Gender Studies

Case Studies of:

1. Mukhtaran Mai
Specs:

Born in 1972 in Meerwala, Jatoi in Muzaffarabad District. Belongs to the

Gujjar tribe.

The facts (in order):

1. On June 22, 2002​, a tribal council in the Pakistani village of Mirwali was
in session to resolve an issue between two tribes. Members of the village’s
Mastoi tribe had accused 12 year old Abdul Shakoor (Henceforth A.S) of
the Gujjar tribe of having an affair with Salma Naseen, sister of Abdul
Khaliq (A.K) from the Mastoi tribe.
2. A.S denies the accusation and explained that three Mastoi men had
kidnapped and sodomized him earlier in the day, and when he had
threatened to report the incident, they concocted the story about the affair.
He was allegedly kept imprisoned in the home of A.K. A.S’s family
threatened to go to the police.A.S is nevertheless arrested by police on
charges of adultery.
3. The boy’s father appeared before the tribal council to address the
matter.Worried about her father, the boy’s elder sister attended the
proceedings as well. The council decided that A.S should marry Salma
Naseen and that, in exchange, Mai would marry someone from the Mastoi
tribe. Although the boy’s father accepted the decision, villagers from the
Mastoi tribe rejected it. They demanded that zina be settled with zina.
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4. Mai was called by the council to apologize for her brother’s alleged
behavior; however,when she arrives she was dragged to a nearby hut and
gang raped allegedly by four men. Armed men of the Mastoi tribe
restrained Mukhtar Mai’s father and uncle as they tried to help her. They
gang-raped Mukhtar Mai for more than one hour. After the men raped
her, they stripped Mukhtar Mai of her clothing and threw her out of the
hut. As she walked naked through the village to her home, her father
draped her with a shawl. The Mastois inform the police that the dispute
has been settled and Shakoor is released.
5. On 28 June 2002​ ​During his weekly Friday sermon, the village imam
(prayer leader) declares that a great sin has been committed and asks the
villagers to report the matter to the police.The imam then tells a reporter
from a nearby town who publishes the story in the local press.
6. It is immediately picked up by the international media and the Punjab
government asks the police to take immediate action.
7. On 30 June 2002:​ A case is registered with the Dera Ghazi Khan (southern
Punjab) police against 14 men. All are arrested and charged under various
provisions of the Pakistan Penal Code (provisions 109/149) of 1868, the
Anti-Terrorism Act (7c & 21-1) of 1997 and the Offence of Zina
(Enforcement of Hadd) Ordinance (10-4 and 11) of 1979. Four of the 14
accused are charged with raping Ms Mai while the rest are booked for
abetment.
8. Their trial begins in an anti-terrorism court in Dera Ghazi Khan (southern
Punjab).The medical examination of Ms Mai and chemical analysis of her
clothes reveals at least two semen stains.
9. On 5 July, 2002:​ Ms Mai is awarded a sum of 500,000 Rupees.
10. On 31 August 2002:​ The trial court announces the verdict in a special
midnight session, sentencing six men to death. Four of these are sentenced
for raping her while two are convicted for being a part of the panchayat
that decreed the rape.
11. The remaining eight are released and subsequently freed. The gulitymen
appealed thier case. See point 15 for decision on this appeal.
12. On 3 September, 2002​:​ ​The State and Mukhtar Mai file separate appeals
in the Multan bench of the Lahore high court against the acquittal of the
eight men set free.
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13. From 3 September, 2002 to 3 March, 2005:​ Ms Mai busies herself in

