Women at war

Women across the world today are at war—with patriarchal traditions and values, with sexism, with across the board inequality, with harassment and with violence. And it’s no different here at home; except that it is worse. On this international women’s day, let’s acknowledge that despite some small wins, women in Pakistan are in deep trouble. Deeper than the rest of the world.

We rank second last in the Global Gender Gap Index (one place ahead of Yemen, hurrah!). Various studies identify Pakistani women to be among the most undernourished in the world with grave levels of inequality in health, compared to men and other countries. According to UNICEF, Pakistan is the worst country for new born babies in 2017 with a strong link to poor health of mothers.

Numbers can be daunting. More than 60 percent of women from the poorest households in Pakistan do not have basic sanitation; 18 percent do not have clean drinking water. More than 74 percent of the women across the country do not have more than six years of education—98 percent in the poorest households; 85 percent in rural areas. Total primary enrollment rate for girls is 35 percent (which has grown from 13.5% in 2003). Even with improved education, nearly 48 percent of the women in Pakistan cannot independently make their own healthcare decisions.

Women labour force participation in Pakistan is only 24 percent (men: 82%, world: 48.6%). Of those that are part of the labour force, nearly 76 percent are working informally. More than 70 percent of women parts of the labour force do not have any education. A great portion of women working in the rural areas are unpaid. Even in the formal sector, women in Pakistan earn 77 percent of what men earn at the same level of qualifications; and work 4.3 hours more per day. (Sources: Oxfam, Global Gender Gap index, ILO, UN women)

Opportunities dwindle as you move up an income group or higher on the education level. The UN Women study on gender equality (2018) tells that women part of the richest households in Pakistan are more likely to lack employment compared to the poorest. To quote the study: “While poverty pushes the poorest women into precarious, often informal and unpaid work, among the richest, significant barriers—including biased gender norms, discrimination in wages and limited job options—contribute to low labour force participation rates”.

Indeed, of the 24 percent employment rate for women, 17 percent are working in the agriculture sector, according to PBS. Most of the formal jobs for women are low level secretarial, clerical or administrative in nature. Women are also often seen in the medical and teaching industries, rather than in other diverse fields such technology and engineering. They are visibly scarce in the corporate world, least at managerial or leadership positions.

According to an advocacy group aptly called Woman on Board, in 2016, of the 878 directors on the boards of KSE-100, only 35 are women. Only 26 companies of the 100 have women directors. Of the 492 listed companies, with over 3000 directors on the boards, only 320 are women; of which majority (183) are relatives of the family-owned enterprises. There are only 10 CEOs of the nearly 500 listed companies in Pakistan. It’s not difficult to calculate the share.

There are no laws in Pakistan that mandate gender based non-discrimination in hiring practices. In fact, despite Corporate Governance Code amendment that instructed companies to induct at least one woman director, companies do not feel the compulsion to promote gender diversity.

At home too, the picture is bleak. According to Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS), one in three women in Pakistan experience physical violence and more than half of them never tell anyone about it. One would assume that with greater education, incidence of domestic violence would be less. One would be wrong. Education was not found to be deterrent to abuse.

Lack of mobility, opportunities in employment, acceptance of unequal gender roles were all causes of violence at home. Traditional gender constructs based on religion and culture also exacerbate the problem. The government has tried to pass legislation for women rights (e.g.: Punjab Women Protection Bill 2016) but it has been repeatedly blocked by religious factions.

From inequality in health and nutrition to unpaid, unequal and bonded labour in large sections of the economy, persistently low levels of primary and secondary education, little involvement in politics and lesser opportunities up the ladder in the workforce—none of these are specific to Pakistan. But Pakistani women are worse-off because there has been little change. Celebrating women’s day will not cut it. Pakistan needs tough policies and laws that fight religious dogmas; and allow women equal opportunities and rights at school, at the clinic, at the workplace, and at home. That’s where we can start.