The violence against women in Pakistan is a major problem. Feminists and women's groups in Pakistan have criticized the Pakistani government and its leaders for whitewashing the persecution of women and trying to suppress information about their plight in the international arena Skepticism and biased attitudes against women's complaints of violence are common among prosecutors, police officers and medicolegal doctors in Pakistan. According to reports from 1990s, such complaints often face delayed/mishandled processing and inadequate/improper investigations
Sexual violence
Rape is one of the most common crimes against women but grossly underreported due to the shame attached to the victim. Many cases of sexual harassment and acid attacks have also been reported
Marital rape is not recognized as a criminal offense in Pakistani law. Many cases of rape in police custody have also been reported . According to Report of the Commission of Inquiry for Women (1997), 70 percent of women in police stations were subjected to sexual and physical violence.
Trafficking
Trafficking of women is on the rise in Pakistan. Foreign women from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar are brought to Pakistan and sold.
Dowry abuse
Many cases of bride burning due to dowry issues have been reported in Pakistan. In some cases, accidents are engineered (such as the tampering of a kitchen stove to cause victim's death) or the victims are set ablaze, claimed to be yet another accident or suicide. According to a 1999 report, of the sixty "bride-burning" cases that made it to the prosecution stage (though 1,600 cases were actually reported), only two resulted in convictions. However Dowry abuse cases are low after 2001.
Domestic violence
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 police and judges often tend to treat domestic violence as a non-justiciable, private or family matter or, an issue for civil courts, rather than criminal courts.
A 1987 study conducted by the Women's Division and another study by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in 1996 suggested that domestic violence takes place in approximately 80 percent of the households in the country. Domestic violence occurs in forms of beatings, sexual violence or torture, mutilation, acid attacks and burning the victim alive .
Other concerns
Marriage and divorce issues
Often, inter-caste marriages in Pakistan are met with violence against the women in the families involved. Women from low Pakistani Castes who try to get an education are looked down upon and sometimes attacked, the case of Ghazala Shaheen being the most infamous one which prompted international outcry.
The average age of women for marriage has increased from 16.9 years in 1951 to 22.5 years in 2005. A majority of women are married to their close relatives, i.e., first and second cousins. Only 37 percent of married women are not related to their spouses before marriage. The divorce rate in Pakistan is extremely low due to the social stigma attached to it .
Women who seek a divorce are also often victims of honor killings. One notable example is the high profile case of Samia Sarwar who was murdered in her lawyer's office on April 6, 1999 by a hitman hired by her family. She was seeking a divorce from her estranged, abusive husband, which was deemed as dishonorable by her family. Due to Samia's father being a prominent figure in the community, the police charged Samia's lawyers, Hina Jilani and Asma Jahangir, with "kidnapping" his daughter. Samia's father additionally "demanded that Hina Jilani and Asma Jahangir be dealt in accordance with ‘tribal and Islamic law'" and be arrested for "misleading women in Pakistan and contributing to the country's bad image abroad. Several people belonging to religious organizations issued fatwas [religious edicts] against both female lawyers and promised to pay rewards to anyone who would kill them.
Health
The health indicators of women in Pakistan are among the worst in the world.Intra-household bias in food distribution leads to nutritional deficiencies among female children. Early marriages of girls, excessive childbearing, lack of control over their own bodies, and a high level of illiteracy adversely affect women's health. More than 40 percent of the total female population are anemic.
According to 1998 figures, the female infant mortality rate was higher than that of male children. The maternal mortality rate is also high high, as only 20 percent of women are assisted by a trained provider during delivery.
Only 9 percent of the women used contraceptives in 1985, however this figure has increased substantially.
Women are also at a higher risk of contracting HIV-AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) because of male dominance in sex relations and lack of access to information.