setting up two schools in her village with the compensation money
awarded to her.
14. Her courage and efforts are acknowledged worldwide and generous
donations are made for her school.
15. On 3 March, 2005​:​ The Multan bench of the Lahore High Court reverses
the trial court's judgment on the basis of "insufficient evidence" and
"faulty investigations". [On the basis of the appeal of convicted men] The
court acquits five of the six while the death sentence of the sixth is
commuted to life imprisonment. The court orders the release of the five
acquitted. The acquittals cause an international outcry and human rights
groups call upon the Pakistan government to intervene.
16. From 4 to 7 March, 2005:​ Ms Mai writes to the government saying she
fears for her life if those acquitted are released.
17. Rights group hold rallies in various Pakistani cities protesting against the
acquittals.
18. On 11 March, 2005​:​ Pakistan's highest Islamic court, the Federal Shariat
Court, suspends the Lahore High Court's acquittal of the five men.
19. The court rules that the Lahore High Court does not have the jurisdiction
to hear appeals in cases tried under Islamic laws. The Shariat Court
decides to hear the case itself.
20.On 14 March, 2005:​ The Supreme Court - Pakistan's highest judicial forum
- intervenes to set aside the ruling by the Sharia court.
21. The Supreme Court says it will hear the final appeal in the case. It rules
that the Lahore High Court verdict will stand till such time that the appeal
in the Supreme Court is decided. The five acquitted are ordered to be
released.
22. On 15 March, 2005​:​ Four of the five acquitted in Ms Mai's case are
released on the orders of the Supreme Court. The fifth is detained on
other, unrelated charges but is released two days later.
23. On 17 March, 2005:​ Ms Mai appeals to President Musharraf to order the
re-arrest of the four men released saying she fears for her life.
24. On 18 March, 2005:​ The five men released earlier are re-arrested along
with the eight others who had been found not guilty at the original trial in
2002.
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25. All are detained on an order from the government of Punjab province
under the maintenance of public order ordinance - a law which allows the
authorities to detain anyone for a period of 90 days on grounds that the
person is a threat to public order.
26. On March 26, 2005​:​ Mukhtar Mai files an appeal in the Supreme court
against the acquittal of five men sentenced to death by the Supreme court.
27. On 10 June, 2005:​ Ms Mai says she is being prevented from travelling
abroad by the government. She was to fly to London on invitation of
Amnesty International. Officials say the security measures are in place for
Ms Mai's own safety and that she can travel abroad once the courts have
dealt with her case.It is reported that she has applied for a US visa after
being invited by a US-based women's rights NGO to visit the US.
28.On 13 June, 2005​:​ The 90-day detention period comes to an end but all 14
men remain in jail as no one comes forward to furnish their bail bonds.
29. On 14 June, 2005:​ Ms Mai is taken by the police first to Lahore to meet
Provincial Assembly Member Shagufta Anwar and then to Islamabad for a
meeting with the prime minister's advisor on women development, Nilofer
Bakhtiar.Officials confirm that her name has been included in the Exit
Control List.She demands the removal of her name from ECL as she was
u”virtually under house arrest” because of the police detail assigned to her.
The travel ban on Ms Mai is widely condemned, locally and
internationally. Critics say the move is to stop Ms Mai's case generating
bad publicity for Pakistan abroad.
30.On 15 June 2005:​ Ms Mai spends two hours at the US consulate and
withdraws her application for a US visa. Her passport is taken from her as
she emerges from the US embassy.The same day, the government
announces that her name has been removed from the Exit Control List. Ms
Mai says the removal is meaningless as her passport has been taken away
and she cannot travel anyway.
31. On 18 June, 2005: ​The Supreme Court says it will start hearing Ms Mai's
appeal against acquittals on 27 June.
32. On 28 June, 2005:​ The Supreme Court suspends the acquittals of the five
men convicted. It orders that they and eight others found not guilty at the
original trial be held pending retrial.
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33. On 21 April 2011​, The Supreme Court set aside the Lahore High Court,
Lahore's verdict of acquitting A. Ditta, Ghulam Farid, Faiz Mastoi and
Ramzan Parchar. However the Supreme Court confirmed acquittal of
Khalil Ahmad, Ghulam Hussain, Qasim Rasool, Hazoor and Nazar
Hussain for being falsely implicated by Mukhtar Mai

Accolades and honors:

