Fahashi and Rape: The PM’s Questionable Perspective

By now, everyone is aware of what Imran Khan’s comments were regarding rape.

Just to reiterate, he stated that “Ye jo parday ka concept hai, ye kya hai? Temptation na ho mushray mei… har kisi k andar takat nai hoti, willpower nai hota…”. He went on to blame fahashi (vulgarity) for the rise in crimes against women and children.

His comments resulted in a controversy stirring worldwide. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan stated that it was appalled by Khan’s comments, citing it as unacceptable behaviour by such a prominent public figure. His remarks also sparked a debate on social media with people going against him, while some supported him.

Now, why is this a problem?

One point of view that caught my eye the most was the fact that rape is not a crime of temptation, it is rather more of a tool through which power and control is imposed. One can understand that by seeing how it is even used as a weapon to dehumanise civilian populations during wartime. A historical example of this close to home is the mass genocidal rape of Bangladeshi women by Pakistani military personnel as a way to cripple and subjugate the enemy during its quest for independence.

Khan’s comments also indicated that women are responsible for their own security, as if practising purdah will make them completely immune to rape. This reminds me of the Lahore CCPO’s comments regarding the motorway rape case, where he stated that the woman should not have left the house so late at night and should have checked her fuel beforehand. It seems that victim blaming is something these men have in common, never realising the extremely harmful effects such attitudes have on both victims of sexual crimes and society in general.

Khan’s statements reinforce the idea of women asking for it, and this is highly dangerous. It could serve as a nod towards rapists and harassers to go along and invade the bodies of people who are not dressed modestly enough.

If fahashi really was to blame, here are some cases worth thinking about: the Marwah case (a 5-year-old girl that was raped and set on fire), the Zainab case (6-year-old girl raped and murdered), Kasur child sexual abuse scandal (organized crime ring selling child pornography of young children to porn sites), Kainat Soomro case (13-year-old girl gang raped by four men for four days), Muzammil Bibi (20 – raped, killed and hanged from a tree in Layyah), molvis raping kids in madrassas, and the list goes on. Now, the question arises – where was the fahashi or vulgarity when small children were walking home, playing on streets, or when women were driving cars or working in fields? Other crimes against women and children, like acid throwing, bacha bazi, domestic violence, honour killing and whatnot also incite the same question.

Pakistan ranks among the worst countries for women, with just about 3 or 4 countries ranked lower than us. It is safe to say that this, too, is not because of the way women (or young girls) dress. It seems as if men in the position of power will continue to make such remarks, thereby avoiding any sort of accountability or acknowledging how the country’s state is becoming increasingly worse day by day. They will continue to preach religion where they find suitable, and forget about it where they wish. Completely disregarding administrative inadequacies, failing the country in general, and putting the blame on people for those failures are all unfortunately familiar patterns in a country whose leadership runs on the empty vestiges of grand long-ago promises.

This cycle of victim blaming and benefitting from the patriarchy is extremely perturbing and alarming. With influential people like the PM and Rohail Hyatt speaking in favour of victim blaming, viral Twitter trends like #Stand_with_PM_hayamovement, and molvis such as Tariq Jameel blaming women for the coronavirus, it seems that the women of Pakistan will continue to be made scapegoats for problems that they should instead be protected f