Three successive provincial governments have had no luck with enacting legislation against domestic violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Last week, an ill-fated bill in this regarded landed once again before the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and within minutes, it was dispatched to a committee after religious parties raised an outcry over the proposed legislation, calling it un-Islamic. All three provinces of Pakistan have enacted laws to curb domestic violence and the only province left behind is KP, which is yet to see the bill sail through its provincial assembly.
The first draft of the KP Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill was tabled in the Awami National Party and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) coalition government in back in August 2012. At that time, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker Mufti Kifayatullah raised objections over the bill and it was referred to a special committee of the House. The government completed its tenure but the bill could not make its way back to the House for voting.
Then, in the previous tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led coalition government, the bill was redrafted by the KP Social Welfare Department in 2014 and sent to the KP Law Department for vetting. The department sent it to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII)—the constitutional forum that gives advice on whether a law is against Sharia - which rejected it straight away after declaring it un-Islamic. It also gave a detailed response on each clause of the bill in 2016. The PTI government completed first tenure with no legislation to curb domestic violence in the province.
The present government once again drafted the bill titled: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Domestic Violence Against Women (Prevention and Protection) Act 2018. It was tabled in the house in February this year and lawmakers debated the bill after which they submitted proposed amendments to the Social Welfare Department. On Monday, October 14, the bill was again sent to select committee of KP assembly as lawmakers from JUI-F and Jamaat-e-Islami raised objections over the bill and asked the speaker to refer the bill to the CII.
Social Welfare Department’s analyst Rooh Ullah told The Friday Times that after receiving amendments from lawmakers, the department and the KP Commission on Status of Women (KPCSW) along with the Law Department held a meeting. It was decided that the bill should be sent to the committee for deliberations with the lawmakers. The KPCSW officials said that the bill had not been completely rejected by the assembly, rather it had been sent to the committee for detailed deliberation which was a routine procedure. KPCSW officials said that the bill has been prepared according to the directions of the CII issued with the previous version of the bill and the government will push for its legislation.
What is in the bill?
The seven pages of the proposed law aims to provide protection to women against domestic violence, including sexual, psychological and economical abuse and stalking as well. Any person who commits or aids these crimes shall be liable for punishment via imprisonment and fines defined under the Pakistan Penal Code 1860.
According to the bill, economic abuse means denial of food, clothing or shelter to a victim in a domestic relationship in accordance with the accused’s income.
Similarly, psychological abuse is defined as psychological deterioration of an aggrieved person which may result in anorexia, suicide attempts or clinically proven depression resulting from oppressive behaviour towards the victim or limiting the freedom of movement of the aggrieved person.
The bill calls for establishment of a district protection committee in each district under the chairmanship of a deputy commissioner. The committee will also include a health officer, a social welfare officer, a public prosecutor, a representative of the district police, four persons from the civil society and the chairperson of the district committee on the status of women who will also serve as secretary of the committee.
Each committee will meet at least once in a month and its functions would include raising awareness in the community at grass roots level regarding the rights outlined in the bill. The committee will provide assistance to victims in getting medical treatment. It will also help relocate the victim to a safe place.
The secretary of the committee will report any act of domestic violence to the district protection committee and submit an application to the court with the consent of the victim and with the recommendation of the committee to claim relief for the victim.
The committees have to make sure that the victim has been provided legal aid. The bill also seeks establishment of a free help line for reporting of incidents and establishment of shelter homes by the government.
A victim or her guardian or the secretary of the district protection committee may file an application to the court to seek relief. The court shall proceed with the trial on daily basis and decide the case within 60 days.
Similarly, the bill empowers the court to pass an interim order according to the circumstances and after it is satisfied that the domestic violence has taken place, it may pass orders in the favour of the victim and prohibit the accused from committing any further act of violence, attempting to communicate in any form with the victim or visiting the place of the victim’s employment or educational institute or any place frequently visited by the victim.