1. On 2 August 2005​, the Pakistani government awarded Mukhtaran the Fatima
Jinnah gold medal for bravery and courage.
2. On 2 November 2005,​ the US magazine ​Glamour​ named Mukhtaran as their
Woman Of The Year.
3. On 12 January 2006​, Mukhtaran Mai published her memoir with the
collaboration of Marie-Thérèse Cuny under the title ​Déshonorée​. The originating
publisher of the book is OH ! Editions in France and her book was published
simultaneously in German by Droemer Verlag as ​Die Schuld, eine Frau zu sein​.
4. On 16 January 2006​, to coincide with the publication of her memoir, Mukhtaran
Mai travelled to Paris (France) and was received by Foreign Minister Philippe
Douste-Blazy.
5. On 2 May 2006​, Mukhtaran spoke at the United Nations headquarters in New
York. In an interview with United Nations TV, Mai said that "she wanted to get
the message across to the world that one should fight for their rights and for the
rights of the next generation."She was welcomed by UN Under-Secretary General
Shashi Tharoor, who said, “I think it is fair to say that anyone who has the moral
courage and internal strength to turn such a brutal attack into a weapon to
defend others in a similar position, is a hero indeed, and is worthy of our deepest
respect and admiration.”
6. On 31 October 2006,​ Mukhtaran's memoir was released in the United States as ​In
the Name of Honor: A Memoir​.
7. On 15 November 2006​, Pakistan's lower house of Parliament voted to alter its
rape laws to move them from religious law to penal code, effectively separating
rape from adultery. It also modifies the law to no longer require that the victim
produce four witnesses of the assault, and it allows circumstantial and forensic
evidence be used for investigation. The bill reduced the penalty for adultery from
execution to a maximum of five years' incarceration and a 10,000 rupee fine. A
modified version of the bill, called the Protection of Women Bill, was signed by
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Musharraf in late 2006. Critics of the final version of the law complained that "[a]
judge can still decide whether rape cases will be heard in a civil or an Islamic
court. Rape victims will have to report their complaints to district courts, not at
local police stations, compelling many to travel long distances. As a result, many
will be discouraged." ​24 January 2007
8. In March 2007,​ Mukhtaran formally received the 2006 North-South Prize of the
Council of Europe for her contribution to human rights. In April 2007,
Mukhtaran Mai won the North-South Prize from the Council of Europe.
9. In October 2010​, Laurentian University of Canada decided to award an honorary
doctorate degree to Mukhtar Mai.

Effects:

1. Mukhtaran mai became a symbol of courage and boldness for girls.

2. It Highlights the role of feudalism in Pakistan
3. It shows how the executive maneuvers the system in it’s own favor.
4. It presented clerics in a good light.
5. Highlighted the power of the media and the effectiveness of media campaigning
in providing justice and a voice to the disenfranchised.
6. Highlights the weakness of the courts and how it carries out miscarriages of
justice.
7. Shows that “justice delayed is justice denied”
8. The prevalence of ignorance and illiteracy regarding legal rights and laws is also
highlighted.
9. Shows it is important to understand how to preserve proof for criminal cases.
10. Highlighted weak prosecution of the state and shows the misogynistic attitude of
state leaders.

2. Mallala Yousaf Zai

Stats:​ Born 12 July 1997 in Mingora Swat, Pakistan To Ziauddin Yousafzai and Tor
Pekai Yousafzai. Her family is Sunni family of Pashtun descent and she has two younger
brothers.
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Swat Valley under TTP:

In 2007, the Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP) began to occupy and control parts of Swat Valley
and to impose their version of Shariaa (Islamic) law.This included a prohibition on
women’s education.

Malala Yousafzai’s Public Profile Before the Shooting:

In 2008,​ he had taken his daughter to Peshawar to speak at a local press club about
girls’ right to basic education. The event was covered by newspapers and television
channels through the region.

Soon afterwards, she began anonymously blogging for BBC Urdu about what it was like
to live under harsh TTP rule.These entries depicted life from a schoolgirl’s perspective
during the time whilst the TTP passed formal edicts prohibiting girls from attending
school. She was also featured in a New York Times documentary called “Class
Dismissed: The Death of Female Education.”

I​ n 2011,​ she was nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize by South
African activist Desmond Tutu.Later that year, Pakistan’s Prime Minister awarded her
Pakistan’s first National Youth Peace Prize.As Yousafzai’s public profile grew, she began
receiving death threats

The Events of October 9, 2012:

On October 9th, 2012​ in Mingora, Yousafzai, now 14 years old, was returning home
from school when hooded TTP militants stopped and boarded the school bus. They
demanded that the other schoolchildren on the school bus identify Yousafzai asking,
“Who is Malala? After being identified, she was shot in the head. Although a bullet
traversed her brain and lodged in her spine, she survived the shooting but was critically
injured. Two other girls were also hurt during the shooting; they also survived.

