Women’s Violence in Pakistan

COMMENTARY | Fakhra Younus put a face to the numerous acid victims in Pakistan. Suicide was the sad end of her life. How unfortunate this beautiful girl wasn’t born in a democratic country where her rights would have been protected and her voice heard. My heart is broken for this girl, who never had a chance. She was quoted in an interview with Geo TV as wanting the government oppressors and acid throwers to get the same punishment as they dished out.

It took women in America from 1848 till 1920 when the Susan B. Anthony Amendment was passed for women in the United States to earn the right to vote. How long will these women have to wait in order to live a life that is not threatened by bodily harm? According to The Aurat Foundation, who are for “creating a socially just, democratic and humane society in Pakistan”, and who release an annual report of violence against women in Pakistan, in 2011 violence against women in Pakistan actually increased by 6.74 percent with the tally at an likely under-estimated 8,539 victims.

This violence against women in Pakistan is not going away, in fact, it is getting worse. These sweet innocent girls born into this world then put to work in red light districts to earn money for their families. It is a brutal reality that exists for women in Pakistan and the Pakistan government is not stopping this crime. Even Fakhra Younus ex-husband, Bilal Khar, was somehow acquitted for throwing the acid at her and disfiguring Fakhra’s once beautiful face.

As a mother to two girls in the United States of America, it is a nightmare to read about the sad life Fakhra lived. There is nothing sadder than to think of her painful journey that lead deeper in the depths of despair until suicide was her only option. Women’s rights need to be addressed in Pakistan. The government must hold the peole who harm these women accountable. In the end, will Allah be the only judge?

Sadness prevails,

When acid spills.

But no one is to blame.

There are 8,539 girls, but no one will remember their name.

Their faces we won’t even see, for they are covered by a veil.

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