Women's Human Rights in Pakistan-What has changed and how?

An interview with Asma Jehangir, Human Rights activist, Chairperson, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). By Eman Ahmed, WHRnet, September 2005

WHRnet: How has the "rights" situation for women in Pakistan changed in recent years? What factors have contributed to these changes?

AJ: If by "recent years" you mean the last few decades, there has been a tremendous change in the situation of women's rights. The whole approach has changed from protection to rights. Earlier, it was that women needed protection. Even the Women's Commission report talked in terms of a division of labour between men and women. The woman was, naturally, given a secondary place in return for a monetary stipend to be protected. There was a different mindset altogether. In the 1980s, a more rights-based approach was taken to the status of women, but it has not gone deep enough. When we talk about how the situation has changed-it has changed in terms of women being more aware of their rights; women taking more opportunities where they have presented themselves; and women asserting themselves in different fields, such as in politics and economics. But as far as the basic unit of the family is concerned, which is where discrimination begins and bogs the woman down her whole life, very little has changed, even on paper.

There have been minor breakthroughs though. And these have been primarily because more women are entering the legal profession, and, more importantly, more women have been willing and able to take the risk of litigation. A woman lawyer can interpret laws from a gender perspective, but you still need a real client who wants to go all out, take the legal risk, and not succumb to pressure and compromise along the way. Many of these breakthroughs have come through case law, where women clients have had to suffer. At times, not even supported by their own families, these women have had to go through prolonged periods of uncertainties, and they have been brandished as brash women who are bucking social norms. It has been a difficult process for these women, and they need to be celebrated.

One example of how these changes have taken place was a legal case very early on with regards to a woman who was contesting an election. However, it died down and the question did not reach the height of legal precedent. That is, until female students in medical colleges challenged the law. Other than being supported by their families, what made it easier for these students was that it was not during the military dictatorship of Zia-ul-Haq. Had it been, the case would not have seen the kind of positive response it did from the court. So eventually we did get relief from the Supreme Court and it did uphold Article 25 of the Constitution- "There shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex alone"--which was already on paper was then realised. Following this, there were similar cases challenging discrimination, for example the one that changed the common practise where women were forced to change their domicile according to the domicile of the man she married.

WHRnet: Do you anticipate further changes in the next five years?

AJ: Yes of course, once the ball gets rolling and women begin to not only assert their rights, but they also have women's collectives, where there is thinking going on and where strategies are being planned. However, the existence of these collectives are under threat since they are organized around productive work or services, and this means that they need to be involved in a viable activity in order to continue to exist. For example, women's organizations, like in the past, can't continue to have sewing machine schools, since they will be redundant.

It is now a very competitive playing field for organizations because the resources available to them are shrinking. It is a war of ideas and it is a war of implementing those ideas. Only those collectives that can show results will get the resources.

WHRnet: What strategies have women in Pakistan been using in an effort to bring about equality and human rights for women? What has been effective/ineffective? What factors would you identify as the most important in terms of why and how these strategies have worked?

AJ: I think women have used various strategies to bring about human rights and equality for women. What has been missing, though, in Pakistan is a civil society that works for women's rights. There has never been a comprehensive strategy which is owned by all civil society, which lays out the tools, mechanisms and means we are to adopt.

Everybody has taken a different route. There are those who have tried to fight for women's rights within religious norms. There are others who have tried to make advances within the framework of human rights. And there are those who are not talking about equality but about equity. Their argument is that asking for pure equality, at a time when women are far behind in economic empowerment, would actually disadvantage a number of women. Others argue that economic empowerment can come when the concept of equality is advanced. So this is a classic horse and cart debate going on in Pakistani civil society.

The most effective changes have occurred when women have not depended on government mechanisms alone. Although many breakthroughs for women have come through the court system, if they had depended only on the courts then they would not have been successful. There was a lot of campaigning from the ground up to support these cases. For example, in the case of whether a woman can marry against the wishes of her parents, there was a very dynamic campaign both in the media and on the streets. The issue was being debated in every household and this campaign really caught on. If the courts really wanted to go against the wishes of the women, it would have been as difficult for them as going against the wishes of the ulema (the Muslim religious community).

Earlier, women could not compare their strength to the religious lobby-probably where street power is concerned they still cannot. But women have a single agenda- to advance their rights. The religious lobby, on the other hand, has various agendas and their focus is short lived on these issues. It is sharp, it is very stinging, but then they have to move on. Women stay with the issue and have a wider span of concentration; simply because it is their own survival they are fighting for.

I will give you another example, take custody cases. Again, the clients who fought it through had to bear a lot of criticism, allegations of immorality, of being promiscuous and child abusers. It took a long time, but they persevered. Perhaps it has been the toughest on women who are foreigners. These women came to this country to fight their cases and stayed on for a long time to do so. For example, in 1994 the Uzbek woman who came to fight for, and was eventually granted custody of her children. Her case became a human interest story for people. And because such cases strike a chord with people, courts succumb to the pressure of women. You have to appeal to and win over the kinder side of people rather than the wicked side of people. So that is also one of the strategies.

