Victim-blaming after rape in Pakistan sparks national outrage
Protesters in Karachi carry signs with anti-victim blaming messages while protesting against a gang rape that occurred along a highway. Source.
Content Warning: mentions of sexual assault, gender-based violence, and some graphic descriptions of gender-based violence incidents.
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On September 7, a woman in her late 30’s was driving between the cities of Lahore and Gujranwala in Pakistan when her car ran out of fuel. She was forced to stop on the highway with her two children when she called the police for help that night. Before the police arrived, two armed men smashed her car window, took her and her children into a field at gunpoint and raped the woman in front of her children. The suspects also stole her cash and jewelry before fleeing the scene.
Umar Sheikh, the lead police investigator, told the media that the woman should have known better than to travel alone at night. He noted that the victim was a resident of France, and she “mistook that Pakistani society is just as safe.” Additionally, he claimed that no one in Pakistan should “allow their sisters and daughters to travel alone so late.” Sheik’s remarks sparked further disgust surrounding the case as thousands took to the streets across Pakistan protesting this victim-blaming approach of the police. Protestors claim this is another case in which women who report sexual violence are treated as criminals and they called for the dismissal of Sheikh as the lead police investigator.
Since the incident, the police say they have arrested one of the two suspects in the case. The chief of the criminal investigation wing in Punjab, Atif Nazeer, said the arrest was made after tracking phone records and collecting forensic evidence from the scene. The suspect continued to deny any involvement in the case and local media reported that he handed himself over to the police to plead his innocence. Inan Ghani, the Inspector General of Punjab had told reporters that the police had identified the suspects through DNA tracing and he remains hopeful that the police will reach and arrest them. In response to the case, the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for the public hanging and “chemical castration” of the rapists exemplifying his outrage at the news.
Unfortunately, this incident is not an isolated one. Although it can be difficult to track just how many rapes occur, according to a study carried out by the Human Rights Watch there is a rape once every two hours in Pakistan. In comparison to the US, there are estimates that in the US a woman is raped every two minutes. Therefore, sexual assault and the lack of justice for the victims affect women and their safety on a global scale.
Days before the highway gang rape case, in Karachi (Pakistan’s largest city located in the south of the country) a 5 year-old girl named Marwa was raped, hit on the head, and set on fire. This happened a few months after the the murder of Zohra Shah in the city of Rawalpindi. Shah, an 8 year-old unpaid domestic worker, was tortured to death by her employers. Marwa’s death was closely followed by the highway gang rape case in Punjab, both of which sparked international attention as the incidents occurred hundreds of miles apart but highlighted a far greater societal injustice relating to the second-class treatment of girls and women. From Pakistan to the US, to virtually every corner of our globalized society, women are treated as the criminals for the crimes committed against them.
The unhealthy normalization of victim-blaming culture is detrimental to the justice needed for the victims. This toxicity is reproduced by official agencies, including the police and justice system who have perpetuated a victim-blaming approach. Similarly, the justice system in the US has been criticized for the blame it attributes to women in sexual assault crimes. For example, the ‘Me Too’ movement was founded to empower women who had experienced sexual violence and had previously felt marginalized from society because of this. Unless there is a structural shift away from blaming women for the violence committed against them, a more just society is unachievable. The cases of rape that have taken place in Pakistan this month alone have highlighted this injustice as well as demands for change among the Pakistani and global population.