White Ribbon Pakistan, a social sector organisation has resorted to an unorthodox approach to raise awareness about ending violence against women by launching playing cards with moral messages printed on them.
White Ribbon Pakistan, a social sector organisation working for gender equality, has resorted to an unorthodox approach to raise awareness about ending violence against women by launching playing cards with moral messages printed on them, a press release states. Each of the four Queens in the deck has been illustrated to depict a different form of abuse i.e. acid attacks, honor killings, psychological abuse and physical abuse.
These cards are being distributed by influential women, celebrities and social workers at different places like chai dhabbas, snooker and gaming clubs, road side cafés and tuck stops
On the side of these 4 cards, there are informational messages both in Urdu and English. These cards are being distributed by influential women, celebrities and social workers at different places like chai dhabbas, snooker and gaming clubs, road side cafés and tuck stops. The ‘Queens Campaign’ intends to not only spark conversation around the topic, but also inform men of the laws on women protection.
In Pakistan, every 5th woman is subjected to physical violence with 80% of the total women population suffering this abuse. About 40 percent of all married women go through domestic violence in their lifetime.
Each of the four Queens in the deck has been illustrated to depict a different form of abuse i.e. acid attacks, honor killings, psychological abuse and physical abuse
White Ribbon is working with a different approach to counter the issue of violence against women by addressing the patriarchal mind-set of individuals, society and state; and spreading awareness about the consequences of domestic violence.
Speaking at the eve of the launching ceremony of the campaign, Chief Executive Officer of White Ribbon, Omer Aftab said, “One issue with most communication campaigns on domestic violence is that the media is either ignored or doesn’t reach the target market. In an effort to connect directly with its intended audience, White Ribbon used a highly innovative medium that has never been utilized before.”
The first step to end the violence against women is to recognize the root causes of this menace. Gender-based discrimination, social norms, cultural practices and gender stereotypes perpetuate the violence against women. There are many ways to end violence such as prevent it before it happens, empowering women, educating society by promoting gender equality and changing norms and values, making strict laws, implementation and enforcement of the laws by giving appropriate punishment to the culprits and men engagement on different levels.
Prevent it before it happens
Preventing before it happens means educating our next generations regarding gender equality and gender discrimination which is a long term process. As we know that values and norms around gender equality are forged from childhood to adulthood. We should start educating children from early life and promote respectful relationships and gender equality among young boys and girls. Educating children to avoid gender stereotyping and false norms that promote gender inequality. Involvement of youth ensures the faster, sustained progress on preventing and eradicating gender-based violence.
Empowering women
We have to promote gender equality, women’s empowerment and the human rights of women. We will have to make public and private spaces safer for women, ensure their economic independence, security and increasing women’s participation and decision-making powers in all fields of life. Researches have proven that an educated and empowered woman is less likely to be the victim of abuse.
Making effective laws
An additional approach to reduce violence is to pass and implement effective laws and policies against the culprit. Legal systems and public policy frameworks have often overlooked the crisis of violence against women. Social bias and cultural norms protect the perpetrators from punishment and still a crime like domestic violence are considered a private matter in the eyes of common people. In Pakistan, many laws have been made to protect women against violence but many barriers and loopholes exist that are needed to be addressed.
Implementation and enforcement of the laws
While a historic number of laws and policies against violence are now in place, implementation is still lagging behind. Implementation of the laws strictly and across the board is crucial to put an end to the violence. Wrongdoers know the loopholes and cultural practices, they have no fear to get caught and punished which encourage them to keep doing violence. We cannot reduce the acts of violence until we give punishments to the perpetrators and make them a lesson for others.
Men engagement
There is a growing awareness that men, in partnership with women, can play a significant role in ending violence against women. Men engagement is proved to be the best practice to end the violence against women. Involvement of the men and boys accelerate the progress in ending GBV because most the time the men are the wrongdoers in this case. Men can have an important influence on reducing violence by changing their own attitudes and behavior and by intervening to prevent other men’s violence. A man can stop another man to end the violence by using authority, power and influence.
Men who have influence belonging to the different sectors like government, judiciary, and media can help in spreading awareness and mobilizing communities and they can take effective steps to curb the issue.
LAHORE: Around 60 to 70pc of women in Pakistan are suffering from some form of violence and abuse, around 5,000 women are killed every year while thousands become disabled because of domestic violence.
These figures have been revealed by the White Ribbon, an organisation which focuses on Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG), on the Day of Elimination of Violence against Women to mark the International 16 Days of Activism from Nov 25 to Dec 9.
Expressing concerns at the current condition of Pakistani women, White Ribbon CEO Omer Aftab stressed the need for immediate steps for eradication of violence against women.
“One out of every five women in Pakistan faces domestic violence and the ratio has increased alarmingly by 20pc in recent years,” he said.
Speaking at a nationwide pledge campaign launched by White Ribbon, he said the incidents of the VAWG, including domestic violence, murder, rape, child abuse, child marriages, honour killing, harassment and other anti-women cultural practices, were on the rise.
