Violence Against Women:

A Case-Study of Mukhtaran Mai

Zamurrad Awan & Rabia Sarwar

 Abstract
Pakistani society is a patriarchal society with the
dominance of male member over the women folk.
The cultural obligations of Pakistani society has
supported the male dominance and cause violence
by male members against women.
Women in Pakistan even become worse when the
act of violence appears in different forms.
Mukhtara Mai is a victim of violence and she raised
her voice against inhuman customs and traditions.
 Chapter:1
Introduction
 In Pakistan, societal attitudes and norms as well as cultural
practices plays a discriminatory attitudes towards women.
 There are many kinds of violence like:
a) Domestic violence
b) Sexual harassment
c) Rape
d) Verbal abuse
e) Honour killing etc
 In order to eliminate the violence, state needs to ensure the full
protection of women rights.
 Statement of Problem

 Violence is an act of aggression which negates

fundamental rights of others and used by the stronger
person against a weaker one.
 Violence against women is a gender based violence
which results in to the physical, sexual or mental harm.
 Violence affects the million of women, in all socio-
economic and educational classes.
 A Male living in every corner of the world take women as
his personal property.
 Kinds of violence against urban women is quite different
from the rural class women.
 Background of the problem
 Pakistan is a patriarchal society, where women considered no more than a secondary
citizen.

 The role and status of Pakistani women in all walks of life is undermined by the male
members of our society.

 In the third world country the scenario has changed.

 Mukhtara Mai became a victim of honour killing.

 She fought for her rights and set examples for the women regarding the awareness of
their rights.