It may also prohibit the accused from causing harm to dependents, relatives or any person who gives assistance to the victim.
Objections and amendments from lawmakers
Lawmakers want the bill not to be specific to women, rather it should give protection to men as well. They have sought amendments in the definition of “victim” in the bill which is limited to women and they want to replace the word “women” with “person” so that males and females both can be covered under the law.
JI lawmaker Inayatullah Khan wants to remove the term “psychological abuse” from the definition of violence. Lawmakers also have objections over the structure of the district protection committees as some of them have sought to include nazims in them, even though there is no district nazim in KP following the drastic amendments in the local government law.
Lawmakers also want a female police officer, district khateeb and nazim of the village and neighbourhood council, a medical doctor, psychologist, a religious scholar, female and male-elected members from tehsil councils to be included in the district protection committee.
Inayatullah Khan also objects to the transfer of the victim to shelter homes and he demands that a committee comprising relatives of the victim and the accused be constituted to resolve the issue.
He is also against the powers of the court defined under the Clause-13 of the bill and seeks its deletion in his amendments submitted to the department.
He also seeks to remove the role of service providers, defined under the bill as any government establishment or volunteer organization established for the protection of victims by means of legal, financial and medical means or any other assistance.
The bill gives certain responsibilities to service providers, including recording incidents of domestic violence and sending reports to the district protection committee along with the medical examination of victims and providing protection to victims. Inayatullah Khan wants this role of the service provider to be abolished and wants the district protection committee to keep the victim in custody of a relative of either the victim or the accused.
One lawmaker has sought Rs1 million fine and seven years imprisonment in case of psychological or verbal abuse.
Interestingly, female lawmakers in the amendments have sought to delete Clause-18 of the bill which seeks Rs50,000 fine for the person who submits or proceeds with false complaints, while Inayatullah Khan seeks to intensify the punishment by increasing the fine to Rs1 million along with imprisonment of up to two years.
The writer is a journalist based in Peshawar
Last week, an ill-fated bill in this regarded landed once again before the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and within minutes, it was dispatched to a committee after religious parties raised an outcry over the proposed legislation, calling it un-Islamic. All three provinces of Pakistan have enacted laws to curb domestic violence and the only province left behind is KP, which is yet to see the bill sail through its provincial assembly.
The first draft of the KP Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill was tabled in the Awami National Party and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) coalition government in back in August 2012. At that time, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) lawmaker Mufti Kifayatullah raised objections over the bill and it was referred to a special committee of the House. The government completed its tenure but the bill could not make its way back to the House for voting.
Then, in the previous tenure of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led coalition government, the bill was redrafted by the KP Social Welfare Department in 2014 and sent to the KP Law Department for vetting. The department sent it to the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII)—the constitutional forum that gives advice on whether a law is against Sharia - which rejected it straight away after declaring it un-Islamic. It also gave a detailed response on each clause of the bill in 2016. The PTI government completed first tenure with no legislation to curb domestic violence in the province.
The present government once again drafted the bill titled: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Domestic Violence Against Women (Prevention and Protection) Act 2018. It was tabled in the house in February this year and lawmakers debated the bill after which they submitted proposed amendments to the Social Welfare Department. On Monday, October 14, the bill was again sent to select committee of KP assembly as lawmakers from JUI-F and Jamaat-e-Islami raised objections over the bill and asked the speaker to refer the bill to the CII.
Social Welfare Department’s analyst Rooh Ullah told The Friday Times that after receiving amendments from lawmakers, the department and the KP Commission on Status of Women (KPCSW) along with the Law Department held a meeting. It was decided that the bill should be sent to the committee for deliberations with the lawmakers. The KPCSW officials said that the bill had not been completely rejected by the assembly, rather it had been sent to the committee for detailed deliberation which was a routine procedure. KPCSW officials said that the bill has been prepared according to the directions of the CII issued with the previous version of the bill and the government will push for its legislation.