The Government’s Response:

The Pakistani government took responsibility for her care, treating her at a military
hospital in Peshawar under heavy security. Her doctors and the Pakistani government
decided to transfer her out of country to an English hospital which specialized in
military-related trauma.
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Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari stated that the violent assault on Yousafzai was “an
attack on all girls in Pakistan, an attack on education, and on all civilized people.”

Authorities offered a US$100,000 reward for her attackers’ capture.Pakistan’s Prime

Minister and top military officials also condemned the attack, calling the shooting
“inhuman” and a “heinous act of terrorism.”

A month later, the Pakistani government pledged cash incentives to poor families to
send their children to school.

Pakistani Taliban Response:

A TTP spokesman confirmed that Yousafzai was the specific target of the shooting and
added that she was a symbol of “infidels and obscenity.”He went on to say, “She has
become a symbol of Western culture in the area; she was openly propagating it,” adding
that if she survived, the militants would try to kill her again.

Public Response & International Outrage:

Rallies and prayer sessions were held across Pakistan while social media forums bustled
as people from around the world voiced their disgust with the attack and expressed their
admiration for Yousafzai.

Fifty Islamic clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwa against the gunmen, and the Sunni
Ittehad Council publicly denounced the TTP’s religious arguments for justifying the
shooting of Yousafzai and her classmates.

The shooting also drew significant international response. The US President Obama
“strongly condemned the shooting,” calling it “reprehensible, disgusting and tragic.” UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also voiced his “outrage and strong condemnation”

​“I am Malala”:

On October 15, 2012​, Gordon Brown, former British Prime Minister, who had been
appointed UN Special Envoy for Global Education in July 2012, launched a petition in
Yousafzai’s name to call on Pakistan “to ensure that every girl like Malala has the chance
to go to school” using the slogan “I am Malala,” a chant that was heard at
demonstrations across Pakistan.
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He also called on the international community to ensure that all children have access to
education by the end of 2015.

On July 12, 2013​, dubbed “Malala Day,” over 500 youth from 75 nations gathered at the
UN headquarters calling for every child worldwide to have the right and access to an
education as Yousafzai spoke to UN leaders to call for worldwide education.

In fall 2013​ Yousafzai published her memoir, “I Am Malala.”

In an interview with the popular American TV personality Jon Stewart she explained
what she would do if she encountered a Taliban member, “If you hit a Talib, then there
would be no difference between you and the Talib…You must not treat others with
cruelty […] you must fight others through peace and through dialogue and through
education. I would tell him how important education is and that I would even want
education for your children as well," the Pakistani girl added. "That's what I want to tell
you, now do what you want.”

Nobel Peace Prize:

On 10 October 2014:​ She was announced as a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace PRize with
Kailash Satyarthi, a children Rights Activist from India.

Accolades and Honors:

Yousafzai has been awarded the following national and international honours:

