In Another Episode of Victim Blaming — #JusticeForDua
Most women across Pakistan have become almost immune to the primitive views and opinions our society has in regards to women. However, in recent times these views and opinions have transcended even the highest boundaries of what ordinarily goes around across the nation.
It would be rather intolerant to say that the entire Pakistani society thinks the same and i’m not saying that they do, but the fact of the matter is that misogyny has been so deeply rooted in our society for years that even horrific tragedies, produce an aftermath of complete counterintuitive reactions.
Take the abduction of Dua Mangi and shooting of Haris Soomro as an example;
“Dubai: Police stated that the men who kidnapped a girl in Karachi this week and shot at her friend used a stolen car and a man she met abroad might have been involved.
The victim, 22-year-old Dua Mangi, was snatched by men in a car from a street in Defence Housing Authority on Saturday evening.
She and her friend had been walking by the side of the road when a car containing four men stopped and kidnapped her.
Meanwhile, they shot at her friend, identified as Haris Soomro, who was trying to stop them. According to police, he was shot in the neck and the bullet ended up penetrating his chest.
Soomro was initially taken to a local hospital but was later transferred to Agha Khan Hospital. He is currently recovering from his injuries.” — Gulf News
In what is known as one of Karachi’s “securest” areas, Dua was abducted while her friend Haris is currently fighting for his life after being gunned down by Dua’s abductors. Even the most elite of areas is vulnerable to such acts.
Through all of this distress and agony our self-righteous Pakistani society yet again does not fail to disappoint when it comes to victim blaming and slut shaming. The storm of hatred and nasty comments that have unleashed on social media have been gut-wrenching to say the least.
Reading these comments could trigger extreme levels of anxiety and discomfort to any person of a sane mental level.
We have a society full of intolerant scums that pass judgment in the name of “Islam”. We have a society filled with so much filth — a society that chooses to character assassinate a girl, based on her choice of clothing and furthermore deems her abduction acceptable.
BASED. ON. WHAT. SHE. WEARS.
This well and truly broke my heart. I have always talked about and used light humour as a form of discussing how disconnected I feel from Pakistan due to the oppression women face in our society — all the while failing to recognise the seriousness of the issue. This was a full-blown reality check.
Instead of raising our voices and doing everything in our power to assist the search for Dua, our deranged society instead chooses to reduce her to what she wore in her missing persons photo. It is these deranged people that give perpetrators the power to unleash such heinous acts and escape blame whilst being safeguarded through applauds and salutes.
This is the reason future generations have started to shift away from the concept of religion. Our societies have made religion into something that fits their ideals. It has shifted from it’s initial intention of spreading love and compassion to bullying those who don’t fit the criteria that is dictated by people in power who use the religion card to fit their agendas, knowing damn well that the Pakistani masses will blindly follow any movement under the name of religion.
These imbeciles drag with them millions of actual practicing Muslims that would condemn such acts. It is the systemic dumbing down of the society and the purposeful spreading of misinformation about religion that detaches us.
You know you have hit a new low when the family of the victim has to take the time to defend their daughter’s/sisters integrity in the midst of their suffering. How much longer are we going to be oppressed under this patriarchal system of misogyny? How much more suffering is it going to take?
We take one step forward in terms of progression but we almost always end up taking ten steps back and this is due to the fact that these issues are not tackled as they should be. The majority of our effort in this regard stretches not in just merely cleansing the judicial system but on cleansing the social construct of gender identities
Without attacking the misogyny and patriarchal social construction, this culture will only flourish.
My heart goes out to Dua and Haris’s families. I cannot even begin to fathom their pain and suffering. Lots of thoughts and prayers to both families.
#JusticeForDuaAndHaris
