Gender differences continue to change at various levels: workshop

Sunday, October 02, 2011 - Hyderabad—The gender differences between women and men, within the same household and within and between cultures that are socially and culturally constructed, do change over time. Addressing a workshop, Executive Director of Centre for Peace and Civil Society (CPCS) and moderator, Jami Chandio said that Pakistan faces a challenge to overcome gender discrimination within the public as well as the private domain.

Aurat Foundation in partnership with USAID facilitated media sensitisation sessions on Gender Equity at a hotel here on Friday. Jami Chandio said that women in tribal areas of Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and remote areas of southern Punjab and interior Sindh live in more adverse social conditions than women in other parts of the country. Honour killings, domestic violence and discrimination by the male members of families are too common in these areas. He said that domestic violence is not explicitly prohibited in Pakistani domestic law and most acts of domestic violence are encompassed by the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance.

The moderator further said that Pakistani women fail to report to the police due to fear of divorce, family reputation and lack of support and cooperation from the police. The law fails to protect women from harm and the law has also been “misused” in various cases to the disadvantage of women, he said. Jami said that education is a powerful tool that can empower women and help them compete with men in the employment market for better jobs and its impact becomes evident over a decade.