User:Gblack709/sandbox

Women's Rights in Pakistan
Women’s rights in Pakistan

Background

A prominent issue in Pakistan is the lack of women’s rights. There are many ways in which the rights of women are abused such as; domestic abuse, lack rights in education, marriage, and the work force. Unfortunately this affects Pakistan economically. Although there are strong efforts, inspiring women figures and organizations working to fight these oppressive acts against women, the lack of women’s rights is still a pressing issue in Pakistan.

Education

Although the government declared that all children of the ages 5-16 can go to school, there are 7.261 million children out of school at the primary level in Pakistan, and 58% are female (UNESCO, Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2011). Although girls have the right to get an education legally, in many rural regions of Pakistan girls are strongly discouraged from going to school and discriminated against, as there are violent acts such as acid throwing which many girls fall victim to for attending school.

Marriage Rights

The current laws enacted in Pakistan state that the legal age for men to be married is 18 and women 16. Many girls are still married off into a child marriage, and many complications with this can occur as childbirth from a child can cause complications with the baby and mother. A common system in place with marriage is the Dowry system in which a low or no status is assigned to a girl right from the prenatal stage.There are issues around the dowry system such as dowry related violence, in which the wife is abused by her husband. Before the marriage, the groom will make heavy financial demands on the bride’s family as a condition of marrying their daughter. In order for many parents’ daughters to get married, they start “obtaining loans from people, getting interest based loans from banks, utilising their life savings and even sell their homes,”(JAHEZ (Dowry Conditions Set by the Groom for Marriage)). Within the dowry system, abuse is likely to occur after the marriage has taken place. Prior to the marriage, if certain conditions that the groom and his family have put in place are not met, they will threaten to break off the marriage, which would be devastating for the bride and her family because of the lengths the bride’s family already had to go through to pay her dowry and because traditionally it is a great dishonor to the family.

Lack of Women in the Workforce Effect on Economic Growth

Women are subjected to severe employment discrimination in Pakistan. Clearly the low female literacy rate is a large obstacle in women taking part in the workforce. In addition, today females make up only 15% of the formal labor force in Pakistan, and although this is almost triple what is was 20 years ago, this is still a very dismal amount. Pakistan’s policy makers worry that increasing the women’s workforce will increase the unemployment level. However, Pakistan is largely missing out on economic growth through foreign investment as manufacturing service industries today employ large numbers of women from Mexico to Bangladesh. In addition, “for Pakistan to significantly improve its female labor force participation rates, it will have to address a range of structural barriers and social constraints, many of which are reinforced by Islamization”("Gender Disparities, Economic Growth and Islamization in Pakistan."). Islam has not promoted women’s rights in the workforce since it values women as keepers of the family honor, gender segregation and institutionalization of gender disparities. Furthermore women who do work are often paid less than minimum wage, because they are seen as lesser beings in comparison to men, and “their working conditions vis-à-vis females are often hazardous; having long working hours, no medical benefits, no job security, subjected to job discrimination, verbal abuse and sexual harassment and no support from male oriented labor unions”(An In-Depth Analysis of Women’s Labor Force Participation in Pakistan).

Women’s Right Violations Related to Violence

Studies done by several organizations show that has been a 13% increase in violence against women in Pakistan in the year 2009. Rape, gang-rape, domestic violence, honour killing (Karo Kari), vani (exchange of women in settling the disputes), and forced/child marriages are some examples of women’s rights violations that have occurred in Pakistan. Honour killing, or Karo Kari, is one example of the many violent actions against women especially, in Pakistani society. Honour killing occurs when a family member because they have dishonored the family with acts that are viewed as immoral. There is also the common and accepted domestic violence, in which husbands beat their wives when upset. In addition to this form of violence against women, their rights in rural areas are even fewer as women are plagued with fear of acid attacks, forced marriages, vigilante justice, mutilations, etc.

Organizations Supporting Women’s Rights

The Malala fund, founded by Malala Yousafzai, is an organization that promotes education for girls around the world that do not receive a formal education. The Mukhtar Mai Women’s Organisation founded by Mukhtar Mai, specializes in ending oppression through education and improving women’s rights in Pakistan. The Pakistani Women’s Human Right’s Organization, (PWHRO), is devoted to fighting for women’s rights in Pakistan. They encourage the Pakistani government to enforce laws that curb the violence against women that occurs in households as well as workplaces. The PWHRO also demands that the government takes immediate action to restrain the self made law of Karo Kari, or honor killing. The PWHRO strives to assist women in exercising their rights to live without fear.

Notable Pakistani Women

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani girl who stood up for the education of young girls and was shot by the Taliban. Due to the amount of press coverage after the shooting, people around the world gained awareness for the lack of girls receiving a formal education in many countries. Malala has inspired many people, to share their voices and terminate the silence that comes with oppressive issues, such as the lack of education for women. Another inspiring public figure is Mukhtaran Bibi who later changed her name to Mukhtar Mai. Mukhtaran is a human rights activist and survivor of a gang rape involving six men. Instead of committing suicide, which is a common reaction victims of rape suffer, she founded two schools for girls and is advocating for women’s rights through the organization she founded. Mukhtaran is another example of how women are taking a stand for their own rights.