What is in the bill?
The seven pages of the proposed law aims to provide protection to women against domestic violence, including sexual, psychological and economical abuse and stalking as well. Any person who commits or aids these crimes shall be liable for punishment via imprisonment and fines defined under the Pakistan Penal Code 1860.
According to the bill, economic abuse means denial of food, clothing or shelter to a victim in a domestic relationship in accordance with the accused’s income.
Similarly, psychological abuse is defined as psychological deterioration of an aggrieved person which may result in anorexia, suicide attempts or clinically proven depression resulting from oppressive behaviour towards the victim or limiting the freedom of movement of the aggrieved person.
The bill calls for establishment of a district protection committee in each district under the chairmanship of a deputy commissioner. The committee will also include a health officer, a social welfare officer, a public prosecutor, a representative of the district police, four persons from the civil society and the chairperson of the district committee on the status of women who will also serve as secretary of the committee.
Each committee will meet at least once in a month and its functions would include raising awareness in the community at grass roots level regarding the rights outlined in the bill. The committee will provide assistance to victims in getting medical treatment. It will also help relocate the victim to a safe place.
The secretary of the committee will report any act of domestic violence to the district protection committee and submit an application to the court with the consent of the victim and with the recommendation of the committee to claim relief for the victim.
The committees have to make sure that the victim has been provided legal aid. The bill also seeks establishment of a free help line for reporting of incidents and establishment of shelter homes by the government.
A victim or her guardian or the secretary of the district protection committee may file an application to the court to seek relief. The court shall proceed with the trial on daily basis and decide the case within 60 days.
Similarly, the bill empowers the court to pass an interim order according to the circumstances and after it is satisfied that the domestic violence has taken place, it may pass orders in the favour of the victim and prohibit the accused from committing any further act of violence, attempting to communicate in any form with the victim or visiting the place of the victim’s employment or educational institute or any place frequently visited by the victim.
It may also prohibit the accused from causing harm to dependents, relatives or any person who gives assistance to the victim.
Objections and amendments from lawmakers
Lawmakers want the bill not to be specific to women, rather it should give protection to men as well. They have sought amendments in the definition of “victim” in the bill which is limited to women and they want to replace the word “women” with “person” so that males and females both can be covered under the law.
JI lawmaker Inayatullah Khan wants to remove the term “psychological abuse” from the definition of violence. Lawmakers also have objections over the structure of the district protection committees as some of them have sought to include nazims in them, even though there is no district nazim in KP following the drastic amendments in the local government law.
Lawmakers also want a female police officer, district khateeb and nazim of the village and neighbourhood council, a medical doctor, psychologist, a religious scholar, female and male-elected members from tehsil councils to be included in the district protection committee.
Inayatullah Khan also objects to the transfer of the victim to shelter homes and he demands that a committee comprising relatives of the victim and the accused be constituted to resolve the issue.
He is also against the powers of the court defined under the Clause-13 of the bill and seeks its deletion in his amendments submitted to the department.
He also seeks to remove the role of service providers, defined under the bill as any government establishment or volunteer organization established for the protection of victims by means of legal, financial and medical means or any other assistance.
The bill gives certain responsibilities to service providers, including recording incidents of domestic violence and sending reports to the district protection committee along with the medical examination of victims and providing protection to victims. Inayatullah Khan wants this role of the service provider to be abolished and wants the district protection committee to keep the victim in custody of a relative of either the victim or the accused.
One lawmaker has sought Rs1 million fine and seven years imprisonment in case of psychological or verbal abuse.
Interestingly, female lawmakers in the amendments have sought to delete Clause-18 of the bill which seeks Rs50,000 fine for the person who submits or proceeds with false complaints, while Inayatullah Khan seeks to intensify the punishment by increasing the fine to Rs1 million along with imprisonment of up to two years.
The writer is a journalist based in Peshawar