To call Mukhtar Mai a victim is to ignore the courage and determination of this woman from the small Pakistani village of Meerwala. In 2002, Mukhtar Mai (or Mukhtaran Bibi), and her family approached the panchayat to sort out a tangle involving her brother, Shakoor, and false accusations made against him by members of the Mastoi clan.

Shakoor was the first victim of the events that transpired in Meerwala in 2002. He had been accused of committing zina ? adultery ?with a girl from the Mastoi clan, Salma. The accusations were false, but the same day the case was heard, Shakoor was abducted by some of the men of the Mastoi clan and raped by three of them. Some news reports say that Shakoor was 12 in 2002, others say he was 14.

Mukhtar and Shakoor belong to the Tatla clan. The two clans, Tatla and Mastoi, had separate meetings. Shakoor was freed by the police from his Mastoi assailants, but held on the charge of zina. It was agreed that the matter would be settled by marrying Shakoor to Salma, by marrying Mukhtar to a Mastoi man and perhaps by the Tatla clan also giving some land to the Mastoi. The charges against Shakoor had already been declared false. He?d been held prisoner and raped. But this was seen as a matter of tribal honour.

The agreement ran into two problems. Some men from Salma?s clan continued to demand an eye for an eye ?zina for zina. And Mukhtar refused to be married off in such a fashion. The Mastoi told her family that all would be well if she came and apologised to the clan. Mukhtar?s father and maternal uncle accompanied her. When they got there, Abdul Khaliq, G F Mastoi and several other men from the Mastoi clan dragged Mukhtar away and raped her. Armed Mastoi men restrained her father and uncle; after an hour, she and her torn clothes were thrown out and she had to walk a gauntlet of 300 people before being allowed to go home.

Mukhtar was supposed to be so shamed by the rape that she would commit suicide; that is how the script usually goes in ?honour? killings and rapes. Her family was supposed to remind her of the dishonour until she despaired and killed herself.

But this was an unusual woman and an unusual family. Mukhtar Mai took the case to court. Her family preserved the torn clothes as evidence; they stood up in court and testified. As support rose worldwide among human rights activists and women?s rights groups, funds poured in. Mukhtar Mai used the money to set up two schools, one for girls and one for boys. In late 2002, the lower courts sentenced six of her assailants to death.

This week, the high court in Multan overturned that verdict; Faiz Ahmed, who had originally ordered the rape, was freed, as were four of the men who had raped Mukhtar. She was shattered by the court?s decision. But by Friday, she had decided to appeal in the Supreme Court; women?s rights groups are standing behind her in Pakistan. More funds are pouring in. Mukhtar plans to use the money to help other victims of that twisted ethic called ?honour?. Her story is not a victim?s story. It?s the tale of a survivor, and a fighter.