I should be revising, because I have an exam tomorrow, but I really wanted to write about something I’ve seen going round on social media- the Justice For Zainab hashtag. This 7 year old girl was raped and then killed in Kasur (in North-West Pakistan). She was on her way to a Qur’an recital/class when she was abducted by a man, who has not been found yet- police are looking. Photos of this girl have been going round (to spread awareness of what happened), and also some photos of her body as well- which I really don’t agree with. Firstly, we don’t even know if thats her body anyway, and secondly we have literally just encountered this issue with the whole Logan Paul situation- don’t take photos of or film peoples dead bodies- that is one of the most disrespectful things you can do to a person, and their family. But again, some people don’t have any tact.

Aside from that, Zainab’s story has gone viral, due to lots of Pakistani celebrities tweeting about it and sharing it with people, talking about how disgusting it is that this has happened AGAIN, and that the man hasn’t even been caught by the police yet. Also yes, I said again, because apparently, this has happened multiple times before in Kasur, some in the past few months as well (in some of these cases, the victims have been able to escape). In addition to this, anger has been projected towards the police, after the family said that the police weren’t fast with following anything up after they were notified of her being missing. What’s sad is that when this whole incident occurred, her parents were away in Saudi doing Hajj. They were coming back the day it happened, and its awful that after doing such an amazing act they returned back to a catastrophic situation.

There have been protests going on for days now- many people in Pakistan are speaking up saying that sexual abuse should be spoken up about more. I’ve said this in a previous post but in a lot of cultures there is a tendency to sweep problems under the carpet, so peoples images/ the family name is not tainted. As a result, a lot of sexual abuse/ harassment that girls may endure as they grow up is not spoken about. Also, I know sexual abuse can happen to boys, but in some cultures boys are like princes, and girls… are not. What happens in some extreme cases (in some villages in rural areas) if the boy was to do something wrong, like have an inappropriate relationship with someone, guess who gets punished? A girl in his family. Revenge rape, or honour killing etc. This isn’t just a problem in Pakistan, it occurs in lots of countries around the globe (European countries, North and South America, North Africa). The media may make it look like these problems only occur in Middle Eastern/Asian countries, to amplify this already negative image that has been created, but that’s completely wrong.

Like I said, this whole “sweeping under the rug” doesn’t in any way apply to the majority, but it is definitely a problem. As of right now, there does seem to be some action to change this though, it’s just sad that its occurred as a result of such a sad situation. I hope you also write about this sad situation and raise awareness, and I really hope her family get the justice they deserve.

Stay fresh,

Minty x