 Still there are many cases been reported about the violence against women.
 Rationale
The researcher wants:
 To see all sort to violence occurring in a society
and find out different ways to overcome violence
in a society.
 To find out the reasons behind the domestic
violence.
 To Analyze the problem of rural class women.
 Hypothesis formulation
 The patriarchal nature of Pakistani society has
always undermined the role of women in all the
fields of life. Although, the awareness
movements carried on by different NGOs and
media could not make any difference in
Pakistani society and the encroachment upon
women rights can be observed in society in
different forms and criteria.
 Chapter: 2
Literature review
 Patel (2003) stated in his book “Women Versus Man: socio-legal gender
inequality in Pakistan.” that how to proceed with the struggle to achieve
equal human rights for women in the Muslim world.
 Kiran and Usman (2007) in there article “Domestic Violence in a Male
Dominated and Conservative society” explain the effects of domestic
violence.
 Balchin (1996) stated in the book “Women, Law and Society” that the
violence indoor and outdoor of the family.
 Kristof (2006) explains in her book “In the Name of Honour: A Memoir”
about the gang-raped of Mukhtaran Mai. This book guides researcher to
analyses the Mai issue that how she suffers and how she come forward and
set many example for women.
 Jahangir and Jillani (1991) tell us in an article “Is Incest Impossible?” that
Incest is a very brutal issue and in that case many families do not support
their girls.
 Anonymous (2004) stated in the article “It’s in Our Hand. Stop
Violence Against Women” that societal attitude in turn has had a
deep and debilitating impact on the rights of women suffering from
such violence and their ability to seek and get justice.
 Shah (1999) stated in her book “Concept of Honour” that the
preservation within a society is upheld by a strict code of conduct by
the members of a community and shapes and forms the way
women are regarded in a particular culture and dictates the rules
that determine acceptable women behaviour and their sexual some
cases shape and influence the formal system of law making where
these societal concepts conduct.
 Nair (2008) explains in her book “Women and violence” She tells us
about the meaning of gender and sexuality and the balance of
power between women and men at all levels of society
 Khawaja (1991) tells in the article “The Burning Issues” that the
numbers of deaths are increasing. Deaths attributed to stove blast
more than doubled from 1988 to 1999, rising from 800 to
1800.There is a need to stop the most heinous act of violence.
 McGirk (2005) expresses in his book “Women's Rights in Pakistan:
The Woman Who Dared to Cry Rape.” about the case of Mukhtara
Mai.
 Abbas (2009) stated in her article, “Women’s Progress is a Mirage
in Pakistan” that women of urban and rural area, violence has not
been done as yet but the over all increase in violence stems from
various basic deficiencies that mainly include employment and
judicial structure
 Leigh (2000) tells us in his article “Musharraf says
'honour killing' is murder.” that honour killing should
consider as a murder he announced a series of steps
designed to improve human rights, including legislation
to treat "honour killings" of women as murder.
 Akhtar (2008), explains in his article “90 honour killings
reported in first quarter of 2008” the proportion of the
number of honour killing in all provinces of Pakistan.
 Najam (1999) explains in her article “Honour killing in
Pakistan” about the fundamental rights of the women.
Every woman has a right to live and liberty.
Aims and objectives of the study
The aim of the researcher behind the research on this sensitive topic
is:
 To detect the reasons behind domestic violence with the special
reference of Pakistan.
 To expose various kinds of violence existing in Pakistan and to
describe the ways through which it affects the lives of Pakistani
women.
 To critically evaluate the standings of Pakistani government over the
issues relate to women.
 To analyze the role of patriarchal society behind the different acts of
violence against women.
 To compare the lives of rural women with the women living in urban
areas of Pakistan.
 Chapter: 3
Research Methodology
 This work is based on literature available on violence
against women and the researcher has selected the
case of Mukhtaran Mai as her sample of research.
 The research is qualitative and it includes secondary
resources. Therefore the tools which have been used by
the researcher to prove her hypothesis are books,
newspaper articles and online journals along with the
material available in the resource centre of Shirkat Gah
and Aurat foundation.
 Chapter:4
Results
 Mukhtara Mai was courageous, and she became the
first woman in Pakistan to reclaim her honour by
fighting back against a barbarous tradition that almost
destroyed her.
 Four men raped her for the revenge of honour crime
but Mai faced every situation very boldly.
 Government helped her and give her many awards.
 On 2nd August she got Fatima Jinnah gold medal for
her bravery and courage.
 On 2nd November 2005, the US magazine named Mukhtara as
their Woman of The Year.
 According to the New York Times, "Her autobiography is the
No. 3 best seller in France.
 On 12 January 2006, Mukhtara Mai published her memoir
with the collaboration of Marie-Therese Cuny under the title
“Deshonoree.”
 In March 2007, Mukhtara formally received the 2006 North-
south Prize of the Council of Europe for her contribution to
human rights.
 Mukhtar Mai received Glamour's women of the year
award at New York's Lincoln Center.
 On 31st October 2006, Mukhtaran’s was released in
the United States, titled “In the Name of Honor: A
Memoir.”
 Her biggest achievment was the establishment of her
school.
 Discussions
 Mukhtara Mai was born in 1972; she belongs to
Meerwala, a small village in southern Punjab.
 On 22nd June, Mai suffered a gang-rape as a form of
honour revenge.
 The punishment is provoked by an accusation that her
young brother, Shakur seduced a woman, Salma, of
Matoi clan.
 Mukhtara parents wanted to settle the dispute.
 She decided to fight back and to take her culprits to
court.
 She was duly supported by her family, especially her
father.
 Pakistani Chief Justice called Mukhtara rape the most
heinous crime of twenty first century.
 She got her case registered and goes through many
legal procedures.
 Policemen get assigned to her home to protect her
and her family.
 Government awarded Mukhtara Mai with a sum of
500,000 rupees (8,200 US dollars).
 Mukhtara did not leave her struggle.
 She worked to educate girls, and to promote
education with a view towards raising awareness to
prevent future Honour crimes.
 She successfully builds her case to inspire and
motivate people, especially women, to fight for their
rights and honour, to realize their strength and fight
back.
 She has learned to exist and to respect herself as a
woman.
 Women empowerment through education.
 Mai fought to maintain her dignity and to protect
other women from abusive traditions
 On march 15,2009 Mukhtara Mai, married
with Nasirh Abbas Gabol.
 She opened a center for refuge and education
and Mukhtara Mai Women Welfare
Organization.
 She have made woman enough active that now
woman can fight for her right.
 Conclusion
 The culture since independence exhibits the patrilineal mind set in
Pakistani society, in which woman find herself extremely dependent and
an ignored entity.
 The history of women struggle for her rights witnessed that her voice for
the equal status at par with male counterparts couldn’t acquire the
expected results.
 the wrong interpretations of Islam by the orthodox ulemas further make
the status of women awkward in society.
 the women are becoming aware about their rights by the efforts of
different NGOs along with the media movements regarding violence
against women.
 of Mukhtara Mai serves as an inspiration for the women of our society.
She stood up against brutal torrents and fought for her rights.
 Mukhtara Mai serves as an inspiration for the women
of our society. She stood up against brutal torrents
and fought for her rights.
 Many acts of violence have been committed against
women but they rarely got reported. Today, the
responsible media, vibrant civil society and an
emancipated new section of well-aware female
society are working towards women empowerment
and alleviation of violence against women.
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