What has not been effective, as I said earlier, is when women completely depend on state machinery. Take the honour killing law for instance. Prior to drafting the honour killing law, the campaign by NGOs was carried out despite the government, and it became a huge issue in Pakistan. After it got so much attention, some civil society groups entered the campaign and forged a government-civil society partnership for drafting the legislation. Although many civil society groups were not party to it, nonetheless, the result was it was seen as a government-NGO partnership. However, the campaign was eventually unsuccessful in achieving its objectives and one of the main reasons being, many members of civil society involved in drafting the law were not lawyers or were non-practicing lawyers. This was a big mistake. Therefore a lot was left out of the legislation. I believe, non-governmental organizations must only undertake what they are best at doing. If a lawyer writes a report on economic reforms, she could probably give her input but she cannot bring out the end product. It was a pity, because the campaign was very successful to a point but then it dissipated and there was this huge triumphant misconception that we reformed the law. Whereas, nothing was reformed; instead, you've just prolonged the agony of the women being killed.

Strategies also cannot work when you don't have effective and independent state mechanisms. When the judiciary is less independent, you are less effective; when the parliament is not sovereign, you are less effective; and when political parties are not working and are just concerned with their own survival, you are less effective. If your outreach is restricted to a few NGOs, who do not have links to the grassroots, public opinion is not something they can actually form. You have to partner with civil society, such as the press club, the bar association and also the politicians. When these groups are fragmented it becomes very difficult to work, and you become ineffective. That is why, people like us argue, there is a very firm link between human rights and democratic development. You cannot have true freedom of expression or true independence of the judiciary without the democratic process and a democratic set-up.

WHRnet: How can meaningful links be made between local, national, regional and international strategies and mechanisms? And how important is it to establish such links?

AJ: This is a very important question. I think the Pakistani women's movement has been very successful in doing precisely that. And if they had not made those links, particularly during Zia-ul-Haq's regime, they would not have gotten anywhere. They would have been beaten domestically and nobody would have heard of it. It was not until the BBC, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch gave coverage to what was happening to women in the country that did the world's attention actually come towards Pakistan; thereby influencing the decision makers here.

For Pakistan, regional linkages were extremely important for many reasons, of which I would like to elaborate two. One is that we were losing our natural social and cultural alliances and similarities. It was a society that was being Arabized. And when a society is Arabized, there is something artificial about it, yet you can't say what it is. People begin to lose their own indigenous cultures and replace it with elements of a foreign culture, without knowing what they are doing. Pakistan has cultural ties with India, Iran and Afghanistan. These are countries we border and have ethnic, religious and cultural similarities with. We have to bring these regional ties closer to home, so that Arabization of Pakistan becomes diluted.

Let me give you an example. I recently saw a program on CNN where they were showing a madrassa (religious school) in Pakistan and women were sitting there with white hijabs, with only their eyes showing. Now that is not Pakistan's culture. Can anyone show me a photograph from the 70s, 60s, 50s, 40s or anytime, where you had madrassas of this nature and women sat in those white hijabs? This is not our culture. But it is being portrayed as our culture and now has become a foreign fashionable culture. In the 60s, it was jeans. Now it is hijabs! And with it comes a political thinking, a certain ideology--like I am sure there may have been with jeans at that time also. With this, however, there is not only a certain ideology, but also membership to an organized club of women who are then manipulated.

There is another reason it is important to have regional links and keep each other informed and involved. It seems as if every country in the region wants to compete with each other in their worst record rather than with their best record. So if Maldives, for example, can ban people of all religions except Islam from being nationals, one day we in Pakistan will be given the example of Maldives. Just like now Nepal is constantly given the example of Pakistan, that if the army can rule there it can rule in Nepal. We have to make more partnerships in the region and expose people from different countries in the region to each other, so that there is a common feeling of where we should be heading.

Even in terms of development of law, if we take regional precedents that can be very helpful. If there is a breakthrough case in India, we use it here in Pakistan. If there is a breakthrough here, it is used in Bangladesh. We should also learn from each other's good practices as well.

WHRnet: How can governments and private actors be held to account for their actions?

AJ: International human rights activists are increasingly looking at non-state actors, particularly in terms of denial of religious freedoms and violence against women. Violence against women is, for the most part, perpetuated by non-state actors. But there is an obligation on the state to ensure that impunity is not given to those non-state actors, and therefore it becomes very important to bring the state into it. The state may not itself be discriminating against women but when it knows that there is no equality of women in cultural or social terms, the state is obliged to take, what we call, affirmative action. This is also known as the positive obligation of the state, and is particularly pertinent in cases of violence against women, but also in other areas like denial of religious freedoms, rights of children and indigenous people. It is also important regarding sexual minorities. There have been cases were law enforcement agencies have threatened and tortured people because of their sexual orientation. However, there is also social discrimination against them which the state may not be involved in but by its inaction the state in a way tolerates it. So if the state tolerates the abuse, it can be held responsible because it is indirectly linked to state attitudes.

WHRnet: What tools or resources would be most useful to women in Pakistan in terms of translating "human rights on paper" into tangible, positive change in the lives of women?

AJ: I think what is more useful than tools and resources, is for women to draw out a blueprint of how they can work towards making human rights on paper more tangible and positive. If by tools you mean what are the various ways that they can do this then one tool can be through the press. This means that more people who believe in women's rights and human's rights have to be cultivated in the press. Half the battle is being won or lost in the media.

