Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy
Violence Against Women In Pakistan
October 7, 2005

I wish to bring attention to the appalling human rights abuses against women in Pakistan and to express my dismay with the recent comments of President Pervez Musharraf that rape in Pakistan has become an opportunity for women of his country to make money and emigrate. Victims of rape and domestic violence in Pakistan and around the world are offended by these irresponsible remarks. 

On September 13th President Musharraf stated the following in an interview with the Washington Post:  “You must understand the environment in Pakistan…This has become a money-making concern.  A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa to Canada for citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped.”  President Musharraf subsequently denied making these remarks, but the paper posted an audio link of the interview on its website, confirming that he had in fact been accurately quoted.

These comments are completely unacceptable.  They are especially so considering the fact that rape and other acts of violence against women in Pakistan are a longstanding problem.  The U.S. State Department’s Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2004 reported that one out of every two Pakistani women last year was the victim of mental or physical violence.  That is an astounding number.  Additionally, the report states that husbands frequently beat and even occasionally kill their wives and that many females are disfigured by intentional burnings or attacks with acid.  So called “honor killings,” when husbands murder their wives for alleged infidelity or other acts deemed to impugn the man’s honor, also continue to be a problem in Pakistan.  Yet the perpetrators of these crimes often escape punishment.  Pakistani human rights organizations documented 1,458 cases of honor killings last year, and many more likely went unreported.  A study by Human Rights Watch estimates that a woman in Pakistan is raped every two hours and that approximately 70-90 percent of women suffer from some form of domestic violence. 

The terrible stories of two Pakistani rape victims have been vividly portrayed in moving editorials by New York Times reporter Nicholas Kristof.  From Kristof we first learned about Mukhtar Mai, who was gang-raped in 2002 on the orders of a council of tribal elders, and also about Dr. Shazia Khalid, a Pakistani physician who was raped in January 2005 by a military officer in her place of employment.

These stories are tragic.  But equally troubling is the cruel reality that many rape victims in Pakistan are pressured to drop charges by the authorities, as was the case for Dr. Khalid.  Many who courageously decide to press forward are ostracized, beaten or even jailed on charges of adultery or fornication.  What we are witnessing is an archaic and twisted judicial system where too often the victims are punished and the culprits go free.  This practice of blaming and then abusing the victim is a disgrace. 

At a time when the Bush Administration is embracing President Musharraf and giving Pakistan huge amounts of aid on account of his support for the Administration’s policies in Afghanistan, it should use its influence to press Musharraf to act immediately to address the rampant abuse of Pakistani women.  This includes abolishing the Hudood Ordinances, a harsh penal code introduced in 1979 by then-dictator General Zia ul-Haq to Islamize the legal system.  Unfortunately, President Musharraf has taken few concrete steps to protect women from this discriminatory and backward legal system. 

As we consider the plight of women in Pakistan and the tremendous obstacles they must surmount, the U.S. must take a hard look at the consistency of our own policies, especially with respect to advancing human rights around the globe.  I was troubled to hear that the State Department declined to react to Musharraf’s comments.  When asked about the interview by a member of the press, a government spokesman skirted the issue by stating that “The United States Government speaks out very clearly that violence against women, wherever it may occur, is unacceptable. And around the world, where this is a problem, we make a point of speaking out against it.”

Unfortunately, the Administration is not practicing what it preaches. The Administration missed an important opportunity to speak out against a reprehensible allegation that women are using rape in order to make money and emigrate.  In his inaugural address last year, the President stated that “all who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know:  the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.”  I urge President Bush to live up to his promise to promote democracy and advance human rights and to not ignore the women of Pakistan. 

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