Pakistan for a Common Woman!

Rankings may sometimes be misleading but not in this case, Pakistan is the third most dangerous place for women in the world . What can make any country dangerous? Some of the characteristics that are common among the list of countries deemed dangerous include: political instability, feudalism, anarchy, extremism (on every front), failed governments, patriarchy, poverty, illiteracy and militancy to name a few. According to Trust Law – an organization that works on women related issues stated in its report about Pakistan that:

Deeply entrenched cultural, tribal, and religious norms are at the root of the risks posed to Pakistani women. Child marriage and forced marriage are a threat. Women who defy expectations have faced acid attacks as well as punishment by stoning. Indeed, more than 1,000 females die in honor killings every year, Pakistan's Human Rights Commission reports, and 90 percent of women are victims of domestic violence at some point.

Some examples are :

- Acquittal of five of the six men convicted in a high-profile gang rape case of Mukhtaran Mai earlier this year

- Images of a girl being whipped by Taliban

- Woman being stoned in Pakistan, these are amongst the few stories that made headlines around the world.

I have lived in Pakistan and so have in a few other countries and I can confidently say that Korea and Japan are among the few countries that are the "safest for women". Day or night, rush hours or not, crowded places or not - women have been given their space and respect, something I always longed for in Pakistan, South Asia and Muslim countries in particular and others in general. I am grateful to Korea and Koreans for making us women feel safe, in our new home away from home.

In Pakistan, in some cases, even if a husband and wife go out together- they have to keep with them their Nikkah Nama (marriage deed), because in the past, couples have been humiliated, harassed and abused. Female students of all age groups have been abused mentally or physically on daily basis and the list goes on. Here I do not want to highlight wealthy, well -off families - that hardly make up 5% of the country - but the masses in general and the deplorable conditions that these women have to go through. Many of the women can not even identify with what I just wrote because while talking to another fellow Pakistani student, she told me that she never used a public transport in her entire life while living in Pakistan...in such cases how would they ever understand, what one has to go through as a woman in Pakistan. Women in rural areas have a very different set of difficulties than those in urban areas...but life on both ends is really tough!