How Pakistan compares with the West

To allow oneself to be lulled to sleep by a reassuring lie, rather than accepting the inconvenient truth, is the greatest disservice one can do to his country. "Hush, little rape victim! Don't holler too much on the media about the injustice done to you, lest it gives your country a bad name!"

When Jack Sparrow snapped in his humorous, slurred voice, “The problem is not the problem.  The problem is your attitude about the problem”, there was more wisdom contained in it than I managed to pick up in my first viewing of the movie. I wonder if this drunken pirate tumbling from one side of the deck to another, has something important to teach us.

More often than any patriot can hope for, any discussion on the deplorable state of women in our country is met by a delusion that our situation is no worse than the rest of the world. The appalling rape statistics for the United States and other Western nations are frequently cited to help us soothe our national guilt. Things are not quite as simple.

In the United States, over 90,000 rape cases were reported in 2008. Sweden especially is notorious in Europe for high incidence of rape. It is true that sexual violence is a pandemic, and the developed world is no more immune to it than the developing countries.

However, before we sink back in our chairs believing that we are no different or even better than the West, there are several things we may need to consider.

Firstly, there’s significantly greater transparency in rape reporting in the Western countries. In the United States and Europe, a rape victim is far less likely to be killed for honor, or be harassed by the society, should the news of her suffering be made public. More importantly, there are no zina laws in the Western states, and the rape victim is not at risk of having her rape case bounce back at her in the form of a lewdness charge. That, and due to the relatively easy access to rape centers and a general environment that encourages women to speak out, rapes are better reported.

In contrast, a Pakistani rape victim is more likely to keep the crime a secret out of fear of 'disgrace', which ironically is a national disgrace in itself. On the rural side, the cases of sexual violence are almost entirely off the government radar. In some instances, it is even used as punishment by village elders against females convicted of real or perceived crimes.

Secondly, the conviction rates for rapists are also higher in the Western countries. The rate is 25% in the United States, which is abysmal by any standard. But it is far higher than what we see in Pakistan.

There are several ways to reduce the incidence of rape: one way is to stop counting them! This is what happens in Pakistan and many other countries that do not recognize marital rape as real rape. A woman’s consent to marriage is erroneously regarded as consent to sexual slavery, where a woman relinquishes her right to refuse sex to her spouse.

To allow oneself to be lulled to sleep by a reassuring lie, rather than accepting the inconvenient truth, is the greatest disservice one can do to his country. "Hush, little rape victim! Don't holler too much on the media about the injustice done to you, lest it gives your country a bad name!" Our enthusiasm for defending our country’s image must not lead us to ignore reality, and cause us to become comfortable in our own mess.  

The problem cannot be solved unless the true depth of it is acknowledged. And this problem runs very, very deep.