Women’s Studies Fall 2007 Colloquium Series

“Laws, Customs and Reality: The Case of Pakistani Women"

Arfa Sayeda Zehra

Chair, National Commission on the Status of Women, Government of Pakistan

September 14, 12:30-1:30 pm

Saunders 244

Co-sponsors: Matsunaga Institute for Peace and The Program on Conflict Resolution

Center for South Asian Studies

Abstract

Dr. Zehra’s remarks will focus on some particular customary practices that endanger the very life of women in some tribal societies of Pakistan. It will also address the commitment of the state to redress these issues through legislation and to be signatory to international conventions for realizing the promise of a life of equity, justice and honor for women.

Women are sometimes subjected to coercion, dishonor and denial of basic human rights - neither due to their religion, i.e., Islam, nor due to state laws and the country’s Constitution. Both the government and the state aspire to guarantee that women are not subjected to injustices and are not denied respect as equal citizens. The issue of honor killing has been addressed through an Act. The talk will analyze this Act in the light of customary practices and the serious efforts made by the government, non-governmental organizations, and the civil society to address this form of violence against women. It will also discuss the root problems that make the work of bringing about change for the better difficult. In doing so, it will sift myth from reality.

Dr. Zehra has been a Professor for thirty-six years and has been intimately associated with issues dealing with women’s education and empowerment. She continues to teach as visiting faculty. Presently, Dr. Arfa serves as Chair of the National Commission on the Status of Women, Government of Pakistan. This puts her at the center of discussions about socio-cultural issues in national and international policies that focus on the empowerment of women. Dr. Zehra got her doctorate in History from the University of Hawai‘i in 1983 and was a fellow at the East-West Center between 1978 and 1983.