LEGAL AWARENESS
The
prosecution of rape and sexual assault necessitates that affected
people and supporters know what the law says. One way of empowering
the survivor is that you tell them how the law ensures their
physical protection and/or that of their rights.
For
this purpose, WAR has put on this page, some basic information
which tell you what everyone needs to know about rape laws
in Pakistan and how the law may be used to the advantage of
the complainant. These laws apply to the entire of Pakistan
and come into act when any case of sexual assault is reported.
For
procedural information pertaining to the reporting of a case,
please
click here.
The
most common defenses in cases of rape are and arguments by
the prosecution are:
Defense: |
Prosecution: |
| 1.
The survivor/advocate delayed in reporting the case. |
1.
The police often discourage survivor from lodging reports
due to a myriad of reasons, such as alleged corruption,
misogyny, gender bias and the need to show a clean record
of their respective towns. Additionally, a lot of ‘capacity’
issues, such as training and level of sensitivity towards
the case come into play. Pressure from the family and
lack of guidance and physical threats from the culprits
can also be used as arguments. |
| 2.
There are no eye-witnesses to the incident. |
2.
You can argue that according to the law, the effected
person’s statement is sufficient to implicate
a would-be rapist. |
| 3.
There is no or very little incriminating case property.
|
3.
You can site delays in the medico-legal system or claim
that the survivor did not know the procedure to follow. |
| 4.
There are no marks of violence or resistance on the
survivor’s body. |
4.
Sexual assault is paralyzing for most women. They are
most often in such a state of shock that they cannot
ward off the attacker. Additionally, rapists often drug
women to restrict their power to resist. Some rapes
are conducted at gun-point or by using the threat of
grave bodily harm. Also, most times the attacker is
someone in greater position of authority (such as a
close relative) making is difficult for survivors to
resist. You can also argue that the medico-legal officer
(MLO) did not document existing evidence. |
| 5.
The survivor bears a ‘bad moral character. |
5.
Remember that even sex-workers can get raped! Women
in the business of sex have had their rights acknowledged
in many parts of the world, including their right to
say ‘NO’ to a client or refusing to perform
certain acts they do not wish to. A woman’s sexual
history should have no bearing on whether she can or
cannot get raped. |
For
rape laws in Pakistan, with respect to the Criminal Laws Amendment,
Protection of Women Act, 2006, click
here.
|