Electronic media today is also extremely important, not only in Pakistan but the world over. Women have to be very clear that they have to use all the tools currently in vogue. For example, the Internet is one of the new technologies people are using. Rather than staying with the old method of having posters-which nobody sees-women, today, have to think like multinational companies and use all those tools that multinational companies use.

Yes it is true, when we are talking of technology, large parts of our countries may not have that kind of technology and therefore we cannot rely only on modern methods. We have to use other tools as well. I think the use of culture is a very effective way of promoting the rights of women. We have seen that street theatre has got women, not just women but communities, to debate and reflect. Changing the mindset is the most difficult thing. It is unfortunate that we do not have a good theater/cinema culture in Pakistan. For example, many of the films on women's rights made in India are very popular in the paralegal centers we have in Lahore. More people come to the centers to watch these films than anything else, and they have a very wholesome debate after each film. So if portrayed in an emotional and sensitive manner, I think it is effective.

Another tool that women have not used in our country, which I think is a mistake, is influencing young people in educational institutions. We have worked with trade unions and perhaps have even made inroads in the upper echelons of society, but not with the younger generation in the colleges and schools, which is perhaps 40% of the entire population.

We also need to engage more professional women, for example, in the airline industry, the nursing profession, women in the film industry. These are all very important spokespeople for the cause of women's rights.

I believe there is much more women's organizations and human rights organizations can do in Pakistan. If you listen to many of the FM radio stations in the country, many of them are religious based. We need to counter that and when the opportunity presents itself, we need to use the Radio as one of our tools. Also, a lot of women feel that they can promote women's rights through religious teaching and a reinterpretation of religions. I do not know how much success they have had, but that is another strategy people are using.

I think when you are talking of the "gains on paper" being translated into tangible and positive changes, there have been some-because, frankly, if you give women rights or protection on paper, and if they are victimized then they have to use them. So for example, the gains that we made in family laws, women have no choice but to use them and they thus become tangible gains. We did not have interim maintenance for children or wives earlier, but we have it now and there are a lot of women availing of it. Also in terms of local body elections, when the opportunity was given, you had women contesting from everywhere. And, at that time, I remember almost every political party said 'we will not have so many women contesting', but we had no dearth of women candidates. So I think gains on paper have made tangible changes in the lives of women.

Over the years, you will see, that when our courts have been independent-I would not say absolutely independent, but more independent-there is more liberal jurisprudence coming out of the courts. In each of those periods you will find important precedents where women have taken the opportunity and gotten tangible results. I think women could get more tangible results, in say bringing about changes to the labour law. They have not been able to do that. But then again, trade unions are banned. Unless you have freedom of association you cannot really effectively assert you rights.

source:www.awid.org

Women-Pakistan: Domestic Violence Bill Draws Mixed Reactions

A historic bill seeking to punish domestic abuse still raises doubts about its ability to meet the goal it sets out to do: end violence against women.

That is assuming the bill, which was approved by the National Assembly on Aug. 4, will be passed by the Senate to make it a law.

'Just as the proceedings began before the bill was put to a vote, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani got up to say his government supported the bill as it fell under their party manifesto’s purview,' said Yasmeen Rehman, a member of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, who sponsored the bill. 'I was elated.'

Civil society groups advocating protection of women against all forms of violence dubbed the passage a 'historic move.

'The bill is significant,' said Khawar Mumtaz, chief executive officer of Shirkat Gah Women's Resource Center, a women’s rights group in Pakistan. 'Firstly, it acknowledges the incidence of domestic violence. Secondly, it recognizes that it can no longer be ignored or remain invisible,' Mumtaz told IPS.

For too long, 'treating domestic violence as a private affair has given protection to perpetrators of violence and has led to victimization of women,' she said. 'The passage of the bill 'is a measure of success of women's advocacy.'

The bill underwent endless vetting by an 18-member house Standing Committee on Women Development and the Law Ministry, said Rehman. 'I think the bill was greatly strengthened by these processes,' said parliament member Bushra Gohar of the Awami National Party, a leftist party in Pakistan.

It stipulates against not only the more accepted forms of violence against women, like sexual abuse and assault but also covers such acts as stalking, economic abuse, verbal and emotional abuse, willful or negligent abandonment and wrongful confinement, among others.

The bill defines domestic violence as '(a)ll intentional acts of gender-based or other physical or psychological abuse committed by an accused against women, children or other vulnerable persons, with whom the accused person is or has been in a domestic relationship.'

Anis Haroon, chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW), an independent statutory body, described the passage of the 28-clause bill as a 'major step forward.'

But while some rights groups have hailed the passage of the bill, others expressed strong misgivings about it.

Maliha Khan, a women’s rights activist, said the bill does not criminalise the offence. While its definition of domestic violence is 'fairly all-encompassing,' it is tantamount only to 'a restraint order.' On a cursory reading, the bill looks acceptable, but it is not, she said.

She cited the breach of protection order found in section eight of the bill. 'This order obligates the accused not to commit an act of domestic violence. When and if the accused breaches this order, only then will she or he be punished with imprisonment and/or fine,' she said.

