Pakistan: Women forced to stay in flooded villages for reasons of honor

Almost it one third of Pakistan they now look like “the sea” as it lies under water due to the biblical floods that have hit the country. The dead are increasing daily while the World Health Organization has announced that over 6.4 million people need humanitarian support in the flooded areas.

In total 1,355 people in the country have lost their lives, according to the latest count, while a total of 33 million (out of 220 million inhabitants) have been affected. The floods left hundreds of thousands homeless and caused at least $10 billion in damage, according to officials’ estimates.

In the small village Basti Amhad Din the approximately 400 residents are faced with the new reality, with destroyed homes and lives. More than half of the 90 houses in the village, located in Punjab province, have been destroyed. The village, surrounded by flood plains, is only accessible by boat and is threatened by famine and disease.

However, the residents refused to move.

If they leave their homes to go to displaced persons camps, the women of the village will be forced into contact with men who do not belong to their familywhich would be an insult to their “honour”, the residents explained.

The women of Basti Ahmad Din have no say in the decision.

“The village elders decide,” explained 17-year-old Shirin Bibi when asked if she would prefer to go to a safer camp.

Many members of aid organizations have asked them to leave the village, but to no avail. “We are Baluch. The Baluch do not allow their women to leave the house“, emphasized Mohammad Amir. “The Baluch would rather starve to death than let their families leave the house,” he added.

One of the elders, Murin Hussain, assured that they did not leave the village even during the previous big floods, in 2010.

In rural Pakistan, where residents are highly conservative, a patriarchal code based on “honor” defines women’s lives.

Based on this, their freedoms are greatly restricted and especially their contacts with men who do not belong to their family. Moreover, it is permissible for a woman to be killed by a relative if she has dishonored the family honor, simply because she was seen with a man or because she chose her own husband.

In extreme situations, such as the floods now, women may find themselves completely without food or medical care.

The elders of the village consider it unacceptable for women to leave it except in “emergency” situations, such as a serious health problem. Natural disasters are not considered an emergency.

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