old man when her family was unable to repay a debt. Last year, the decision of an unauthorized forum in the city Mianwali to give away eight girls in marriage to settle a murder case between rival families revealed an accelerated process of descent into barbarism. In a statement, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that such decisions violated the laws of the land, the laws of all religions, including Islam, and indeed the norms of civilized behavior anywhere in the world. It is still more shocking that the authorities appear to have stood by and permitted the terms contained in the settlement to be carried out without intervention until orders were issued following the publicizing of the terrible sequence of events. Though, the Pakistan Constitution also guarantees fundamental rights, including the rights to life and personal liberty, safeguards on arrest and detention and a prohibition on slavery. It also secures the rights to equality before the law, equal protection of the law, and the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of sex or religion.