LAHORE: A network of women journalists has condemned the murder of Baloch journalist Shaheena Shaheen, and demanded the government take some solid steps to protect women journalists.

In a press statement issued on Wednesday, the journalists from print, electronic as well as digital media stated that while they were encouraged that the federal Ministry of Human Rights had taken notice of Shaheena’s case, there must be an adequate follow-up by the state to ensure that the killer is prosecuted.

They said the state prosecution must also challenge the pardon given by the family in Urooj Iqbal’s case of 2019 and pursue the case with the state as a party. Ultimately, the government must take immediate and urgent steps to pass the Journalist Protection Bill with added provisions that recognise the gendered threats that women journalists face and institute accountability mechanisms to mitigate and address them.

The group was of the view that the murder of Shaheena, who has been allegedly killed by her husband, was a grim reminder that women journalists face innumerable barriers and threats on the basis of their gender.

“We also remember the brutal murder of Urooj Iqbal in November 2019 who was also shot by her husband outside her workplace for allegedly not agreeing to quit her job. Despite the fact that the murder was condemned by journalists across the world, her family eventually settled the matter outside of court and did not pursue a case against her husband. This shows that when the perpetrator of violence is a family member, the likelihood of settling the matter outside of court, often due to the pressure exerted on the family, is high. Since the passage of the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offences in the name or pretext of Honour) Act, 2016, cases of honour killings can be pursued by the state under Section 299 of the Pakistan Penal Code regardless of whether the family forgives the perpetrator or not, but the implementation of the law is inconsistent,” the statement reads.

The challenges that women journalists face cannot be neatly captured by the discourse of journalist security and media freedoms. Women journalists are subjected to a double threat, which is professional and personal to their bodies and well-being.

On Tuesday, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, said that the Pakistan government must take “immediate, concrete steps to ensure the protection of journalists and human rights defenders who have been subjected to threats, [...] the need for prompt, effective, thorough and impartial investigations with a view to ensuring accountability in cases of violence and killings”.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2020