DOCTRINE, POLICY, AND STRATEGY: Combating sexual assault in the land of the pure!

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Pakistan has been plagued with child abuse, rape and sexual assault cases for years and yet nothing much of substance has been done to curtail this social degeneration! The recent episode being the rape of a woman driving late at night with her three children from Lahore to Gujranwala. Her car ran out of fuel not much far from the posh locality of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Lahore. She called the police, and while she waited for assistance, two men broke through the driver’s side window and dragged her and her children off the road. The woman was raped multiple times, and to add insult to injury, in front of her children! The family’s torment didn’t stop there! Even when the police started investigating the case, the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore seemed to be further rubbing salt in the wounds by blaming the victim and asking why she was travelling late at night without an adult male companion and why didn’t she ensure she had enough fuel for the journey. At one point the CCPO suggested that maybe the lady thought that Pakistan was as safe as France because purportedly she had lived in France. Though, the CCPO has apologised for his insensitive remarks since but perhaps not before revealing that this mindset seems to be prevalent in a large part of the society as is!

The media – frontline and social – is up in arms and hashtags calling for justice and accountability are circulating widely. There is seething anger from all quarters at the lack of safety and protection and the flagrant disregard of legal and societal values. But wait – we have been here before! There have been many similar incidents in the past where the response was as livid as it is now. These names should ring a bell – Dr. Shazia, Zainab, Farishta, Rimsha, Faizan, Kainat, Firdous – the list is endless! Will the outcome be any different this time around? It must! Or else we will be here again in some months’ time adding a new name to the list!

After this recent event, everyman and his aunt has jumped in with suggestions to remedy the situation. People’s emotions are laid bare especially in the biosphere of social media. While it is good to see everyone reacting strongly to this evil, it is equally important to ensure that changes are not knee-jerk at best and short-lived at worst! The Prime Minister reportedly has also supported the notion of public hanging or medical castration. Also note that this view exists even after the recent  legislation passed by Parliament which awards life imprisonment or the death penalty to the person who kidnaps, rapes or murders a minor. Will implementing these extreme positions help? In the short term, yes it can but not in the long run. In the psychological world it is said that fear is a good motivator to temporarily stop bad behaviour but it can’t be used to encourage and continue good behaviour. That is mostly because as humans we tend to normalise all extreme circumstances – recall the aforementioned list of victims? Need I say more?!  Therefore punishments that instil such level of fear will only provide a small window of respite where good behaviour needs to be established and encouraged. And that is where the long term rectification of this heinous scourge needs to be sought.

For that, one needs to leverage extracts of the previously recommended national security framework for Pakistan. Discussion within that thesis suggested that national purpose – borrowed from the Pakistani constitution – must ensure that Pakistan is a democratic state and society based on Islamic principles of social justice and equality. And that the state will strive to achieve affluence and happiness for all through the values of democracy, freedom, equality, and tolerance. Extrapolated from the national purpose was at-least one national interest which was relevant. This stated that Pakistan should become a secure state especially with regards to its territory, citizens, and constitution. It was deemed so crucial that it was linked to the survival of Pakistan! Then a pertinent national security policy objective was stipulated which ensured transparent writ of the state to protect its people from all internal and external threats. Notice the phrases in the excerpts of all three tenets of the national security framework? Islamic principles, social justice and equality, values of freedom and tolerance, secure state especially with regards to citizens, write of state to protect its people! Let alone the common masses, even governmental ministers may never have thought of a strategic response to this brutal problem in these terms, and there within lies the rub! Society needs to be educated in terms of equality and respect towards all but that education first needs to be established, then disseminated and only then made into belief! The correct and relevant execution of the troika of national purpose, national interest and national security policy will go a long way in making that possible.

The golden rule of policy execution: short term corrections only provide a breather to inculcate long term change! This is exactly the case this time when the country grasps for solutions to these repeatedly asked difficult questions. Imran Khan must heed Ronald Reagan’s warning, “governments have a tendency not to solve problems, only to rearrange them”. This is neither a time for complacency nor a time for pushing the problem down the road, the long and short of combating sexual assault must be discussed and implemented if we don’t wish to be at the same juncture again!

Published in Daily Times