"After a 7-year-old girl was raped and killed, Pakistani women speak out on abuse"
The article “After a 7-year-old girl was raped and killed, Pakistani women speak out on abuse” was about how a single death birthed a chain reaction of action/responses as well as the discovery of a suspected serial predator. When the body of Zainab Ansari was found, on January 2018, it caused an uproar and even started a Pakistani version of the #MeToo movement. Many Pakistani women came out with their own stories of sexual assault and desires to change the tradition of abuse being shame on the victims rather than the predator.
Many people have gone to blaming the government for police inactivity and failure to protect children, with many traditions within family situations coming into the light. The article has brought confessions from parents of victims or the victims themselves about how sexual assault would be kept secret in Pakistan, due to cultural taboo, and the police having no interest in the cases of abuse. Though the case of young Zainab got police to test the DNA found with other cases which brought out 8 other victims, around 20 other cases of similar events, and a suspected serial predator. A bit about the history of similar events is just as heartbreaking. In 2015, there was a child pornography ring uncovered in the city, with around 250 kids captive; in 2016, 4,139 cases of child sexual abuse were reported, and in the first half of 2017, a total of 1,764 cases of child abuse were reported throughout Pakistan, according to Sahil, an organization focused on documenting child abuse in the country. Yet many still go unreported because of Southern Asia’s socially conservative society. Mostly because of what people would think, in terms of influence and connections, sexual assault is always blamed on the victim. The history of rape culture and its many branches of issues, it’s different for every society and there’s so much to explain. This event is just one of the many that create a opening for the oppressed, most of which are still suffering. This was probably a really daunting topic to do a first blog post on, but I find that it defines a lot about the world and how complex issues are. I’m very sad for the many victims, and not even just those in Pakistan, for all of those who suffered through a similar experience. It’s just almost unbelievable that it took one girl to break through years of unnoticed silence in a country. I hope for the future. I sincerely hope that people--who haven’t already--will take action or at least notice what is wrong about this problem. (I will comment on Karley Saxon’s, Mariah Perez’s, Elena Seitzinger's and Karsten Roachell’s blog post.)
2 Comments
Melia
1/25/2018 09:08:13 pm
This is a really intriguing article you wrote about and I'm curious to what you would do if you were the leader of a country that had this as a major problem.
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Mariah Perez
1/25/2018 09:43:37 pm
A very powerful article which covers a sensitive topic in todays society. Talking about rape is very hard topic but discussing that it happens to minors as well! Also bringing in representation of countries outside of the western world. This Blog is well formatted and went into deep history that reflects the story. Perhaps a bit of critique I have is discuss more of the #Metoo movement within your article. There may be some that know little to nothing about this impactful movement. Good job!
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