KARACHI: It is two months since Shazia underwent a so-called virginity test during a rape examination at a Karachi hospital, but the Pakistani teenager is still visibly traumatized.
She winces as she describes how the doctor carried out the “two-finger test” (TFT), ostensibly to determine if a woman or girl is sexually active.
“I screamed loudly as it hurt a lot and told her to stop, but she continued and said angrily that I will just have to bear it,” said Shazia, whose real name the Thomson Reuters Foundation has withheld.
Women’s rights campaigners in Pakistan have long fought for virginity testing to be banned, arguing it is degrading, and that a woman’s sexual history has no bearing on whether she has suffered rape.
The World Health Organization said in a 2018 report the tests had “no scientific merit” and were painful and humiliating, and called for a global ban.
In Pakistan, a series of legal rulings has raised hopes of an end to the practice, most recently in January when a court in the most populous province declared the test illegal, upholding a challenge by a group of campaigners.
It is over a decade since Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled that a rape complaint cannot be dismissed on the basis of a virginity test.
But women working in the Pakistani judicial system said the tests were still widely used, blaming a lack of resources as well as deep-seated misconceptions about sexual violence.
Summaiya Syed Tariq is a police surgeon who has been working with assault survivors in Pakistan’s Sindh province since 1999, carrying out rape examinations, conducting autopsies and presenting evidence in court.
She stopped carrying out two-finger tests in 2006 after becoming aware of the damage they can do, and has been working to raise awareness ever since.
But with just 11 female medical workers available to carry out rape exams in the whole of Karachi — Pakistan’s biggest city with more than 16 million inhabitants — Tariq said the two-finger test was often regarded as a “quick fix”.
“The issue of virginity, or how ‘habitual’ a woman may be to the ‘act’, should never be a consideration for the examiners,” she said in comments on WhatsApp. “Commercial sex workers can be raped too. The charge of rape, per se, should be enough to carry out examination and investigation and past sexual history should not be taken into consideration.”
LOW CONVICTION RATE
Many human rights organizations have condemned virginity testing as inhumane and unethical, and it is banned in many countries.
India’s government issued guidelines in 2014 saying the test “had no bearing on a case of sexual violence”, though women’s rights campaigners have said it is still being used.
In Afghanistan, a study last year found that forced gynaecological examinations were being conducted in contravention of a 2018 law that requires either the consent of the patient or a court order.
Pakistan’s president announced a ban in December as part of a raft of measures to strengthen the country’s laws on sexual violence following a public outcry over the gang rape of a woman who was stranded after her car ran out of fuel.
But those measures will soon expire unless parliament votes them into law.
Mirza Shahzad Akbar, an adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan, said the measures would be presented to parliament after elections to the upper house, due to be held on March 3.
Pakistan’s minister for human rights, Shireen Mazari, tweeted her support for a ban last month, calling the practice “demeaning and absurd”.
She was responding to a Lahore high court ruling that virginity tests should not be carried out. The judge called it a “humiliating practice which is used to cast suspicion on the victim, as opposed to focusing on the accused”.
A similar challenge is now being heard in the high court of Karachi, capital of Sindh province, where Tariq works.
Last year she selected 100 rape cases in Sindh at random to see whether two-finger tests had been conducted. She found 86 of the victims had, like Shazia, been subjected to the test.
Shazia said the medic who carried out her test appeared angry and in a hurry.
The man accused of raping her is in custody, but she and her family have had to leave the neighborhood where they lived due to the stigma that surrounds rape in Pakistan.
She is receiving help through lawyer Asiya Munir, who works with campaign group War Against Rape (WAR), and believes the two-finger test is a factor in Pakistan’s low conviction rate for rape.
Less than 3% of sexual assault or rape cases result in a conviction in Pakistan, according to the Karachi-based group.
“It is very traumatising for a person already in a state of shock,” said Munir, criticizing what she called the “almost accusatory tone” of many rape investigations.
Pressure grows in Pakistan to end invasive test for rape survivors
https://arab.news/4wdja
Pressure grows in Pakistan to end invasive test for rape survivors
- In Pakistan, a series of legal rulings has raised hopes of an end to the two-finger test, most recently in January when a Punjab court declared it illegal
- WHO said in a 2018 report the test had “no scientific merit” and was painful and humiliating, calling for a global ban
Pakistan expands Makkah Route Initiative to Karachi, plans flights for Hajj pilgrims from May 9
- Saudi staff will have access to eight counters and required equipment at Karachi airport’s international departure area
- Pakistan first joined the Makkah Route Initiative in 2019 as part of a pilot program that was introduced in Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: In a major development for Hajj pilgrims in Pakistan, the government plans to launch flight operation to Saudi Arabia under the expanded Makkah Route Initiative to the southern port city of Karachi from May 9, according to an official statement released on Friday.
The initiative, launched by Saudi authorities in collaboration with several Muslim-majority states, facilitates the annual Islamic pilgrimage for numerous people traveling to Makkah.
