After making remarks about the alleged rape of a Lahore student, the feminist organization urat March Karachi, which organizes the annual Women’s Day march, demanded that Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz apologise or resign from her position.
The group called Maryam’s “vile and regressive language” “unfit to represent the public while disregarding the safety, rights, and dignity of survivors of sexual violence” in its statement.
Maryam called the “rumors spread on social media” regarding the alleged on-campus rape of the student a “fabricated story” during a press conference on Wednesday.
According to the chief minister, an incident that “never existed in the first place” sparked the controversy. She said, “This girl is completely paak saaf (chaste), there are false allegations being leveled against her,” referring to a young woman who is believed to be the victim.
Maryam stated, “This is my red line; I am not only a CM but I also represent women.” I would have acted before anyone else if there had been a rape.
The Aurat March claims that the chief minister’s statement about the girl’s alleged purity “reinforces the patriarchal belief that women’s worth is tied to the supposed ‘purity’ that comes with them being sexually untouched.” They added that the manner of speaking was significantly more sexist while alluding to assault.
The organization stated that “over 21,900 cases of rape have been reported in Pakistan from 2017 to 2021, with many more going unreported due to fear, shame, and stigma,” raising the question of whether victim-survivors of rape are “somehow impure and clean.”
