(Pakistan) Wider cooperation stressed to fight women trafficking
Category: Pakistan
Pakistan: ‘Violence against women on rise as perpetrators go scot-free’
(Pakistan) Sindh: ‘Violence against women on rise as perpetrators go scot-free’
— “Incidents of honour killing in Sindh have risen during the second quarter of the year (April up to date), while it has been observed that such incidents usually occur during the months of June and July in large number as compared to the rest of the year.”
— “This was disclosed by the members of the Aurat Foundation’s (AF) watch group in a consultative meeting held on Tuesday to review the situation of Violence Against Women under its policy and data-monitoring project. The participants pointed out that the fundamental rights of the women in the country were violated in the name of modesty and honour.”
— “The meeting revealed that women faced violence in every third household of the country in the lower, middle and upper class families, but most incidents go unreported at all levels.”
— “Similarly, in poor households, domestic violence is not even considered as violence”
— “AF Regional Coordinator Lala Hassan explained that women face physical, sexual, psychological and emotional violence – ranging from more covert acts (abusive language and coercion in marriage) to the most explicit forms (including physical torture, marital rape, custodial violence, honour killings, burning of women, acid throwing, genital mutilation, incest, gang-rape, public stripping, forced prostitution etc.)”
Pakistan’s Lahore: Man kills sister in the name of ‘honour’ — in front of other family members
(Pakistan) Lahore: Man kills sister in the name of ‘honour’
— “A man from Sabzazar has been arrested for allegedly killing his sister in yet another honour killing case on Thursday.”
— “According to police, Iqbal strangled his 22-year-old sister Adeeba – in the presence of family members – for having illicit relations with a boy from their neighbourhood.”
U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2009 and Gender Imbalance in Human Trafficking
U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report 2009
— See also “Sudan: Women and Other Slaves Freed”
Gender Imbalance in Human Trafficking
— Introduction, page 36 (hard copy), page 38 (electronic)
“The root causes of migration and trafficking greatly overlap. The lack of rights afforded to women serves as the primary causative factor at the root of both women’s migrations and trafficking in women…By failure to protect and promote women’s civil, political, economic and social rights, governments create situations in which trafficking flourishes.”
— Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women
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“According to the ILO, the majority of people trafficked for sexual exploitation or subjected to forced labor are female.”
“According to researchers, both the supply and demand sides of the trade in human beings are fed by ‘gendered’ vulnerabilities to trafficking. These vulnerabilities are the result of political, economic, and development processes that may leave some women socially and economically dependent on men. If that support from men becomes limited or withdrawn, women become dangerously susceptible to abuse. They often have no individual protection or recognition under the law, inadequate access to healthcare and education, poor employment prospects, little opportunity to own property, or high levels of social isolation. All this makes some women easy targets for harassment, violence, and human trafficking.”
“Research links the disproportionate demand for female trafficking victims to the growth of certain ‘feminized’ economic sectors (commercial sex, the ‘bride trade,’ domestic service) and other sectors characterized by low wages, hazardous conditions, and an absence of collective bargaining mechanisms. Exploitative employers prefer to use trafficked women — traditionally seen as submissive, cheap, and pliable — for simple and repetitive tasks in agriculture, food processing, labor-intensive manufacturing, and domestic servitude.”
“In countries where women’s economic status has improved, significantly fewer local women participate in commercial sex. Traffickers bring in more female victims to address the demand and also take advantage of women who migrate voluntarily to work in any industry. As commercial sex is illegal in most countries, traffickers use the resulting illegal status of migrant women that have been trafficked into commercial sex to threaten or coerce them against leaving. Gendered vulnerabilities fostered by social and institutional weaknesses in some societies — discriminatory laws and practices that tie a woman’s legal recognition, property rights, and economic opportunities to someone else — make women more likely than men to become trafficking victims. A woman who exists only through a male guardian who controls her income, identification, citizenship, and physical well-being is more susceptible to becoming a trafficking victim.”
Some Tier 3, 2 Watch, and 2 nations include (see Introduction, page 50 (hard copy), 52 (electronic copy) for complete list)
Tier 3 Nations include:
— Saudi Arabia
— Iran
— Syria
— Sudan
— Kuwait
— Malaysia
— Mauritania
— Communist North Korea
Tier 2 Watch List Nations include:
— Pakistan
— Iraq
— Lebanon
— Algeria
— Yemen
— United Arab Emirates
— Egypt
— India
— Russia
— Communist China
Tier 2 Nations include:
— Afghanistan
— Jordan
— Kosovo
— Turkey
— Communist Vietnam
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“The ninth annual Trafficking in Persons Report sheds light on the faces of modern-day slavery and on new facets of this global problem. The human trafficking phenomenon affects virtually every country, including the United States. In acknowledging America’s own struggle with modern-day slavery and slavery-related practices, we offer partnership. We call on every government to join us in working to build consensus and leverage resources to eliminate all forms of human trafficking.”
