Pakistan: Media get it wrong on rape

Really, mishandling rape cases in the media is not confined to Pakistan – it happens everywhere, but this article deals with how the media in Pakistan treat rape stories:

Violence against women: Victims:  Raped once, violated twice

Speaking on the occasion, Ahmar said cases of rape receive the most sensationalised coverage in the country, where the media often forgets that an ethical code exists and becomes totally blind to any ethical guidelines. In such reports, she said, the spot-light is on the victim while the culprit/s is almost always completely ignored. This gives the impression that the victim herself bears responsibility for the entire episode.

“Such reports create a sense of fear among parents and force them to forbid their daughters from going out, even to school,” she said, adding that, “The effort has been made not to point fingers at the media, or alienate it, but is an attempt to make it a powerful ally in the struggle to ensure zero tolerance against gender-based violence in our society.”

Hosain was of the opinion that rape cases are “politicized” when they are expounded by the country’s media. She asked why the names and other details of rape victims are almost always highlighted in the media and instead of the profiles of the accused.

Huh?! I don’t understand Hasan Mansoor’s logic regarding killings of newborns in Pakistan

I really don’t get this. The article is about infanticide in Pakistan. Although this article states, 3/4s the way down, that 9/10 of the babies killed/left to die (as reported by the charity) are female, they believe (said twice, before saying daughters are thought of as an “economic burden”) it’s parents leaving illegitimate babies to die. Are they saying parents actually keep illegitimate male babies? Because that’s the way it sounds. It seems to me these parents kill female babies and it probably doesn’t matter whether the mother cheated on her husband or not. 

Killings of newborn babies on the rise in Pakistan  

1st mention:

In the conservative Muslim nation, where the birth of children outside of marriage is condemned and adultery is a crime punishable by death under strict interpretations of Islamic law, infanticide is a crime on the rise.

2nd mention:

“People leave these children mostly because they think they are illegitimate, but they are as innocent and loveable as all human beings,” says the charity’s founder, well-known humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi.

Finally:

The death toll is far worse among girls, says manager Kazmi, with nine out of ten dead babies the charity finds being female.

“The number of infanticides of girls has substantially increased,” Kazmi says, a rise attributed to increased poverty across the country.

Girls are seen by many Pakistanis as a greater economic burden as most women are not permitted to work and are considered to be the financial responsibilty of their fathers, and later their husbands.

A Pakistani family can be forced to raise more than one million rupees (11,700 dollars) to marry their daughter off.

The problem is not with infidelity or with women themselves, the problem is with society refusing half the population opportunities to pursue happiness and a livelihood – something that is denied to females in many parts of the world – whether it starts at a young age or middle age (Korea or Thailand, for example). If the article spent more time discussing this and not women’s infidelity, it would have made more sense and been more helpful.

I wonder, too, what happens when moms are killed for adultery? What happens to their children? How are they impacted? What are they told? The article wouldn’t have been able to cover this, I’m aware. But I am interested in learning this.