It is important to note the distinction, she explained. An accused found guilty of committing an act of domestic violence will only receive a warning not to do certain acts based on the protection order. Thus the accused will not be subject to penal punishments for committing a criminal act, said Khan.

Penalties for violations of protection orders include imprisonment of six months to one year and a fine of 100,000 rupees (some 1,210 U.S. dollars) for the first breach; and a prison term of one to two years and/or a fine of not less than 200,000 rupees (2,421 U.S. dollars) for the second and succeeding offenses.

'To effectively deal with this social evil, it is vital that an act of domestic violence be punished with imprisonment and/or fine at the first instance, not after a 'breach' of protection orders,' said Khan.

Khan also took issue with the use of the word 'intentional' in the bill’s definition of domestic abuse. 'Excuses such as ‘mistake’, ‘ignorance’ and ‘accident’ could be easily used to counter any complaint of domestic violence, resulting in immediate acquittal,' she said. Thus she had proposed the inclusion of ‘unintentional’ in the same definition before the bill was passed.

Based on a report by the women’s rights group Aurat Foundation, ‘Situation of Violence against Women in Pakistan’, a total 7,571 incidents of violence against women were reported in the country last year.

According to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)’s ‘State of Human Rights in 2008’ report, 1,210 women were killed for various reasons. 'Over eight hundred were sexually harassed, 350 raped, 45 gang- raped and 13 were stripped,' stated the document. It added that 185 women were killed due to domestic violence and 138 others injured.

The United Nation’s Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) said at least one out of three women around the world has been 'beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime with the abuser usually someone known to her. Violence against women and girls is a universal problem of epidemic proportions.'

UNIFEM said only 89 countries have legislative provisions on domestic violence against women and only around 60 states have passed specific domestic violence laws, a significant rise from only 45 countries with such a law in 2003.

Pakistan could become the 61st country outlawing domestic violence should the Senate pass the bill.

Although rights groups welcomed the passage of the bill by the upper house, they were dismayed by yet another of its provisions. Section 25 states that in case of a 'false complaint,' an imprisonment of up to six months and a penalty of 50,000 rupees (about 605 U.S. dollars), or both, will be meted out to the complainant.

'It never existed in any of the earlier bills (on domestic violence),' said the NCSW’s Haroon.

'It makes the legislation null and void,' cried Khan, who presented the recommendations put forward by the civil society to the government and parliamentarians. 'If anyone files a complaint of domestic violence and is unable to prove it, for whatever reason, the complainant will be charged with false accusation and punished accordingly.' She said this could dissuade women from seeking protection against domestic violence for fear of reprisal.

Others appear more concerned about how the law, once passed, will be implemented.

Zohra Yusuf of the HRCP said, 'Women need easy access to complaint centres, so perhaps small ones can be established in neighbourhoods, where sensitized policewomen can be placed.'

Gohar stressed the need to hire more women police at the sub-district level as well as the conduct of gender sensitivity training for police officers and local government representatives.

Still others are downright sceptical about efforts of any kind to legislate against domestic violence. Dr Shershah Syed, a leading Karachi-based gynecologist, asked: 'Will it change the attitude of the people, the perpetrators? They always manage to go scot-free,' he said. 'Pick up any national paper. Not a single day passes when a few violent acts against women are not reported.

'Many women think abuse is part and parcel of married life and take it in stride. Unless the prime minister and the president announce zero tolerance for violence against women, no amount of law making would help,' he added.

Akmal Wasim, a Karachi-based lawyer who was among those who vetted the bill, agreed that a mere law cannot change society’s attitude toward gender- based violence. 'The bill is inconsequential if the political will for its proper implementation is not there,' he said.

Still, the passage of the bill is a crucial step in the right direction, some experts said. If laws are not being implemented it does not mean they should not be legislated in the first place, said Shirkat Gah’s Mumtaz.

'Laws are important for setting standards and defining what is acceptable in society. Whatever fate awaits the new law will also depend on how much people turn to it for protection. But once it is in the statute books, the option of invoking it becomes available,' she said.