● 2011: National Youth Peace Prize

● Anne Frank Award for Moral Courage, January 2012
● Sitara-e-Shujaat, Pakistan's third-highest civilian bravery award, October
2012
● Foreign Policy​ magazine top 100 global thinker, November 2012
● 2012: ​Time​ magazine Person of the Year shortlist
● Mother Teresa Awards for Social Justice, November 2012
● Rome Prize for Peace and Humanitarian Action, December 2012
● 2012: Top Name in Annual Survey of Global English, January 2013
● Simone de Beauvoir Prize, January 2013
● Memminger Freiheitspreis 1525, March 2013
● Fred and Anne Jarvis Award of the UK National Union of Teachers, March
2013
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● One of ​Time​'s "100 Most Influential People in the World", April 2013
● Premi Internacional Catalunya Award of Catalonia, May 2013
● Annual Award for Development of the OPEC Fund for International
Development (OFID), June 2013
● International Campaigner of the Year, 2013 Observer Ethical Awards, June
2013
● 2012: Tipperary International Peace Award, Ireland Tipperary Peace
Convention, August 2013
● Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International
● 2013: International Children's Peace Prize, KidsRights Foundation
● 2013: Clinton Global Citizen Awards from Clinton Foundation
● Harvard Foundation's Peter Gomes Humanitarian Award from
● 2013: Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought – awarded by the European
Parliament
● 2013: Honorary Master of Arts degree awarded by the University of
Edinburgh
● 2013: Pride of Britain (October)
● 2013: Glamour magazine Woman of the Year
● 2013: GG2 Hammer Award at GG2 Leadership Awards (November)
● 2013: International Prize for Equality and Non-Discrimination
● 2014: Awarded Honorary Life Membership by the PSEU (Ireland)
● 2014: Honorary Doctor of Civil Law, University of King's College, Halifax,
Nova Scotia, Canada
● 2014: One of ​Time Magazine​ "The 25 Most Influential Teens of 2014"
● 2014: Honorary Canadian citizenship
● 2015: Asteroid 316201 Malala named in her honour.
● 2017: Youngest ever United Nations Messenger of Peace
● 2017: Received honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa
● 2017: Ellis Island International Medal of Honor
● 2017: Wonk of the Year 2017 from American University
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3. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy

Early Life:

Obaid-Chinoy was born on 12 November 1978 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Her father,
Sheikh Obaid, was a businessman, who died in 2010, and her mother, Saba Obaid, is a
social worker. She has a younger sister, Mahjabeen Obaid.

Education:

Obaid-Chinoy attended Karachi Grammar School, followed by Convent of Jesus and

Mary in Karachi. She then moved to the United States for higher education. Upon
moving, she studied at the Smith College, from where she completed her bachelor's
degree in journalism in 2002. After graduating from the Smith College, she enrolled at
the Stanford University for a double master's degree in International Policy Studies and
Communication, which she received in 2004, during this period, she developed a
long-lasting passion for filmmaking, and made two award-winning short films
simultaneously.

Career as a filmmaker:

Her first film was Terror's Children. In 2003 and 2004 she made two award-winning
films while a graduate student at Stanford University. She then began a long association
with the PBS TV series Frontline World, where she reported "On a Razor's Edge" in
2004 and went on over the next 5 years to produce many broadcast reports, online
videos and written "Dispatches" from Pakistan.

Her most notable films include;

1. The Lost Generation,

2. Children of the Taliban,
3. Afghanistan Unveiled,
4. 3 Bahadur,
5. Song of Lahore
6. Saving Face
7. A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness.
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Her films have been aired on several international channels, including the PBS, CNN,
Discovery Channel, Al Jazeera English and Channel 4.

Accolades and Awards:

Obaid-Chinoy has won six Emmy Awards. Two of these were in the International Emmy
Award for Current Affairs Documentary category for the films Pakistan's Taliban
Generation and Saving Face.

❖ Her first Academy Award win for Saving Face in 2012. This made her the first
Pakistani to win an Academy Award. She is one of only 11 female directors who
have ever won an Oscar for a non-fiction film.
❖ She has also won another Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in
2016 for A Girl In The River: The Price of Forgiveness.
❖ She is also the first non-American to win the Livingston Award for Young
Journalists in 2010.
❖ On 23 March 2012, Pakistan's president conferred the highest civilian award, the
Hilal-e-Imtiaz, on Obaid-Chinoy for bringing honor to Pakistan as a filmmaker.
❖ Time magazine named Sharmeen in its annual list of the 100 most influential
people in the world for 2012.

She was highly influential in the movement to amend the law on murder in Pakistan. In
2016, Pakistan repealed the loophole which allowed the perpetrators of honour killings
to avoid punishment by seeking forgiveness for the crime from another family member
and thus be legally pardoned.

"​ This week the Pakistani prime minister has said that he will change the law on
honour killing after watching this film. That is the power of film."​—Obaid-Chinoy
while accepting her Oscar for A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

Acid violence in Pakistan also came to the global limelight after filmmaker Sharmeen
Obaid-Chinoy’s documentary ‘Saving Face’ received an Oscar award in 2012.
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