Progressive Part II

Headline from the Telegraph, as I scrolled their news feed for details about Baitullah Mehsood's death: Pakistan to Outlaw Domestic Violence.

I'm impressed-
Once the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill is enacted into law, Pakistan will become one of surprisingly few countries to have specific legislation on the issue of domestic violence.
Not only does the bill define domestic violence [acts of physical, sexual or mental assault, force, criminal intimidation, harassment, hurt, confinement and deprivation of economic or financial resources], or explicitly state the punishment (fines and jail terms) for offenders, it lays out provisions for relief for victims – relief that includes but isn't limited to simply financial compensation.

Additionally, the bill actually includes domestic help in their definition of those involved in a domestic relationship.

An editorial from The Daily Times proclaims:

Some wives will use it as the last resort. Some wife-bashers will be put to shame when a police station welcomes an FIR from a battered wife instead of telling her to go back home and live with violence. A domestic quarrel among the educated will now unfold in the full consciousness that blows will not follow harsh words from the husband. Among the poor, where husbands habitually thrash wives, the police can intervene to apply reconciliation together with the threat of incarceration.

While a tad naive, the editorial points out an extremely important facet to the law- Pakistan's police must uphold the law and order.
When I worked at WAR, I found that often when legal proceedings began on rape cases, the police were unhelpful as they didn't believe that women needed a court case or legal justice, especially when they were married to the offender. The law addresses, and fixes, only one part of an intricate problem.Unfortunately, nothing will come of the law until we can convince the police that domestic violence is a crime, and one that they must punish.