海角大神

Police have arrested four men for the alleged killing of an 18-year-old girl in the north Pakistan district of Kohistan last week, including the victim鈥檚 father,聽in a case that has sparked outrage across the country and reignited a conversation about Pakistan鈥檚 failure to protect women.

Authorities say the teenager was shot by her family on the instructions of a village council, or聽jirga, as a way to restore her family鈥檚 honor. Her alleged infraction? Posing in a photo with a man.

Hundreds of Pakistani women are murdered every year in so-called honor killings 鈥� homicides committed because the women in question are judged to have transgressed social mores through indecent behavior, thus bringing shame on their families. In many instances, honor killings are triggered by rumor or doctored evidence, and few perpetrators are ever convicted.

The Kohistan incident has underscored聽all that is needed to curb honor killings,聽from patching legal loopholes to addressing deeply rooted cultures of misogyny to strengthening support systems for women.聽Advocates say聽cultural and legal efforts to protect women聽will require all hands on deck 鈥� and enthusiastic backing from the state.

鈥淗onor killing in Pakistan is an abhorrent ... practice that has no place in our modern society,鈥� says Malaika Raza, the general secretary of the human rights wing of the Pakistan People鈥檚 Party. 鈥淲e must unite as a collective force against this grave violation of human dignity.鈥�

Patriarchal anxieties

In this remote and deeply conservative district, several women have been killed in the name of honor in recent years.

This incident echoes a similar case in May 2012, when a video surfaced of a group of girls singing in the presence of men from a different tribe. It resulted in the convention of a similar jirga. Then, as now, tribal elders handed down a death sentence to those visible in the footage, leading to the deaths of at least eight people.聽

鈥淚n this area, there is an extremely strict control over women鈥檚 bodies and sexuality, and these things are monitored very closely,鈥� says feminist scholar Farzana Bari. 鈥淭he state hasn鈥檛 invested anything in people鈥檚 education, nor does it have much control, so the area is governed by local tribal elders and because their thinking is so patriarchal, they often make these sorts of decisions.鈥�

Khawar Mumtaz, who served as the chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women and has been a women鈥檚 rights activist for more than four decades, believes the practice is spreading.聽

鈥淲hen we started looking at honor killings, it used to be in small pockets of certain areas,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut over the years, what has happened with migration is that it has spread all over the place.鈥�

Experts note that recent examples reveal an increasing level of patriarchal anxiety surrounding social media, and the opportunities and visibility it provides women.聽

鈥淚n some parts of the country, the mere presence of a woman in public is considered obscene,鈥� says human rights campaigner Usama Khilji. 鈥淲hat social media has done is given women the freedom to express themselves, to enjoy themselves, to sing and to dance 鈥� so of course the old guard of the patriarchy has been quite upset by that.鈥�

Asim Tanveer/AP/File

Police officers present Waseem Azeem, the brother of slain social media star Qandeel Baloch, at a police station in Multan, Pakistan, July 17, 2016. He admitted to killing his sister and was later sentenced to life in prison, though the family pushed for his acquittal.

If patriarchal anxieties are the fuel of the crisis, Pakistan鈥檚 parallel legal systems are the vehicle. Mr. Khilji opines that the inefficiency and corruption of Pakistan鈥檚 criminal justice system leads some parts of the country to put their faith in the judgments of tribal elders.

鈥淭he biggest criticism of the jirga system has been the way it is quite anti-woman and quite misogynistic,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty much elderly men that have status, privilege, and prestige in society-making decisions.鈥�

Legal impunity

But even the mainstream legal system in Pakistan has been criticized for allowing perpetrators of honor killings to evade punishment. Under the Pakistan Penal Code, the murderer may have his sentence commuted if they are pardoned by or come to a financial arrangement with the victim鈥檚 family. Since honor killings are almost always carried out by close relatives, such pardons are common.

Human rights defender Tahira Abdullah believes it is too easy for killers to 鈥渃ircumvent the law through forgiveness and compromise settlements.鈥� 聽

鈥淭he only way Pakistani women can escape聽dishonor killings is for the state to become the complainant in court cases filed on behalf of the victims,鈥� she says.

In 2016, after social media influencer Qandeel Baloch was killed by her brother for allegedly defaming the honor of her family, Pakistan鈥檚 Parliament attempted to close this loophole by requiring that courts sentence anyone convicted of an honor killing to a minimum of life imprisonment.

However, critics say the amendment places the burden of proving motive squarely on the prosecution. Those accused may evade the life sentence by claiming they killed the victim for reasons other than honor.聽聽

鈥淚t all comes back to this sense that women are the property of the family ... and they鈥檙e also disposable,鈥� says Ms. Mumtaz. 鈥淭he state鈥檚 failure is not providing justice and not providing safe places for victims to hide themselves.鈥�

Seeking safety

Part of the solution, according to police officer Amna Baig, is for victims to engage law enforcement at the first sign of trouble.聽

鈥淚 have dealt with hundreds of cases of femicide and most of them have been honor killings,鈥� she says. 鈥淭rust me, a victim usually knows that this is coming. She knows what鈥檚 happening around her and she understands the level of threat 鈥� but what she doesn鈥檛 often know is how to access the police and how to seek that help.鈥�

In order to ensure speedy access to justice, Ms. Baig helped create the Gender Protection Unit of the Islamabad Police, a department staffed almost entirely with female officers who act as the first port of call for women being abused or facing threats of violence.

鈥淚f there is an early intervention ... the chances of this escalating into an honor killing go down,鈥� she says.

For Dr. Bari, the academic, the problem can only be eradicated with a concerted campaign that focuses as much on education as on access to justice.

鈥淚n the long term, if you want to attack the root causes of this issue, you will have to change the patriarchal mindset that views the woman as the property of the man,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e need to declare a national emergency and launch a nationwide campaign to create awareness around gender-based violence. It isn鈥檛 rocket science, but who is going to do it? It鈥檚 clear that it isn鈥檛 a priority for the state.鈥