Pakistan has taken certain initiatives in the health sector to redress gender imbalances. The SAP was launched in 1992–1993 to accelerate improvement in the social indicators. Closing the gender gap is the foremost objective of the SAP. The other major initiative is the Prime Minister's program of lady health workers (LHWs). Under this community-based program, 26,584 LHWs in rural areas and 11,967 LHWs in urban areas have been recruited1 to provide basic health care including family planning to women at the grassroots level. Other initiatives include the village-based family planning workers and extended immunization programs, nutritional and child survival, cancer treatment, and increased involvement of media in health education.
Sex ratio
The sex ratio in Pakistan is somewhat unbalanced with 1.05 men per 1 female. This phenomenon is attributable to male-favored sex ratio at birth (preference for sons). In the urban areas, the sex ratio is still lower, which could be attributed to a large male out-migration from rural to urban areas. The conservative Muslim families also refuse to give strangers any information about females in their household. This has been a major problem for census officials in Pakistan and also in Afghanistan.
Notable women
Women in Pakistan have progressed in various fields of life such as politics, education, economy, services, health and many more.
Politics and activism
Although the participation of women in politics is increasing, the presence of women in the political parties as well as in the political structure at the local, provincial, and national levels remains insignificant due to cultural and structural barriers
Fatima Jinnah, sister of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, was an instrumental figure in the Pakistan movement. In 1947, she formed the Women's Relief Committee, which later formed the nucleus for the All Pakistan Women's Association (APWA). She was the first Muslim woman to contest the presidency in 1965, as a candidate of the Combined Opposition Party.
Begum Shaista Ikramullah was the first woman elected member of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
Begum Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan (1905-1990) was a women's rights activists. She was the founder of the All Pakistan Women's Association. Begum Nusrat Bhutto wife of Prime Minister Zulfikhar Ali Bhutto, led the Pakistani delegation to the United Nations' first women's conference in 1975.
Benazir Bhutto was the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan (1988)(1991) and the first woman elected to head a Muslim country.
Dr.Fehmida Mirza is the first female speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan. Other prominent female Pakistani politicians include Begum Nasim Wali Khan, Raja Farzana, Syeda Abida Hussain, Sherry Rehman and Tehmina Daultana.
Mukhtaran Mai a victim of gang rape has become a prominent activist for womens rights in Pakistan.
Arts and entertainment
Madam Noor Jehan was the melodious lady singer of the sub continent. there are too many other female singers including Abida Parveen, Farida Khanum, Nayyara Noor, Iqbal Bano and Tahira Syed. Faryal Gohar Zeba Bakhtiar and Samina Pirzada are acclaimed Pakistani actresses.
Nazia Hassan was an iconic female Pakistani pop singer.
Nigar Nazar is the first woman cartoonist in Pakistan and the Muslim World.
Sports
In 1996, when sisters Shaiza and Sharmeen Khan first tried to introduce women's cricket in Pakistan, they were met with court cases and even death threats. The government refused them permission to play India in 1997, and ruled that women were forbidden from playing sports in public. However, later they were granted permission, and the Pakistani women's cricket team played its first recorded match on January 28, 1997 against New Zealand in Christchurch.
Literature
Ismat Chughtai, who was part of the Progressive Writers Association, is considered one of the most important feminist writers of Urdu. Parveen Shakir, Kishwar Naheed and Fehmida Riaz are also renowned for their feminist poetry in Urdu. Bapsi Sidhwa is one of Pakistan's most prominent English fiction writers. In 1991, she received Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest honor in arts.
Other fields
Some of the notable Pakistani women in the field of computing and business are:
- Rahila Narejo, Author, Columnist, Human Resource Consultant, CEO NHR
- Safia Khalil Rizvi, Computational Biologist , GlaxoSmithKline
- Samina Rizwan, Area Manager, Oracle Corporation Pakistan
- Jehan Ara, CEO, Enabling Technologies
- Risa Altaf, President IOPWE
- Sophia Hasnain, Technology Analyst
- Marvi Ali, CEO Trakker
- Tauseef Hyat, Executive Director, Developments in Literacy
- Rabia Garib, Editor-in-chief CIO Pakistan and NetExpress
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