Gender discrimination is the overarching issue in Pakistan where females are discriminated against. This is due to the fact that Pakistan is a patriarchal society where men are the primary authority figures and women are the subordinate. We will be covering the many aspects of gender discrimination; how women are discriminated and the effect of each problem.
To give a brief overview, indicators of gender bias which will be covered:
- The lack of female representation in parliament.
- Voting rights
- Harassment
- Violence against females
- Forced conversion and forced marriages
This would probably paint a clearer picture on the situation of genre discrimination and the plight of females in Pakistan.
Firstly, Pakistan has an unbalanced population sex ratio where there are 108.5 males to 100 females. This has further aggravated the problem and has put the females at a disadvantage in terms of numbers.
Below are laws which address the problem of gender discrimination:
From the Constitution of Pakistan Articles 25, 27, 35, 37
- All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law.
- There shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex alone.
- No citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the service of Pakistan shall be discriminated against in respect of any such appointment on the ground only of ... sex ...
- Steps shall be taken to ensure full participation of women in all spheres of national life.
- The state shall protect the marriage, the family, the mother ... The state shall ... [ensure] that ... women are not employed in vocations unsuited to their sex....
And from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 1, 2, 7, 16, 21(2), 25(2)
- All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights ...
- Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind ...
- All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law ...
- Men and women of full age ... are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
- Marriage should be entered into with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
- Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country.
- Mother and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance
However, due to the lack of strong female representation in parliament, many of such laws which would benefit the females are not thoroughly and strongly implemented. In this case, leading to unfair treatment of females as they are not recognized as equal and are not given the power to change the situation as it is for them.
Below are areas where the discrimination of females are evident:
- Political Area
- According to UN Women, the percentage of women at minister-level positions in the world increased from 14.2% in 2005 to 16.7% in 2012. Pakistan currently stood at number 52 in the world ranking of countries according to the percentage of women in parliament. Although it is considered superior among other Muslim countries, there is still much room for improvement. Female representation is essential for a country plagued with gender discrimination in order to improve the situation of gender discrimination. Only with females who hold power in parliament or numbers will then policies benefitting the females be properly and thoroughly implemented.
(Fig 8. A female Pakistani politician)
- Women and the electoral process
- At certain polling stations, "women were prevented from voting in the by-elections held at the beginning of the year. The National Commission on the Status of Women urged the Election Commission to take action against denial of women’s right to vote but no action was taken.In September, shortly before consultations with 15 political parties, the Election Commission of Pakistan suggested re-polling on any polling stations where less than 10 percent of the women votes were polled. The plan was to increase women participation in the electoral process but later the Election Commission did not pursue the idea after it was opposed by the political parties."
- Harassment
- A Punjab Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill 2012 was proposed to increase the safety of women, however, implementation has not taken place. It is difficult to fully implement bills that benefit women due to the lack of strong female representation in parliament. In addition, men who have become such high authority figures usually do not concern themselves with the discrimination females face and how it affects the women.
- Domestic Violence
- All accounts of physical and psychological violence still remain as prevalent as ever. Perpetrators were usually husbands, fathers and brothers and in-laws.
- According to media monitoring by HRCP, at least 41 girls and women became victims of acid attack in 2012; 15 women had their limbs amputated, mainly over suspicion of ‘immorality’; heads of as many as 37 women were shaved to humiliate them; and 49 women were set on fire in different incidents across the country.
- According to Aurat Foundation, incidence of domestic violence in 2012 increased by 7 percent over the previous year.
(Fig 9. A Sufferer of Domestic Violence)
- Forced conversions and marriages
- After abduction, children are forced to convert,after which, they are prohibited from seeing/meeting their Hindu families. Women are the unequal partners in marriages where families just exchange their daughters to settle disputes, or for financial, social or cultural reasons. However, many of such forced marriages were not reported and thus it was hard to determine a rather reliable number. It is estimated that there were 338 of such cases which occurred in 2012.
- The outstanding issue within forced marriages is the fact that there are girls who are married before adulthood or even before puberty. Although this has been the main focus for non-governmental organizations and civil rights organizations, the government has not implemented any concrete law to address this problem; which bring us back to the problem of the lack of strong female representation in parliament, and thus the inability for women to fight for their rights through legal and civil means
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