Under the initiative, tasks like immigration processing are completed in the pilgrim’s home country, allowing them to bypass these procedures upon arrival in Saudi Arabia. This not only reduces waiting times and congestion at Saudi airports but also enhances the overall experience for pilgrims by making their journey more comfortable and focused on spirituality.
Pakistan joined the initiative in 2019 as part of a pilot program that began in Islamabad. Its success led to plans for the program’s expansion to other cities, with pilgrims from Karachi preparing to benefit from it for the first time this year.
“The Hajj flights under the Road to Makkah Project will commence on 09 May and conclude on 08 June,” the statement circulated by Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority said, adding that all the relevant agencies at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport have assured of unwavering commitment for the successful implementation of the program.
The official statement was released after a meeting at the Karachi airport that focused on the initiative.
All stakeholders, including airline representatives, ground handling agencies, border health services, airport security, Federal Investigation Agency, customs and Anti-Narcotics Force were present during the deliberations.
The meeting focused on the procedures involved at different stages of Hajj pilgrims’ stay at the airport, beginning with their arrival at the facility until their departure, following Saudi immigration formalities.
It was agreed that Saudi staff would have access to eight counters and all the required equipment in the international departure satellite area.
The airport manager stressed the importance of providing a seamless experience to pilgrims and urged all agencies to treat and welcome them as honored guests.
Senior journalist among three killed in bomb attack in Balochistan on World Press Freedom Day
- Khuzdar Press Club president was killed after a motorcyclist attached an explosive device to his vehicle
- Journalists say media workers were also killed in the past but their murderers were never brought to justice
QUETTA: A senior journalist was killed in a powerful blast that claimed at least two other lives in Pakistan’s volatile southwestern Balochistan province, confirmed a senior administration official on Friday, after a motorcyclist attached an explosive device to his vehicle at a bustling market area.
The incident that took place in Khuzdar, a remote city in the region, on World Press Freedom Day sent shockwaves through the media community in the province that has witnessed much violence in the last couple of decades.
Maulvi Muhammad Siddique Mengal, the targeted journalist, was currently the president of the Khuzdar Press Club and had also received threats from unknown individuals in the past.
“President of the Khuzdar Press Club Maulvi Muhammad Siddique Mengal and two bike riders near his vehicle were killed in the attack,” Deputy Commissioner Khuzdar Arif Khan Zarkoon told Arab News after the emergence of the CCTV footage of the attack. “Five people were injured who were shifted to the District Hospital Khuzdar for treatment.”
“Mengal was traveling in his private vehicle to a mosque to offer Friday prayers when an unknown man attached a magnetic explosive device to his vehicle which exploded at Chamrook Chowk and killed him on the spot,” he added.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
“Maulvi Siddique Mengal had been receiving threats from unknown people for the last year,” said one of the local journalists who requested anonymity. “He survived a firing attack nine months ago. Journalism has become a life-threatening profession in Khuzdar. We even closed Khuzdar Press Club for more than six months after threats by unknown people in 2012.”
Pakistan is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists, particularly for those working in the country’s western Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international organization working for journalists’ safety, at least 62 media workers have been killed in targeted attacks in Pakistan since 1992.
The Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ) has strongly condemned Mengal’s murder, demanding the arrest of the perpetrators of the Khuzdar blast.
Khalil ur Rehman, the BUJ president, said targeting a journalist on World Press Freedom Day was an attempt to suppress the voice of media workers in Balochistan.
“Forty-two journalists have lost their lives in Balochistan over the last two decades, while 10 journalists were killed in Khuzdar district during the last decade, but not a single murderer of journalists has been arrested yet,” he told Arab News. “Journalists in Balochistan are already facing security challenges, but this attack indicates that targeted attacks against journalists have started again.”
Mir Sarfaraz Bugti, chief minister of Balochistan, has strongly condemned Mengal’s killing, ordering an investigation into it.
“The Balochistan government will utilize all resources to arrest the perpetrators involved in the killing of the senior journalist in Khuzdar,” he said in a statement. “Terrorists involved in sabotaging peace in Balochistan won’t succeed.”
Global advocacy group says over 300 journalists faced state repression in Pakistan in one year
- International Federation of Journalists says 8 media workers were charged for sedition, terrorism, incitement to violence
- It mentions the plight of Afghan journalists in exile, safety issues of Pakistani women journalists in online and offline spaces
ISLAMABAD: A leading global advocacy group for journalists’ rights on Friday highlighted alarming challenges faced by the media in Pakistan on Friday, saying that more than 300 people associated with the information industry faced repressive state tactics designed to quell dissent during the course of about a year.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) released its country report on Pakistan on World Press Freedom Day that falls on May 3.
The report highlighted the persistent threats to freedom of expression, safety concerns, gender inequality, and the impact of disinformation on the local media industry.
