Outlawed in Pakistan Shows Rape Victims' Quest for Justice
By Sonya Rehman
October 26, 2014
Following on from
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s 2012 Oscar win for Saving Face, a documentary about
acid victims in Pakistan, this year Pakistani journalist Habiba Nosheen won an
Emmy award for her documentary, Outlawed in Pakistan.
Co-directed by Hilke
Schellmann, a German journalist, the documentary follows Kainat Soomro, a young
Pakistani girl who was gang-raped at the age of 13 on her way to school from a
rural village in Sindh. The bold, poignant documentary was filmed over the
course of four years, following Soomro’s quest for justice and redemption in a
country whose legal system is, at best, deeply flawed and riddled with
corruption.
In the documentary,
Soomro stated: “I was an 8th grade student. One day, I was returning home from
school. I stopped by a store to buy some things for my niece. While I was busy
shopping, someone put a handkerchief around my face. I became unconscious. They
were raping me. There were three men. Then they took me to an unknown place.
There, a fourth man came and raped me. They were keeping me drugged. Then they
threatened me. They had weapons. They threatened that they would kill me or
sell me. Somehow, I managed to escape. I escaped without my headscarf and my
shoes. Then I got on a bus. The bus driver knew my dad. He gave me a headscarf
and brought me home. I was gone for three days.”
Having been featured
last year at Sundance and aired on PBS Frontline, Soomro’s ordeal continued
well after the horrific incident. According to DAWN:
“Talking about rape in
a society that turns a blind eye to the offence not only made [Soomro]
vulnerable to persecution but also her family; her brother was murdered, her
father was repeatedly assaulted. The family was shunned from their home and
forced to relocate to Karachi but they did not give up.”
In 2013, as reported
by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, more than 2,000 cases of rape or
gang rape were registered in the province of Punjab alone. However, a majority
of cases remain unreported and unregistered, given the tradition of shame
associated with rape in the country. It is taboo to talk about rape. For a
victim to actively pursue justice for a rape crime? She is considered to be
disgracing and bringing dishonor to her family’s name. In conservative
Pakistani society, the accepted approach is to keep such crimes swept under the
rug. All too frequently, rape victims will fall prey to honor killing by their
families.
Still, some women have
begun to fight the system. Mukhtar Mai was gang-raped in 2002. Now one of
Pakistan’s best-known women’s rights advocates, Mai has pursued an unrelenting
fight for justice. Mai’s case attracted considerable media attention – both in
Pakistan and overseas. However, in 2011, Mai’s rapists (five of six men) were
acquitted by the Supreme Court, placing Mai’s life in grave danger.
Nonetheless, the activist remains a bold voice, a hero for countless Pakistani
women.
Interviewed in
Outlawed in Pakistan, Soomro said, “My brother used to say, ‘Kainat, no matter
what happens, never lose hope. Don’t let them go. We’re with you. The whole
family is with you.’ I’m scared to leave the house. Our home in Karachi was attacked.
I hope God and the courts will someday give me justice.
“The people who’ve
tortured me, raped me, the people who’ve displaced me, I’ll get them the death
penalty.”
Sonya Rehman is a journalist based in Lahore,
Pakistan.
Source: http://thediplomat.com/2014/10/outlawed-in-pakistan-shows-rape-victims-quest-for-justice/