1. Gender Inequality and Women in
Pakistan:
Pakistan is a developing country where the status of women is far
lower. Low level of education, poor health and nutrition, limited
access to resources and lack of decision making power are the main
causes of low status of women.
Women in many countries do not have equal access to inheritance,
they cannot own land or property, suffer from domestic violence.
2. Women are left to do the more household works such as cooking,
looking after home and children’s. Women are consider less equal to
men.
Gender discrimination diminishes female talents, skills and
capabilities. Pakistan ranks 144 out of 145 countries worldwide.
3. Factors contributing to high
inequalities
gender-based violence
lack of education
little awareness of rights
lack of access and ownership of resources and assets
and limited access to social services.
4. Education:
In Pakistan, it is a general perception that women can only be
productive in household chores and child-rearing. Women have
limited opportunities in getting higher education.
In 2015, the total literate population of Pakistan is 57.9%, out of
which 64.2% are males and only 35.8% are females. Gender
inequality in education in Pakistan prevents women from fully
participating in the social, economic, political and spiritual life of the
country.
5. Health
According to 1998 figures, the female infant mortality rate was
higher than that of male children. The maternal mortality rate was also
high
Only 9 percent of women used contraceptives in 1985,and In
2012/13, the contraceptive prevalence rate was still low by 35.4%.The
total fertility rate is still only 2.75 children born/woman (2015)
6. Land and property rights:
Around 90% of the Pakistani households are headed by men and
most female-headed households belong to the poor strata of the society.
Women lack ownership of productive resources. Despite women's legal
rights to own and inherit property from their families, there were still
very few women who had access and control over these resources.
7. Employment
Most working women in Pakistan are employed in the informal
sector, which provides them with less income and empowerment.
In 2013, 26% of the female working-age population was part of the
labour force, while 86% of the male working-age population was
part of the labor force. Female workers’ wages are 39pc lower than
those of men in the country.
8. Women are unable to develop job-market skills, hence, they have
limited opportunities in the wage-labor market . 43 percent of the
world’s agriculture labor force is female labor.
For example, men in agriculture are farmers, and agricultural
equipment operators, while women in agriculture are crop collectors
and fruit pickers. Women in every occupation experience a wage
gap.
9. Role of government in reducing gender
Inequalities:
The first step to reduce gender inequality is to provide education to
people about women empowerment. The second step is to provide
job opportunities to women in order to bring more women in to the
workforce. Thirdly, provision of equal job opportunities should be
provided by public and private authorities.
Raising the female wage employment from current levels, there is a
need for expanding and strengthening gender sensitive policies for
female wage employment.
