Au nord-ouest du Pakistan, la pression des fondamentalistes a conduit a un degré alarmant de violence et de discrimination a l’egard des filles et des femmes.
Thousands of young women living in a part of Pakistan once considered the country's most idyllic tourist destination have been prevented from going to school after an order from Taliban forces which have seized control of much of the area.
"He said we must take our daughters out of all schools - private or public - by 15 January 2009 at the latest. Failing this, he said the schools will be bombed and violators would face death..."
"The extent to which a woman is allowed or denied her fundamental rights granted by the state is mediated by her ethnic or religious group and its relationship with the state."
Pakistan's top Islamic advisory body has urged the government to amend divorce laws to give more say to women, triggering a controversy with religious hardliners vowing to resist the move.
"Police raided a wedding between a 7-year-old boy and a 5-year-old girl in Pakistan's largest city, arresting the Muslim cleric officiating at the ceremony and the children's parents, a senior officer said Friday."
AWID interviews Farida Shaheed - active in the women’s rights movement in Pakistan for over 25 years - about women’s rights activism in Pakistan, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and the hopes of the women’s rights movement.
