'Honour Killings' in Pakistan and Compliance of ... - Aurat Foundation

only be present in commercial advertisements that were relevant to
women. The Government then proceeded to perpetuate a certain image of
women through the media, defining her as a care-taker in the home and
only associated with articles of housework; women could only appear in
clothes that completely covered her, and that too only for 25 per cent of
the commercial; women could not appear on television during Ramadan.
Along with this, pictures of women film stars were banned from
newspapers; newspapers held debates on modesty and obscenity; women
were generally regarded as synonymous with obscenity, corruption and
immorality.
If women were harassed, killed or raped in the streets, or at home, it was
because women had provoked these attacks by their speech, action or just
their very presence. Television programmes started depicting women as
the root of corruption; working women were depicted as the cause of lax
morality and the disintegration of the family and social values. From
official campaigns and government-controlled television, it appeared that
the only manner in which the rapid deterioration of society could be
checked was by eradicating the presence of women altogether.
The efforts continued with proposals to open separate universities for
women, as co-education was ‘un-Islamic’. The repercussions were that
women were now being pushed out from other co-educational
institutions, being told to go to ‘their own’ educational institutions, where
it is important to note, the quality of education was also lower. Along
with the segregation of women in education, women were also pushed out
of the sports arena. Initially training camps for international sports events
in which women athletes were supposed to be participating were
cancelled.
Thereafter the Federal Minister for Sports and Culture announced that
women could only play sports in front of an all women audience, as it
was un-Islamic to play in front of na-mehram (all men excluding blood
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