–Secretary Clinton, June 16, 2009
The Report
The report is available in PDF format as a single file [PDF: 22 MB
]. Due to its large size, the PDF has been separated into sections for easier download: Introduction; Country Narratives: A-C, D-K, L-P, Q-Z/Special Cases; Relevant International Conventions. To view the PDF file, you will need to download, at no cost, the Adobe Acrobat Reader.
–PDF Version: Trafficking in Persons Report, June 2009
–Introduction (PDF) [5071 Kb]
–Country Narratives: A-C (PDF) [4074 Kb]
–Country Narratives: D-K (PDF) [3889 Kb]
–Country Narratives: L-P (PDF) [4036 Kb]
–Country Narratives: Q-Z and Special Cases (PDF) [3868 Kb]
–Relevant International Conventions (PDF)
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Additional News Reports on Human Trafficking Watch List
— Expanded Human Trafficking Watchlist Puts Dozens of Countries on Notice
— Iran not doing enough to combat human trafficking, says US
— US adds Pakistan to human trafficking watchlist
Pakistan – Muslim Forces 12-year-old Girl to Convert, Marry Him
Pakistan – Muslim Forces 12-year-old Girl to Convert, Marry Him
— “The reaction of Pakistani law enforcement authorities to Sajida Masih’s
complaint so far — ridiculing her and asserting that there is nothing she can do because her daughter is now a Muslim — does not encourage her hopes of recovering her daughter Huma at next Thursday’s (June 11) hearing.”
— “The Christian mother of a 12-year-old girl in Punjab Province who was kidnapped, coerced into converting to Islam and forcibly married to a 37-year-old Muslim hopes to recover her daughter at a court hearing next week”
Pakistan: Update on Tasleem Solangi “honor-killing” case
(Pakistan) Supreme Court orders fresh investigation into Solangi honor-killing case
— “Tasleem Solangi honor-killing case, who was thrown in front of hungry dogs”
Pakistan Karachi: When a woman’s right becomes a ‘sin’
(Pakistan) Karachi: When a woman’s right becomes a ‘sin’
— “‘Is it a crime to even think of getting married for a second time?’ is the question that Sakina, 36, posed before the magistrate of the Malir Courts on Monday.”
— “‘What was I punished for?’ she asks. The punishment that she is referring to was blackening of the face and shaving off her head, all because she, a divorcee, dared and actually dreamed of having a second marriage.”
— “She informed the court that her husband, Lemoo, had divorced her two years ago and since then she had been living at her father’s house.”
— “She wished to marry for a second time and on May 27, went to the courts to consult her lawyer for a ‘khula’ as she realised that written proof would be needed.”
— “However, when her father and brothers came to know about her intention to divorce her husband, they tortured her.”
Pakistan: Report on Al-Huda International
(Pakistan) Report on Al-Huda International
— “Many girls have been ‘transformed’ by Ms Hashmi who now believe in limiting their existence to the four walls of the house”
Pakistan: Extremist theaten woman with “blasphemy” charge
(Pakistan) Punjab’s Mustafabad: Islamic Radicals Storm ‘Blasphemy’ Hearing
— ‘Blasphemy’ case against Munir Masih and his wife Ruqiya Bibi
— “Radical Pakistani Muslims in a town outside of Lahore this month overran
a courtroom in hopes of swaying a judge in a ‘blasphemy’ case against a
Christian couple, and a member of the prosecution later threatened to kill the wife”
— “The couple had granted a Muslim neighbor’s request to store some of his
possessions in their home, including a Quran.”
— “The Islamic clergymen storming into the courtroom claimed that no non-Muslims had the right to keep a Quran in their home”
— “After the bail hearing, a member of the prosecution team approached Bibi while she was outside the courtroom waiting to testify and threatened to kill her. ‘Ruqiya was waiting outside the court for her turn,’ Gull said, ‘and one man came and said, ”Whatever the decision, we will kill you.””
Pakistan: “Karo-Kiri” used to justify so-called “honor killings”
(Pakistan) Sindh’s Karachi: Man axes wife, lover
— “A man axed his young wife and her alleged paramour claiming karo-kari at Qazzafi Town within the jurisdiction of Shah Latif police station on Wednesday.”
— “The victims of the incident were identified as Shazia, 21, daughter of
Mohammad Yousuf and her relative Jan Mohammad, 35, son of Ghulab”
— “Karo-Kiri” used to justify extremist so-called “honor killings”