Bhutto’s Work to Promote Women’s Human Rights
One of the little discussed legacies of Benazir Bhutto’s life is the work she did to better women’s human rights in Pakistan,
“”She set up Pakistan’s first (and last) separate human rights ministry,” said Iqbal Haider, who heads the Karachi branch of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
“I worked with her over the years and she was genuinely sensitive to the issues of women and minorities,” Haider said.
During Bhutto’s time in power in the late ’80s and mid-1990s, the first women’s bank was set up, giving loans to encourage women to become independent earners. She also signed and ratified the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
In addition, Bhutto established a special unit to document violence against women, and instituted a women’s police force.”
Unfortunately, as the Toronto Star points out,
“(S)uch changes did little to overturn the legal and social biases against women.
“Some of us were disappointed that she didn’t do all the things we expected her to do when she came to power the first time,” said Uzma Noorani, chair of Women’s Action Forum, a non-governmental organization that has championed the rights of women.
“I think we found that where we had expected her to be open on women, she was defensive because she did not want to appear weak before a very male system, and she did not want to jeopardize her power in government,” said Noorani.
Still, women in Pakistan saw Bhutto as an inspiration.”
Filed under: Uncategorized, Sheroes, Militarism, Feminism, Misogyny, Gender-Based Violence
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