Pakistan: Shaheena Shaheen Baloch’s murder is a despicable reminder of deterioration of women journalist’s rights. CFWIJ signs the joint statement demanding women journalists are safe

September 9, 2020, Balochistan -- Brutal murder of former PTV Bolan journalist and editor of Balochi Magazine Razgahar (Saheli), Shaheena Shaheen Baloch moved women journalists around the country to take action to combat violence against women journalists in the country whether tied to their profession or not.

On September 5, Shaheena was shot twice to unsurvivable injuries by what the CFWIJ has found to be her husband. The so-called “honor killing” brings about the second murder of a Pakistani woman journalist in the last year. The Coalition For Women In Journalism demanded authorities in Pakistan - both Balochistan and the federal government - to swiftly investigate the case and punish Shaheena’s murderer.

By a new initiative taken by Pakistani women journalists, concerns and concrete demands have been addressed to the authorities. The Coalition For Women In Journalism linked arms with several other organizations and women journalists in asking the prosecution to challenge the perpetrators of such vile acts and to ensure safety of journalists.

Full statement is below:

Women Journalists and Allies Express Outrage at the Murder of Shaheena Shaheen and Demand Concrete Measures of Ensure Safety of Journalists 

The news of Shaheena Shaheen’s brutal murder has greatly disturbed the community of media practitioners across the country and lays bare the structural insecurity women face in this country. Shaheena was an accomplished journalist based in Balochistan and was shot dead inside her home on September 5, 2020 in Turbat. Shaheena was a host on PTV and the editor of a local magazine. She was outspoken for issues facing women, in her profession and community. Her murder is a grim reminder that women journalists face innumerable barriers and threats on the basis of their gender.

Pakistan is one of the most dangerous countries to be a journalist in, ranking 145 out of 180 countries in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders. The challenges that women journalists face cannot be neatly captured by the discourse of journalist security and media freedoms. Women journalists are subjected to a ‘double threat’ that is both professional and personal in nature. The overall lack of media freedoms and violence against journalists impacts women journalists, however because of their gender, women journalists face a personal threat to their bodies and well-being as well. Shaheena’s murder, reportedly by her husband, is being characterised as a ‘domestic matter’. We strongly believe that the personal is political, and for women journalists the challenges they face in their personal lives--the double shift due to inequitable distribution of care and domestic work, violence within the home, harassment in work and public places, online vitriol directed at them--impacts their work and can often put their lives in danger. Women journalists do not shed their gender when entering professional engagements, rather their gender often predominantly defines their professional life.

We also remember the brutal murder of Urooj Iqbal in November 2019 who was also shot by her husband outside her workplace for allegedly not agreeing to leave her job. Despite the fact that the murder was condemned by journalists across the world, her family eventually settled the matter outside of court and did not pursue a case against her husband. This case shows that when the perpetrator of violence is a family member, the likelihood of settling the matter outside of court, often due to the pressure exerted on the family, is high. Since the passage of the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offences in the name or pretext of Honour) Act, 2016, cases of honour killings can be pursued by the state under section 299 of the Pakistan Penal Code regardless of whether the family forgives the perpetrator or not, but the implementation of the law is inconsistent. The cold-blooded murders of Urooj and Shaheena are crimes against society as a whole, they should be pursued by the state, particularly in a country where crimes against women are vastly underreported. Pakistan is ranked 151 out of 153 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index Report 2020.

On September 8th, the Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville, has noted that the Pakistani Government take “immediate, concrete steps to ensure the protection of journalists and human rights defenders who have been subjected to threats, [...] the need for prompt, effective, thorough and impartial investigations with a view to ensuring accountability in cases of violence and killings.”

These crimes take place in the backdrop of daily challenges that women journalists face. Recently, 150 women journalists issued a letter calling out the online harassment that they are subjected to and the ways in which political parties weaponise digital spaces and gender attacks to silence critical women journalists. The concerns that women journalists face should be taken seriously and acted upon, by the media outlets as well as by the government.  State inaction sends a message to women in the journalist community that they are on their own and in the long term discourages young women from joining the profession.

We, the undersigned, demand that:

• While we are encouraged that the Ministry of Human Rights has taken notice of Shaheena’s case, we demand that there should be adequate follow-up by the state to ensure that the accused is prosecuted and a possible settlement does not impact the prosecution;

• The state prosecution challenges the pardon by the family in Urooj Iqbal’s case in the respective court and pursues the case with the state as a party; and

• The government takes immediate and urgent steps to pass the Journalist Protection Bill, with added provisions which recognise the gendered threats that women journalists face and institute accountability mechanisms to mitigate and address them.