The life of a woman in Pakistan is difficult. She has to navigate through a rough terrain of cultural norms and expectations in a society which is largely patriarchal. This sort of society seldom gives a chance to the non–male population to flourish and stand up for its own cause which requires a woman recognizing and challenging the obstacles she faces in many different areas of life including religion, economics, and her place in the country’s political realm. However, one thing has become apparent over time. A Pakistani woman no longer stays quiet. She starts fighting for her rights and actively making the decision to gain the most out of life. She is taking charge of her own destiny.
Pakistan is a country which is based on Islamic ideologies, and any well versed Islamic cleric can verify that if we compare the status of women before and after Islam, a gradual improvement in women’s position is highly noticeable after Islam spread. In the age of Absolute Ignorance (the era before Islam according to Muslims), a woman was seen as an entity; she could be easily inherited and bought and sold in the markets. ‘Women had no respect, independence or power over issues related to their well-being and were excluded from playing an active role in social and political affairs of their society’ (Bhattacharya, 2014, p. 181) whereas in today’s times; we have been guided by Islam to propagate women’s rights. The problem, unfortunately, is that women themselves are not aware of their rights as articulated by Islam because of which the male dominant society takes advantage of them, by pulling Islamic guidance out of context and conveniently misinterpreting it in its application to women.
Although authorities in Pakistan argue that the laws are designed in accordance to Islamic revelation, it is clear that these laws have been created as a result of a warped interpretation of the Quran and only suit those in power, in this case the male section of our society since a majority of them work by ensuring that men have a superior position over women when in reality, the religion talks about the equality of both men and women (Bhattacharya, 2014).
Furthermore, even though there are several laws that have been designed for protecting women in recent years, such as Muslim family Laws Ordinance (MFLO) of 1961, Dowry and Bridal Gifts Restriction Act, 1976 and Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace, 2010, most of these laws unfortunately remain on paper, rather than being actually implemented.
The increase in religious fundamentalism in Pakistan (as evident by the presence of the Taliban) has exposed women to terrible acts of brutality and injustice. Remember the immense strength and courage Malala Yousuf Zai had to muster in order to survive perhaps one of the most difficult times in her life when she was shot in an attempted murder by a religious fanatic from the Taliban while she made her way to school. Wanting to prevent women from gaining education is not the only thing people wrongly try to justify on the basis of Islam. Other examples include killing women for honor, murdering female children when they are born in more illiterate parts of the country and forcing a woman’s family to give the groom’s relatives dowry upon marriage. Just recently, according to an article published in the Express Tribune on 23rd July 2016, a man shot and killed his pregnant wife in the area of Shangla just because he suspected that she was having an affair with another man in what is being termed as an honor killing. The murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch also classifies as a case of the same horrific crime. Harassment at the work place is another issue many women face. Most Pakistani women, however, do not report their cases of workplace harassment since it is seen as a ‘taboo’ topic, which if brought up can leave a mark on her honor, despite it not being her fault.
Talking about Pakistani women on an economic level, according to research conducted by Sarwar and Abbasi (2013), women in Pakistan face severe employment discrimination. When compared to international standards, Pakistani women are even more harshly treated in our economy because the only avenue of work which is mostly available for them is in the informal sector, concentrating on agriculture. Other than that, women in Pakistan are not given jobs which pay them a living wage. This comparison with the global state of affairs concerning women’s participation in the labor force is extremely alarming. Why? Because even in the rest of the world, women are majorly excluded from the economy. Just think about the fact that in the western world, people have started discussing the problem of women’s unpaid labor (Ghosh, 2012). This is the idea that women should be paid for the domestic chores they do because it is a duty they have voluntarily assumed, rather than a task which is their responsibility. So we can see that even internationally, women are not treated well by the economy, but in comparison, Pakistan is even worse off because have you ever heard of debates occurring here about concepts like women’s unpaid labor? Have you ever heard of people aspiring to be Marxist feminists in Pakistan and campaigning for the end of women’s labor exploitation? Do we even know what women’s economic exploitation is? My guess is most probably not. This is because culturally, women are so socialized into believing that their place is within the four walls of the house. Women are told that they must not go out to earn a salary, and it takes a very brave woman to challenge this sociocultural notion. Furthermore, women who do stay at home and devote themselves to domestic work are told to think that it is their duty which must be accepted unquestioningly when in reality it is women getting exploited based on the fact that this domestic labor goes unpaid.
Let’s talk about women in politics in our country. A headline in a Dawn Newspaper article screams:
‘In Pakistan’s political arena, women are acceptable only as proxies or an extension of male politicians.’
(Mehdi, 2015, Dawn E-paper.)
This is indeed the sad state of affairs regarding women’s participation in politics in our country. The fact that the percentage of female voters dropped from 77.8 to 77.4 per cent in 2013 (Mehdi, 2015, Dawn E-Paper) shows that in a world where historically women have fought so hard – creating the entire suffragette movement – to finally secure the right to vote and remove hurdles standing in the way of casting their votes, Pakistan is still far behind in its attempts to do everything it can to help women vote, since we can see that women’s participation in voting is dropping! Add on to this the horrific reminder of Benazir Bhutto being assassinated while she was a prominent member of the country’s political realm and women think more than twice about stepping into this scary avenue of helping make decisions for their country. And that is where the problem lies – because women have seen the consequences of what happens to their kind in politics, they stay away from it and this allows for other people (mostly men) to make decisions for the former, rather than women making decisions for themselves.
Having said all this and after outlining what women’s lives in Pakistan look like, there is still hope because all is not lost. One thing which we know for sure is that women are increasingly recognizing the injustice they face and raising their voices to speak against this. It would be safe to say that as each day passes, women are reclaiming their place in this society. Think about platforms for debate and discussion on women’s rights and the massive online forum That Feminist Collective comes to mind. Think about providing women with shelter from abuse and Panaah Shelter Homes come to mind. Think about young women fighting to be present in public spaces in the country and the initiative Girls at Dhabas comes to mind. Think about women making a place for themselves in the country’s decision-making and Women’s Democratic Front comes to mind. These are just a few examples of women taking the fight into their own hands. Hundreds of other initiatives and platforms are coming to light every day, and our faith is strong. We believe that these efforts will inevitably bear fruit one day not so far into the future, and the women in Pakistan will be proud of the milestones they achieve for their rights.