“Over 300 journalists and bloggers this year were affected by state coercion and targeted, including dozens of journalists arrested for durations between several hours to four weeks and nearly 60 served legal notices or summons for their journalism work or personal dissent online,” the IFJ Pakistan country report for 2023-2024 said. “At least eight were charged for alleged sedition, terrorism and incitement to violence – all serious charges carrying lengthy sentences and even the death penalty.”
It maintained that most of these cases stemmed from the perceived or actual support of these journalists for former prime minister Imran Khan and his political party.
“In this sense, the principal threat actor behind crimes against journalists and free speech practitioners was undoubtedly the state and its functionaries, though some regional sects, non-state actors and gangsters were also involved in some cases,” the report added.
The IFJ described the judicial intervention in these matters as “the silver lining,” saying it thwarted the government’s attempts to entangle journalists “in legal proceedings as a tool of deterring dissent.”
The report noted four journalists were killed during the period under review while at least 59 journalists and bloggers were charged with sedition, terrorism, incitement to violence, defamation or contempt.
“Of these, 47 journalists were served legal summons to respond to allegations of targeted defamation and incitement against judges of the superior judiciary,” it continued.
The report also maintained the safety of women journalists in Pakistan’s online and offline spaces remained a persistent challenge.
“They continued to face gender-based discrimination, journalism work-related intimidation and under-representation in the industry,” it said.
The IFJ said this environment led to self-censorship among journalists and media outlets, especially while writing on topics concerning religion and law.
It also highlighted the plight of Afghan journalists, saying nearly 200 of them had fled to Pakistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
“In October 2023, Pakistan’s government unilaterally demanded that Afghan refugees return to Afghanistan, setting a deadline of one month before authorities began forced deportations,” it recalled. “Amongst the refugees were 200 journalists who had fled to Pakistan to escape stifling restrictions on free speech in Afghanistan.”
The organization said it had called for financial and legal assistance for these journalists to support their sustenance and freedom to report.
Pakistan extradites Oslo festival shooting suspect to Norway
- The man opened fire outside two bars in Oslo in 2022, killing two men and wounding nine others
- Zaniar Matapour, a 44-year-old Norwegian of Iranian origin, is currently on trial for an ‘act of terror’
OSLO: Pakistan has extradited to Norway a man suspected of masterminding an Oslo shooting on the eve of a 2022 festival, Norwegian authorities said on Friday.
On the night of June 25, 2022, just hours before the parade was to take place, a man opened fire outside two bars in central Oslo, including a well-known gay club, killing two men and wounding nine others.
The suspected shooter, Zaniar Matapour, a 44-year-old Norwegian of Iranian origin, is currently on trial accused of an “act of terror.”
Matapour has pleaded not guilty, and psychiatric experts are at odds over his mental health and thereby his legal responsibility.
Arfan Bhatti, a 46-year-old who has lived and is well known in Norway, is suspected of having planned the attack but left Norway for Pakistan before the shooting.
Even though Norway and Pakistan have no agreement on extraditions, Pakistani authorities agreed to grant Oslo’s request.
“Arfan Bhatti is now on a plane escorted by Norwegian police,” Norway’s Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl told reporters on Friday.
Bhatti, who denies any involvement and had opposed extradition, will be placed in custody on arrival in Oslo, Norwegian police said.
He is suspected of being an “accomplice to an aggravated act of terror,” a charge that carries a prison sentence of up to 30 years.
Bhatti is expected to be called to testify during Matapour’s trial, police said.
Bhatti’s lawyer was angry that his client was extradited before Pakistan’s supreme court had a chance to rule on his case.
“This way of doing things calls into question the respect of law and international legal principles,” John Christian Elden said.
On World Press Freedom Day, Pakistani PM says journalists in Gaza ‘heroes of humanity’
- Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 97 press members killed in Gaza war, 92 of them Palestinians
- UNESCO on Thursday awarded its world press freedom prize to all Palestinian journalists covering the war in Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday the journalists who were covering the war in Gaza, especially those who had died in the line of duty, were “heroes of humanity.”
Sharif said this in his statement on World Press Freedom Day, observed on May 3 each year to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The day also marks the anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in Windhoek in 1991.
According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 97 members of the press have been killed since the war in Gaza broke out in October, 92 of whom were Palestinians.
“The male and female journalists who sacrificed their lives during coverage in Gaza are heroes of humanity,” Sharif said. “I salute them.”
Separately, UNESCO on Thursday awarded its world press freedom prize to all Palestinian journalists covering the war in Gaza, launched by Israel over seven months.
“In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition to those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances,” said Mauricio Weibel, chair of the international jury of media professionals.
“As humanity, we have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression.”
Audrey Azoulay, director general at the UN organization for education, science and culture, said the prize paid “tribute to the courage of journalists facing difficult and dangerous circumstances.”
The war started with Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to a media tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,596 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.
With inputs from AFP