source:www.globalissues.org

GENDER ISSUES RELEVANT TO ADB’S OPERATIONS

Conceptual Issues
This section highlights some of the points that are critical for the conceptual understanding of
gender issues in any social context and should inform all gender frameworks. The gender strategy of
the Asian Development Bank (ADB) should also take the following points into account and reflect
them in its operations.
Gender disparities are not determined by economic forces alone but these are also
ideological and culture-specific. That is why the countries that rank low in the Gender Development
Index are not necessarily resource-poor. Development with the overriding objective of economic
growth does not necessarily ensure the equal distribution of benefits as the production processes
thrive on profit created by gender relations. Thus it continues to create disparities along the lines of
class, gender, and ethnicity (Pakistan is a case in point). The development paradigm that considers
people as productive capital assets for economic efficiency may bring the desired results in economic
terms but is inept to meet the social goal of gender equity and social justice. Economic growth is a
necessary condition for gender equality but not sufficient in itself. Therefore, a shift from a
production-oriented view of development towards a rights-based approach is imperative from the
equity point of view. High investment in human capital within the framework of a rights-based
approach will ensure sustainable high economic returns, as well as greater gender equality and social
progress.
Women are active agents in the productive and reproductive spheres; however, the
interconnection of production and reproduction in their lives is largely ignored by various
development paradigms. The focus is either on their reproductive roles by sex-role stereotypes or an
overemphasis on their productive roles at the expense of complete omission of their greater grounding
in familial roles. The overemphasis on one aspect of women’s lives needs to be avoided to give them
support in both roles and to integrate them fully in the production and accumulation processes.
Gender is a determining factor in placing women in a subordinate position vis-à-vis men;
however, women’s access to resources, power, and authority is determined by the interconnection of
their gender with other social relationships. Not all women are poor or lack access to social services
or resources. Women’s access to resources is dependent on their positions in other social relationships
such as class, race, ethnicity, etc. A holistic understanding of women's lives and their connection with
other forms of inequalities is imperative for the success of any development initiative aimed at
bringing social change in women’s lives. The framework of social relationships in analyzing gender
could be a useful tool in this regard.
Creating equal opportunities for men and women will not automatically result in gender
equity. Men and women have different degrees of embodiment due to gender role ideology. Women’s
subordinate position in social relationships with the exclusive responsibility for reproductive roles has
implications for their ability to exploit choices and make use of the opportunities created for them. In
order to ensure the equality of results, it is important to address the systemic nature of gender
inequalities and engendering of the social, economic, and political institutions/structures that continue
to create and recreate gender inequalities in spite of affirmative actions. The transformation of public
institutions for substantive equality will demand political rather than technical solutions.
30 Country Briefing Paper—Women in Pakistan
Gender is one of ADB’s five stated strategic development objectives (SDOs) along with
economic development, poverty reduction, human development including population planning, and
sound management of natural resources and the environment. With ADB’s adoption of the gender and
development policy in 1998, gender is now a crosscutting theme in all projects and programs of ADB.
Gender inequalities and women’s subordination will have implications for the success of all the
efforts that will be made in each strategic area to achieve the desired results. Without investing in
women to make them as equally productive as men, economic efficiency/development cannot be
achieved. Similarly, poverty is a cause and effect of gender inequality. Poverty reduction efforts need
to focus on women as they are the poorest of the poor. Women are less endowed with productive
assets than men. Therefore, women should be given priority in human development investment.
Women manage natural resources. They are thus the natural partners in the management of natural
resources and environment. Successful achievement of the five SDOs will depend on the adequacy of
gender focus by the ADB.
Pakistan’s Development Experience and Gender Issues
Pakistan’s economic history is full of economic experimentation. Pakistan inherited an
agricultural economy with an extremely narrow industrial base at the time of independence. During
the early period of 1947–1958, Pakistan was busy settling the influx of refugees into the country.
During this period, the economy had an average annual gross national product (GNP) growth rate of
3.2 percent. The period of 1958–1968 was dominated by the military regime of Ayub Khan who was
inclined towards a private sector and market-based economy. Rapid industrialization based on importsubstitution
of consumer goods was central to the development strategy. The tariff structure and the
patronage provided to the private sector led to the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. The
Ayub Khan era was marked with high economic growth rates. It was also associated with increasing
income disparities. The social sector was largely neglected and dependence on foreign capital inflow
was great. The democratic regime of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (1970–1977) shifted the focus from
privatization to nationalization of basic public institutions and industries. The rate of growth of
agriculture and industry was adversely affected during this period due to inconsistent domestic
policies of nationalization. A civil war led to the division of the country and the loss of half of the
export market and one fifth of import source, followed by price hikes. The difference between importexport
growth also led to the country’s dependence on foreign loans. The military regime of Zia-ul-
Haq (1997–1988) had to face a growth crisis as well as a fiscal and payments crisis. He reversed
Bhutto’s nationalization policy and the successive regimes are also committed to market approaches
and policies of liberalization and deregulation.
With these shifting perspectives, approaches, and strategies to development in the past
50 years, economic growth remained fundamental to development efforts in Pakistan. Despite the
consistent growth of the economy at an average rate of 6 percent per annum since 1960, the social
sector indicators lag far behind other Asian developing countries due to the missing link between