“White Ribbon is striving to end the violence against women by engaging men and boys to take the pledge: Never to commit violence, excuse it or remain silent about it. White Ribbon is actually a men’s movement to end violence against women by addressing men and the patriarchal mindset of individuals and society. We believe it is not sufficient to create awareness about women rights among the women only, men must join them; to encourage norms of consent, respect and gender equality; to challenge the unfair power relations, which promote gender-based violence,” Mr Aftab added.
LAHORE: White Ribbon Campaign Pakistan arranged ‘White Ribbon Ride’ to end violence against women in collaboration with ‘Crazy Horse’ and HOG Pakistan. Motorcycle riders holding White Ribbon flags and white ribbon placed on their jackets and helmets departed from Lahore Polo Club and reached Indigo Heights. With passion and purpose, the group rode across Jail Road, Main Boulevard, Liberty Market and Hussain Chowk to highlight the message of White Ribbon.
The activity was the part of 16 Days of Activism to End Violence against Women, commemorated each year starting November 25 to December 10.
It was men reaching out to men in which bikers spread the message that beating women or violence against women is not okay. The riders took a pledge never to commit, excuse and remain silent about violence against women. They invited other men to join the men’s movement to end violence against women. A movement launched by the men who are not afraid to stop violence against women.
Talking to the media CEO White Ribbon Omer Aftab said, “We need millions of men as agents of change to end violence against women.” Eradicating violence against women from society is not possible without engaging men, he said. One of the representatives of the bikers’ group showed deep concern for the victims of violence and said a good Muslim and a good human being would never harm any woman around him and we must protect the women suffering from violence. Managing director of Indigo Heights Col (retd) Ahmad Fazeel Khan said Indigo Heights is a proud sponsor of the activity.
It’s an exciting initiative where riders who look cool and ride powerful bikes, talk about respectful relationships and tackling violence against women.
Patriarchal culture is one of the biggest barriers in ending violence against women. The system provides cultural support to men for undermining women. The system institutionalizes male power over women and puts male interests and values at the centre of social life. It allows or encourage men to exploit women.
The supporters of patriarchal society justify patriarchy by attributing natural biological differences between men and women. The Greek Philosopher Aristotle portrayed women as inferior to men morally, intellectually and physically. Patriarchal society gives absolute priority to men and some extent limits women’s human rights.
The patriarchal mindset gave birth to the masculinity and femineity in which both men and women are associated with some attributes, behaviours and roles that are acceptable and appropriate for people based on their gender ignoring the fact that both men (boys) and women (girls) can exhibit Masculine and Feminine traits and behaviour.
For instance, Women are supposed to be shy, passive and submissive. Men are expected to be tough, aggressive, dominant and self-confident. Women are supposed to cook, do housework and raise children. On the other hand, men cannot cook, do house chores or babysit. Women are expected to be beautiful, slim, clear skin and delicate while men are supposed to be tall, rough and muscular. Even jobs are gender-stereotyped, firefighting is thought of as a man’s job, whereas nursing is thought of as women’s work.
It is considered that women’s role in society is to reproduce and serve men in the household. All these gender-based beliefs lead to gender discrimination and unequal or unfair treatment to women.
Men who think they are superior, their destructive beliefs and expectations about what it means to be a man provoke them to show their manhood, strength and power through violence and aggression. More often than not, toxic masculinity ends up inflicting violence on women.
Patriarchy and toxic masculinity have an immense impact on the lives of women in every field of life. For instance, in government women have less formal power and representation. In the household, they are considered a machine who produce the children and raise them. Moreover, they are more likely to being abused physically, psychologically, emotionally, socially and economically. They have fewer opportunities in professional life and also paid less. They are treated negatively in terms of sexuality. They are more misrepresented and used as a commodity in media and popular culture.
Patriarchy does not necessarily mean that every man has control over every woman in every context. all men do not participate or experience patriarchy in the same way. Various groups, most notably the feminist movement, have led efforts to change aspects of patriarchy that they believe are oppressive or inaccurate.
Considering the situation “White Ribbon Campaign” is striving to eradicate violence against women with a unique approach of addressing the patriarchal mindset of induvial and society. It engages men to end the violence because men can play a significant role in ending violence against women by changing their behaviour towards women, challenging other abusive men and convincing others to stop violence against women too.
Working with men and boys can offer new models of masculinity and manhood, which reject gender violence and build respect for women and girls.
White Ribbon’s men engagement campaign engages decision-makers and opinion leaders who hold a good position in the society to get political, financial, and moral support in ending violence against women
White Ribbon also uses the concept of Fatherhood because It can be a strong motivator for men who engage in violence to end it while keeping in view the better upbringing and developmental process of their children. It is well considered to be a part of a long-term solution to ending violence.
We will be able to witness less violence in society as more men will focus on caregiving, nurturing and making efforts to bring up their kids as better human beings. It will ultimately result in less violence against children, less violence against women and less violence against other men.
