Friday, May 9, 2008, Jamadi-ul-Awwal 2, 1429    

Society compels women to accept violence as fait accompli

Hyderabad— Violence against women is the every day reality and its existence is either denied or condoned and it has been used as a tool to control and dominate the women. It is so pervasive and prevalent that many women are compelled to accept it as a fait accompli, Chairperson of the Consumers Rights Forum Ms. Nasreen Shakil stated this here on Wednesday.
Nasreen Shakeel, who also acted as Chairperson of HRCP Task Force Sindh, for Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) while talking about different social conditions and difficulties of women issues said the women constitute almost half of the population of the country and their rights, irrespective of gender discrimination, have been guaranteed in the country’s Constitution.
However due to traditional male- dominated society where women happen to be a weaker segment as well as due to cultural norms and the prevailing social set up, they are dependent on men who take an undue advantage of their position and instinctively propagate male chauvinism. General Secretary of the Rotary Club Hyderabad Begum Almas Zafar
while sharing her views on the topic said according to present research it is indicated that parental divorce has its negative effects upon divorced women and their children and it was hypothesised that mean depression, anxiety and schizophrenic thinking of divorced women will be more as compared to married women.
She said it was also hypothesised that mean need for achievement and self esteem will be low in children of divorced women whereas a depressed mood and aggression will be more evident in children .—APP