human development and economic growth in the conceptual understanding of development
policymakers and planners in Pakistan. In recent years women have suffered more as the relationship
between human capital and sustainable economic growth became part of development thinking.
Pakistan’s development experience has led to inequalities along the lines of class and gender.
Development policies and programs have different impacts on men and women. There are glaring
gender disparities in women’s access to education, health, economic resources, and political
participation in decision-making bodies at the family, community, and national levels. The current
economic crisis and adjustment program has given rise to incidences of poverty. Women constitute 60
percent of the poor.
Gender Issues Relevant to ADB’s Operations 31
Development planning moved from a welfare to an efficiency approach from 1950 to 1970
towards women’s development. The former sees women essentially as beneficiaries of development
and the latter as producers and active agents in development. Nevertheless, both approaches fail to
understand the complexity and interconnectedness of women’s multiple roles in the productive and
reproductive spheres and in the social and cultural context, which shape the realities of their lives.
Country Strategy and Gender Issues
Summary of ADB’s Operational Strategy in Pakistan
The main thrust of ADB’s Country Operational Strategy (COS) for Pakistan approved in
1995 was human resource development (HRD) and economic growth with the main focus on
generating employment for the rapidly growing labor force, and reducing gender inequalities,
poverty, and environmental degradation.
Pakistan’s decision to go nuclear, followed by the imposition of economic sanctions by the
G-7 countries in early June 1998, and the freezing of foreign currency accounts to conserve foreign
exchange, created severe economic hardships for the country. The difficulties the
Government faced in servicing foreign debts led ADB to review, reassess, and readjust its operational
framework to respond to the new economic environment.
The Country Operational Framework (COF), 1999–2000, proposes that ADB’s assistance in
Pakistan should focus on the following.
(i) Improved economic efficiency and export growth: The framework prioritizes
finance, trade and industry, energy, agriculture and natural resources, and transport
for ADB assistance to achieve the above-mentioned SDOs. It suggests the
restructuring of these sectors by removing existing policy distortions and introducing
the necessary policy reforms to enhance economic efficiency and export potentials of
these sectors, and to respond to the country’s economic needs.
(ii) Human and social development: This will be primarily through the continuous
support of ADB for improved quality, efficiency, and access in the SAP sectors.
ADB will continue to be committed to SAP ll. Additionally, its projects in agriculture
and natural resources, social infrastructure, finance, and industry will positively
impact on poverty reduction in Pakistan.
(iii) Governance and institutional strengthening: Poor governance has emerged as a
critical crosscutting issue in Pakistan. Improvement in governance will be achieved
through ADB’s assistance in institutional reforms and capacity building of NGOs.
The COF also proposed to undertake studies and activities for the new COS for the period
commencing 2001 during the framework period 1999–2000.
The objectives of the COF are consistent with the Agenda 2010 that includes export,
governance, and social services as some of the key areas of state intervention and also with the
Government’s approach to the Ninth Plan (1998–2003). The overall policy shift in the Ninth Plan is
from import-substitution industrialization to export-led industrialization. The key elements of the
approach include (i) maintenance of fiscal deficit at a sustainable level; (ii) achievement of potential
growth and enhancement of the potential itself; (iii) investment in physical infrastructure especially
ports, railways, pipelines, roads, and telecommunications; (iv) export-led industrialization and
32 Country Briefing Paper—Women in Pakistan
growth; (v) efficient water market; (vi) continued investment in people, especially women and
children; (vii) respect for environmental concerns; (viii) discovery of regional comparative
advantages and encouragement of the private sector; (ix) the buildup of an integrated social security
system; and (x) presentation of an unambiguous perspective on state, civil society, and economy.1
Gender Issues and the Country Operational Framework
Before addressing gender issues in the COF, one general point needs to be made that is
relevant to the overall conceptual framework of the COF.
The primary focus of the COF 1999–2000, is improved economic efficiency, while human
development issues and governance are the two other major areas of ADB’s strategy in Pakistan. The
fragmentation of development into economic growth/efficiency and human resource development is
conceptually in conflict with the view that economic growth without equity cannot qualify as
development. The interconnection of growth and human development is so central to sustainable
economic growth that they can no longer be stated in terms of hierarchy. These two objectives need
to be stated in parallel rather than in hierarchical fashion. Deepening the understanding of the
interrelationship between economic efficiency and human development would lead to the integration
of the social development perspective in programs and projects aimed at economic growth and
efficiency.
Improved Economic Efficiency and Export Performance
The conceptual issues outlined for ADB in the chapter on Gender Issues need to be fully
integrated in its operations in Pakistan. For this purpose the proposed project proposals must be
scrutinized for gender impact assessment and gender performance indicators prior to a loan being
approved by ADB.
Since the COF proposes improved economic efficiency and export performance through
appropriate structural changes in finance, trade and industry, energy, agriculture and natural
resources, and transport, these issues merit serious consideration in planning interventions.
The export promotion policy should be developed cautiously with greater sensitivity and
awareness to the issue of food security. Export-driven policies especially in the agriculture sector may
lead to reduction in land use for food grain production in favor of commercial crops that will erode
food security and accentuate poverty in the country and negatively impact on the poor in general and
women in particular. It is also important to identify export industries where women have been
traditionally working. The export potential of these industries should be promoted through upgrading
of women’s training skills so that they could also be direct beneficiaries of the planning directions of
ADB to promote exports for economic efficiency.
Since the majority of women in Pakistan are working in agriculture and in the informal sector
of the economy, they are neither covered nor protected by labor laws. Therefore, there is a strong
