Cases of women victims should be given priority

Islamabad : Justice (r) Nasira Javed has said that there is a need to prioritise the women victim cases over other criminal cases in order to provide rescue and remedy to the oppressed women class.Justice Nasira was addressing a public seminar here on “Role of the judiciary in promoting women’s access to justice in Pakistan,” organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute in collaboration with UN-Women.Justice Nasira said that first, we need to restore our Constitution into its original form by removing the clauses inserted by military rulers and then do the requisite amendments. She said there are so many existing laws in our Constitution, if implemented effectively, can be proved instrumental in providing a remedy to the victims, especially women.’’She said that we all have the responsibility to strive for a society where one should have respect for humanity above creed and class. For inclusion of woman in the society and making her an effective part of it, we need to include women in our decision-making, she observed. Media role is very important and equal to the rest of the three pillars of the state in promoting women access to justice. She said media should give ample time to discuss the issues of the women, which in turn would help in raising awareness among the public about women and human rights.Khawar Mumtaz, Chairperson, National Commission on the Status of Women, said there is no follow-up mechanism in place to ensure that the victim women are protected after the remedy. We need to think beyond the relief and monitor the victim’s safety and security. Also, there is a greater need to raise awareness among the public about their constitutional rights, she added.Human rights activist Tahira Abdullah said the role of the judiciary cannot be judged alone as it has multiple nexus with our society and governance system. She said there is not only a need to increase female participation in the judiciary but also in every sector, especially in the police service. She said it is unfortunate that our judicial system has severe issues of tampering with evidence, witnesses and medico-legal reports etc which led to failure of the whole judicial system and required immediate intervention. She remarked that Alternative Dispute Resolution should be abandoned as evidence suggested that it provided no remedy or justice to the victim, especially the women victim. She stressed the need for mainstreaming the issues of the women and the transgender community.Barrister and human rights campaigner Benazir Jatoi said that impartial justice, access to courts, honest legal procedure, effective legal process, effective execution and affordable justice are the major component of access to justice.Transgender rights activist Nayab Ali Khan, said that there is no inclusion of the transgender community and they are excluded from the society. She urges the government to ensure the provision of their constitutional rights and provide safety in the country.Dr Shafqat Munir from SDPI while moderating the panel said that multiple factors come at different levels of society that make women’s access to justice more difficult. There are structural, systemic, social and economic barriers that hamper women’s access to justice in Pakistan. These barriers include lack of access, resources, and social and family support, stigmatisation, lack of women representation in the judiciary, lack of law enforcement and the general inefficiency of the country’s judicial system, amongst others.

from The News International - Islamabad https://ift.tt/2Eyfyqm