Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, rightly observed back in 1944 that: “No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you; we are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which women have to live. You should take your women along with you as comrades in every aspect of life.” Unfortunately, women in Pakistan have become the most vulnerable and marginalized section of society due to the predominant social structure, i.e., patriarchy. They face issues such as domestic violence, honor killings, forced marriages, exclusion from inheritance, sexual harassment at workplaces, etc.,
There is a growing body of literature which suggests that women are trapped in a vicious cycle of exploitation, signifying low status due to patriarchy, outmoded social norms, and other retrogressive cultural practices. The case of women exploitation and exclusion is more acute in rural areas where women lag behind men in education and other basic necessities of life for the aforementioned reasons. Worse still, there is a lack of attention from the state as well. The state was supposed to better equip women with modern skills so that they could keep up with modern trends, which is unfortunately not the case. More alarmingly, the state has yet to fulfil its responsibility to provide women with easy access to their basic right of education, as enshrined in Article 25(A) of the Constitution of Pakistan.
In the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report 2023, Pakistan has been ranked 142 out of 146 countries. According to the report of the Reuters Foundation, Pakistan is the sixth most dangerous country for women in general violence and the fifth worst country in terms of domestic violence. Pakistani women are victims of a misogynistic mindset. As long as women are treated as second-class citizens and ingrained hatred towards them remains deep-seated in our societal fabric, there is little hope of women empowerment in Pakistan.
According to a research report of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children— a total of 23 million, age between five to sixteen years, who are out of schools. It is a bitter fact that more than 12 million girls are deprived of education in Pakistan. It indicates that the state machinery, for the last couple of decades, has failed to provide free and quality education and change the future of the country through young, enlightened, and progressive children.
There are some crucial points that would help combat the challenges faced by women in Pakistan. First and foremost, the government and other stakeholders should prioritize women’s education— that is, to in provide women with free, quality education. Education is a powerful tool for Pakistani women and plays a vital role in their participation in the labor market. It reduces conventional gender roles by giving women the confidence to participate in decision-making processes in male-dominated social structures, opening the door for more women to work in paid occupations that support the country’s economy. Women’s education serves as both a catalyst for societal advancement and a tool for personal growth.
Secondly, discrimination based on conventional norms, values, and outdated ritual systems should be discouraged. Also, values based on inclusivity, harmony, positive thinking, and forward-looking ideas need to be promoted.
Thirdly, equal opportunities should be provided to women in both public and private spheres of life. Women need to be kept protected from hyper-masculinity in the job market. Lastly, promoting gender equality and equity through organizing seminars, programs, and reforming syllabi to remove all biases and gender discrimination is crucial.
In a nutshell, women empowerment through educational and financial independence is key to progress of any country. By dismantling patriarchal structures and addressing misogynistic mindsets, societies can create an environment whereby women not only thrive in personal life but can also productively contribute to every aspect of the state and society.
By empowering women, societies can unlock their full potential and drive socio-economic development. When women are empowered, they become agents of change, contributing to building more inclusive, prosperous, and resilient nations. Therefore, women’s empowerment is not only a socio-economic imperative in Pakistan, but also a basic right of women that is key to achieving a more peaceful, prosperous world.
views expressed are writer’s own.
