Naziha Syed Ali explores whether the increased presence of women in parliament has had any impact on the life of women in Pakistan.

In the parliament of 1999, women barely had a voice. There were no reserved seats for them, although such seats had existed earlier. In 2002, president Musharraf increased that erstwhile reserved quota from 20 to 60 seats, which resulted in an unprecedentedly large number of women finding a place in the previous parliament and this one. Women, including those elected on general and reserved seats, now account for 22.5 per cent of parliamentary seats, the second highest figure in South Asia after Nepal.

With elections around the corner, it is pertinent to look at what this increased female presence in parliament has meant so far for the women of Pakistan.

The premier legislative body in the country has passed more pro-women laws in the last eight years than at any other time in Pakistan’s existence. These laws deal with gender-based violence of different kinds, including honour-killing, rape, sexual harassment, handing over of females as compensation, acid attacks, forced marriage and ‘marriage’ to the Quran.

The amendment to the Hudood Ordinance in 2006 took rape out of the purview of the Hudood Ordinance and placed it under the Pakistan Penal Code. As a result, jails across the country were emptied of hundreds of under-trial women whose allegations of rape had, in a travesty of justice, been converted into charges of adultery against them. Rape complainants can no longer be accused of adultery. A study done in 2011 showed that not a single woman was in jail charged with zina (fornication).

However, the earlier Criminal (Amendment) Act 2004 that defined “honour crimes” in the Pakistan Penal Code for the first time has proved sadly inadequate owing to various legal loopholes, such as the crime continuing to remain open to compromise between the two parties. A report on violence against women in 2011 by the Aurat Foundation in fact records a 26 per cent increase in honour killings over the previous year.

More recently, some convictions have taken place under the new acid burns law with the accused being handed down the enhanced punishment stipulated in it. But this law is clearly not enough. Out of the 150 or so reported cases every year (many go unreported out of shame or fear), the conviction rate remains a depressing six per cent. A comprehensive bill tackling all aspects of the crime — its investigation, the procurement of acid, the victim’s treatment and rehabilitation — is yet to be passed by the provincial assemblies (after the increased provincial autonomy following the 18th Amendment, on most subjects provincial assemblies are required to take the initiative on legislation, while the National Assembly can make amendments to it).

The sexual harassment law appears to have had a better impact because it was passed in a comprehensive form. Since it came into effect, several cases at major Pakistani universities have resulted in the accused being dismissed from service by the in-house committees appointed to look into allegations of harassment. (The law mandates a sexual harassment policy, the appointment of such committees at every workplace and national oversight mechanism).

A major setback was the failure to pass the domestic violence bill, which aroused the most ire, particularly among religious parties who alleged it would “destroy the sanctity of marriage”. Despite the opposition, women’s rights activists believe a consensus could have been forged had the controversy over the Kerry-Lugar bill not taken centre stage. “The government decided to appease the religious parties by putting the bill on the back burner,” says activist Anis Haroon. “Appeasement is always done at the expense of women.”

Now as things stand, in the wake of the 18th Amendment, each province will have to legislate separately on this issue, which in an election year, seems unlikely.

Much remains to be done to make pro-women legislation more effective, and there are many obstacles to its implementation in a patriarchal culture. Nevertheless, the process of legislation itself was crucial in that it enabled women parliamentarians to create a space for themselves and for the women’s agenda.

According to rights activists who worked closely with them, women legislators were vital to the process (although some male parliamentarians were also very supportive). They worked with each other across party lines and lobbied with male party colleagues to win their support. Their efforts, hopefully, will have a multiplier effect on the women in the provincial assemblies who now have to pick up the mantle.