Pakistan: Ayesha Malik, first female judge appointed to the Supreme Court

A woman judge was appointed Monday, January 24 to the Supreme Court of Pakistan, a first in the history of this country where defenders of women's rights regret that the law is often used to their detriment.

Judge Ayesha Malik was sworn in Monday in Islamabad and will now sit alongside 16 men in the country's highest court.

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"

," lawyer and women's rights activist Nighat Dad told AFP. "

." Ayesha Malik was educated at Harvard University in the United States and has served as a High Court Judge in Lahore, Eastern Pakistan, for the past 20 years. In this jurisdiction of the province of Punjab, the most populous in the country, he is credited with having contributed to changing judicial mores that are still very patriarchal. Last year, she banned a virginity test there, called in its most common form the “

” test, which is supposed to shed light on the sexual past of rape victims.

“She broke all the barriers of the justice system”

In Pakistan, rapes are rarely declared and the word of the victims has only a very relative value, a large part of the country living under a patriarchal code which systematizes the oppression of women.

The virginity test can often tip a case against the victims, thus easily discrediting them.

It is particularly traumatic for them, also subject to a strong social stigma which often prevents them from getting married.

Ayesha Malik's nomination could pave the way for other women to the historically conservative Supreme Court.

"

," said another lawyer and women's rights activist, Khadija Siddiqi.

“

,” she added.

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His appointment has not been without controversy over the past four months, however, with some accusing him of going before more experienced and qualified male judges.

In early January, the Pakistan Bar Association called a strike to protest his expected appointment.