Rape allegation highlights vulnerability of quake survivors

The report of the alleged rape of a teenage quake victim, her denial of the incident and account of how she was coerced into signing a statement accusing a doctor of assault has exposed the vulnerability of many of Pakistan’s quake victims to abuse. While the full facts in the case of Ajeeba Jabeen, 18, have yet to surface, rights activists say the teenager was clearly taken advantage of by those around her, exploiting the girl's sense of isolation, hundreds of kilometres from her destroyed home near Muzzafarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Ajeeba had been based at a special ward established for earthquake victims, at Lahore's Mayo hospital for several weeks and was being treated for fractures and other injuries sustained when her house collapsed. Early in December, in a written statement that surfaced in the national press, Ajeeba had alleged that the surgeon treating her, Dr Maqsood Hussain, 43, had sexually assaulted her. After the registration of a case against him, Hussain surrendered to police, but denied he had raped the teenager. He maintained he had only called her to his office to discuss X-ray reports regarding her injuries. The case appears to involve persons who may have had a grudge against Hussain for reasons linked to hospital politics. Rights activists say Ajeeba has been exploited and her emotional instability used in a clumsy attempt to damage others. The incident involving Ajeeba highlights the dangers that face many survivors of the 8 October regional disaster that killed at least 80,000 people. Organisations active in the quake zone in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) have received complaints from women victims of harassment, while some female survivors based at camps told IRIN they felt “unsafe” and had faced molestation or verbal harassment. The fact that many thousands of quake victims remain displaced more two months after the disaster adds to the risks they face. This is especially true for women and children, who even under normal circumstances confront considerable dangers of abuse. For most, a close-knit system of community-based life in villages or residential streets within towns often offers the best means of protection. "That system has now broken down. Many people are based long distances from their former homes: with relatives in large cities, at medical facilities or in camps, and this leaves them especially unsafe," said Hajira Aslam, a volunteer from Lahore who has spent the past two months visiting camps in an effort to help women and children. With winter now set in across quake-affected areas, the displaced will be forced to stay where they are at least until the spring, when the process of rehabilitation and reconstruction planned by the Pakistani government is scheduled to start. In the meantime the dangers remain high that other cases of exploitation, similar to that of Ajeeba, could surface in towns, cities or temporary settlements across the country.