HERNANDEZ, Julianna Claudette L.

1-BSSP – MHC1

Assignment 1: Fakhra Younus

1. What happened to Fakhra Younus was highly influenced by the mores of the society she

lived in. Younus lived in Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country with a very strong

patriarchal society where men have all the authority and privilege (Khan M. , 2021). Up until

now, their society is functioning on conservative, rather than traditional values. Men, as

compared to women are more powerful and are in control of what they want to do with their

lives. In their country, a woman will only ever be a sister, wife, or mother. In some areas of

Pakistan, women are discouraged to go to school as they believe that girls have no right to be

educated since they believe that a woman’s role in society is to serve their family inside the 4

corners of their home.

Fakhra Younus is a victim of an honor crime, which, despite being immoral still remains

acceptable in Pakistan, as dictated by the mores of their society. It is a method of social control

where women are the primary victims. It is a very violent method of governing over a woman’s

social behaviors and sexuality, in order to protect the image of their family. Bilal Khar, Fakhra’s

husband believed that she was a disgrace to his family, bearing a child out of wedlock and being

forced to become a dancing girl in her early life which resulted in him doing such action.
2. Although easier said than done, I believe that the women coming from Pakistan should

rise to uphold their rights and defend their freedom. It is no secret that Fakhra Younus is only

one of the many victims of these honor crimes and other injustices against women in their

country. Despite numerous countries being progressive and starting to have equal rights for both

men and women, Pakistan remains very conservative. Women are still unable to experience their

social rights and are still victimized by the honor killings done in their very patriarchal society.

Despite various efforts to end these patriarchal practices through international

organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Convention on the

Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), cinema, local activism,

and legal reformation, honor killings remain rampant in their country (Heydari, Teymoori, &

Trappes, 2021).

As someone who has been able to freely experience social privileges in my society, I

believe that I have an obligation to somewhat alleviate the hardships of women in Pakistan and

other strongly-patriarchal societies. Honestly, it is hard to think of a huge solution that I can do,

having no huge influential powers. However, living in the digital age would be quite an

advantage. Having access to the internet would be very helpful to me in accessing information

regarding the state of Pakistani women. I would seek groups that support their fights for freedom

and see what I can do in order to help these organizations to reach their goal. I will share what I

have learned from the information I have gathered through my social media accounts since there

are still people who remain unaware of the situation of Pakistani women. I believe that these are

very simple actions, but if many people start doing the same, change may happen.

REFERENCES:
Heydari, A., Teymoori, A., & Trappes, R. (2021, February 24). Honor killing as a dark side of
modernity: Prevalence, common discourses, and a critical view. Retrieved from SAGE
Journals: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0539018421994777
Khan, M. (2021, May 26). The Biggest Challenge Faced by Women in Pakistan. Retrieved from
Harvard Alumni for Global Women's Empowerment:
https://www.globalwe-essays.org/winning-essays/2021/5/26/the-biggest-challenge-faced-
by-women-in-pakistan-by-manahil-khan