possibility that women will be further exploited by the private sector, which is usually concerned with
a high rate of profit at the expense of labor’s well-being. Similarly, the policies of liberalization of
trade and economy have a different impact on men and women. Again, gender impact assessment will
protect the poor and women from the negative impact of such policies.
1 Planning Commission (1996), “Approach to the Ninth Plan 1998–2003,” Islamabad, pp.1–4.
Gender Issues Relevant to ADB’s Operations 33
An impact assessment of the proposed privatization and commercialization of the Karachi
Electric Supply Corporation and the Water and Power Development Authority should be undertaken
from an equity point of view to mitigate any adverse effects on consumers, especially the poor and
women.
In the agriculture and natural resource sector, the focus on the rural poor and women will
yield long-term benefits in terms of growth and efficiency. The majority of people in rural areas lack
access to productive resources such as land, water, agricultural technologies, credit, etc. Big
landholdings and repressive tenancy laws continue to dominate the agriculture sector in Pakistan.
Inefficient utilization of land and water resources is a major problem in agriculture. ADB initiatives
towards removal of policy distortion should also address the issue of effective implementation of land
reforms and changes in tenancy arrangement. The ownership and control of women and the rural poor
of productive assets warrant efficiency in the agriculture sector.
Women are the key players in the agriculture sector. Almost 12 million women are
economically active in this sector. They are actively engaged in the production of crops, vegetables,
and livestock. The cotton crop, which accounts for half of the export earnings of the country, is
heavily dependent on female labor. Women exclusively do the cotton picking. The quality of cotton is
largely dependent on cotton picking. Cotton is also highly prone to pest and diseases; therefore, it is
frequently sprayed with pesticides. Women are usually not aware of the health hazards related to the
use of pesticides. They need to be involved as planners and beneficiaries in all projects related to
credit and pest management.
Gender issues in credit programs need to be analyzed and stated clearly. Women in Pakistan
have extremely limited access to formal and informal sources due to the underlying assumption that
their primary roles are in the reproductive sphere. Credit offered within the broader objectives of
poverty reduction does not address the issues of women’s access, participation, and control over
resources. Credit provision without supportive services in new marketable skills, advisory and
consultative services, and assistance in designing and marketing, will push women to generate income
through their traditional skills. It may help to reduce poverty at the household level, but this will not
contribute towards women’s economic and overall empowerment.
Human and Social Development
In the given situation of economic crisis and the cut in the public sector development program
(PSDP) from Rs110 billion to Rs98 billion, which is one of the conditions in the Enhanced Structural
Adjustment Facility of the International Monetary Fund program, the continuous support of ADB to
SAP ll is highly appropriate. In view of the low impact of SAP l on the basic social indicators, SAP ll
will focus more on quality.2
Along with quality issues in SAP ll, it is important to understand the issue of women’s access
to social services, which is not entirely dependent on the supply side factor. Rather, it is determined
by a complex interplay of cultural, social, and economic forces. Gender disparities in the social sector
are not the result of lack or absence of service provisions alone but are also due to sociocultural
determinants of women’s access to them. Therefore, gender issues in the social sector cannot be
addressed at the practical level alone. Gender awareness at the project level needs to be translated into
gender planning of policies and programs so it could address structural issues that constrain women’s
access to social services.
2 See Table 4.
34 Country Briefing Paper—Women in Pakistan
Without an integrated gender framework that recognizes the interplay of cultural, social, and
economic forces in women’s access to social services, SAP ll will not be able to achieve the
maximum utilization of social services. Thus the opportunity cost to provide basic social services to
women will remain high. Therefore, SAP ll needs to go beyond dealing with gender issues at the
project level and must embark on strategic gender planning at the macrolevel to bridge the gender gap
in access to basic social services.
Lack of access to social services is an important dimension of poverty. However, women’s
development should not be confined to the social sector alone. ADB should supplement its support to
SAP ll with additional initiatives to address women’s strategic interests in the social sector and
beyond.
Governance and Institutional Strengthening
Poor governance has been rightly recognized as a critical crosscutting issue in the COF.
ADB’s governance-related assistance is mainly for institutional reform and capacity building of
NGOs.
Good governance does not necessarily mean the removal of disparities along the lines of
gender, class, race, and ethnicity. Since women are virtually invisible in governance structures, it is
important that ADB’s assistance create space for their voices to be heard and their perspective to be
integrated in proposed institutional reforms for various sectors.
It is suggested that ADB include MWD in its priority areas for institutional reform and
capacity building.
Accountability is an essential component of good governance, which is largely dependent on
a stronger civil society. Capacity building of NGOs will contribute to strengthening civil society and
consequent improvement in governance. However, the civil society or NGO sector must not be seen
as homogeneous. The relationship between the women’s movement and civil society in Pakistan is
quite problematic because the concept of civil society, within which the women’s movement is
embedded, is itself a construct emanating from patriarchal arrangements.3 Therefore, NGOs where
women are leaders must be included in the capacity-building projects of ADB.
ADB’s Gender Strategy for Pakistan
This section will propose a gender strategy for ADB in Pakistan. It is based on four pillars,
i.e., gender integration, gender mainstreaming, building a database on women, and strengthening civil
society. Within each of these pillars, issues are further identified and actions for ADB are proposed.
Table 8 summarizes the priority areas for ADB on gender and development in Pakistan.
Gender Integration
The main thrust of ADB’s gender strategy for Pakistan should be to engender the preparation
of the country operational strategy. Instead of supporting gender programs in entirely different
sectors, it is proposed that all the programs and projects within the guiding principal areas identified
in the 1999–2000 COF–improving economic efficiency and export performance, human and social
