Women's Rights in Pakistan Take a Symbolic Blow

On Thursday, April 21, 2011, the Pakistani Supreme Court announced that it supports the acquittals of five of the six men who allegedly gang raped a young woman, Mukhtar Mai. Since 2002, when the rape took place, Mai has become a symbol of women's rights in Pakistan, and so human rights organizations and individuals of a similar mind are dismayed by the court's decision.

Mai was raped because the village council in Meerwala ordered it. The rape was a punishment for her brothers alleged illegal relations with a woman from the Mastoi tribe. In reality, he had not behaved in this way; rather, he was molested by a group of Mastoi men and this accusation was a cover up.

The legal battle has been a long one. At first, 14 men were charged, and 6, including the leader of the village council, were convicted and sentenced to death. Now all but one of those sentences has been reversed.

Mai decided to vocally condemn the rape, and in doing so she became a heroine of human rights and an encouragement to rape victims in Pakistan. According to the Human Rights Watch, although two of the Supreme Court's finest judges made this ruling, its decision was a disappointment to Mai and "a setback for...the broader struggle to end violence against women..."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/22/world/asia/22pakistan.html

-Gracie Hollister