Deprived of inheritance.

WOE betide a woman who insists on her rights in this patriarchal society. The full spectrum of family and communal pressure, underpinned by hidebound notions of 'honour', is applied to compel her retreat. A report in this paper yesterday told of the ordeal endured by 20-year-old Iqra Perveen in rural Punjab simply because she had the temerity to demand her share in the family inheritance. A series of interdependent family ties complicated the scenario still further, driving her to threaten suicide. An uncle of Iqra's has filed an application with the police, claiming her father and brothers were indeed scheming to deprive her of her share and that she was in danger of being killed by them on the pretext of honour.

The story is sadly typical of a society where women have to navigate a plethora of prejudices and misogynistic traditions on a daily basis. Legislation to protect their rights may have been on the statute books for several years, but many women's lived reality is quite different. Defiance can come at a very high price, and acquiescence in an essentially...