development, governance and institutional strengthening–should integrate gender concerns into the
3 Farzana Bari and Saba Gul Khatak (1999), “Women’s Movement Response to Power Configuration in the
State and the Society” (unpublished paper).
Gender Issues Relevant to ADB’s Operations 35
design and implementation of reform measures and monitoring programs. To operationalize gender
integration, each loan proposal of ADB for Pakistan should undergo the following stages: (i) gender
impact assessment of the project proposal, (ii) development of project-specific gender strategy, and
(iii) development of gender performance indicators.
Table 8: Priority Areas for ADB’s Promotion of Gender and Development in Pakistan
Priority Area Loan Technical Assistance/
Economic Sector Work
Gender Integration
Feminization of
poverty
Credit for women
Vocational skills training
Financial support to SAP II
Gender impact assessment of
SAP I
Developing gender performance
indicators for SAP II
Increasing political
participation of women
Electoral reforms
Training and political education programs
for political activists
International research study on
comparative analysis of electoral
systems and women’s political
participation
Protecting women from
violence
Establishing shelters for women
Gender training of judiciary and police
Judicial and police reforms
Shelter reform in the public and private
sectors
Gender
Mainstreaming
Engendering ADB’s
operations in Pakistan
Developing a system of gender rating to
select the project for funding
Gender impact assessment of ADB’s
country operational framework before
its adoption
Gender impact assessment of structural
adjustment programs
Gender impact assessment of trade
liberalization policies
Gender impact assessment of
privatization of institutions that provide
basic utilities
Building a Database
on Women
Gender auditing of the budget
Annual gender audit to map out the
position of Pakistani women in all areas of
life
Strengthening Civil
Society
Developing women’s cooperatives Developing generic accounting and
information management systems for
NGOs
Capacity Building of
Women’s
Development
Machinery in
Pakistan
Training staff in the Ministry of Women’s
Development, provincial departments of
women’s development, and focal points in
ministries in gender management skills
Developing/promoting and capacity
building of women’s study centers in the
public and private sectors
Developing national policy on women
Capacity building of women’s study
resource persons
36 Country Briefing Paper—Women in Pakistan
In view of the lack of political commitment to gender issues in Pakistan, it would be useful if
the release of loan installments were linked to the periodic monitoring reports and progress made
against performance indicators, especially along the lines of gender. This will ensure that women
equally benefit from ADB’s operations in Pakistan even when there are no gender-specific projects. It
will also avoid the marginalizing gender programs and push gender concerns from the margin of the
social sector to the center of aid assistance in all sectors, including economic and political sectors.
To address critical issues faced by women in Pakistan mentioned under the chapter on
Critical Issues for Women in Pakistan, some of the following gender-specific projects, technical
assistance, and economic and sector work should also be funded within three broad areas of ADB’s
operations, i.e., the feminization of poverty, governance, and violence against women. These are
described below.
1. Critical Issue: Feminization of Poverty
ADB’s Priority Area: Improving Economic Efficiency and Export Performance
Possible Projects/Technical Assistance/Economic and Sector Work
• Training and skill development programs for women
• Extension services for women in agriculture
• Establishment of women’s cooperatives
• Microcredit for women
• Advisory and counseling services for women
• Hostels for working women
• Affordable child care centers
• Employment opportunities for women to avoid increase in the incidence of
poverty
• Employment opportunities for women in nontraditional areas
• Assessing impact of adjustment programs on women
• Gender impact assessment of policies for export promotion and privatization
• Provision of social safety nets for women
2. Critical Issue: Political Participation
ADB’s Priority Area: Governance and Institutional Strengthening
Possible Projects/Technical Assistance/Economic and Sector Work
• Political education and training programs for women
• Electoral reforms
• Voters’ education
• Gender sensitization programs for politicians
• Support to affirmative actions for women’s political participation and
representation
• Strengthening local government and women’s role in it
• Research studies on women and politics
3. Critical Issue: Violence Against Women
ADB’s Priority Area: Human and Social Development
Possible Projects/Technical Assistance/Economic and Sector Work
Gender Issues Relevant to ADB’s Operations 37
• Data collection and research studies on violence against women
• Support initiatives to introduce and enforce legislation on violence against
women
• Support services to survivors of violence
• Gender training programs for police, judiciary, and media
Mainstreaming Gender
Mainstreaming gender issues into policies and development programs should be the key
planning strategy in ADB’s efforts to promote gender equity in Pakistan. This will not only improve
women’s status but will also contribute to the national, social, and economic development of the
country. ADB can make it operational at two levels: (i) by ensuring that gender considerations are
fully taken into account in each of its own loans; and (ii) by supporting and strengthening the
institutional capacity of the Government for gender mainstreaming. Concrete suggestions for gender
mainstreaming are outlined for five sectors legal reform, microfinance, integrated rural development,
urban development, and education.
There are three essential components of gender mainstreaming:
(i) positive policy environment,
(ii) political commitment, and
(iii) technical knowledge to integrate and mainstream gender in projects and programs.
Gender is one of ADB’s five SDOs. Its gender and development policy paper clearly provides
guidance and direction to integrate and mainstream gender considerations into its activities, including
macroeconomic and sector work, and lending and technical assistance operations. However, the
vision in this policy paper has not been converted into reality. Gender analysis of sector loans is
hardly undertaken in either the pre-implementation or post-implementation phase. Contrary to ADB’s
goal of a 50:50 mix between traditional growth projects and those addressing social and
environmental concerns, only one program on women’s health was included in lending operations in
Pakistan for 1999. As far as other programs for 1999 are concerned, no efforts were made to assess
how these are going to benefit women and how women’s participation can be ensured in planning and
implementing these programs. The project documents lacked project-related gender strategy.
Removal of Policy Distortions
Weak governance has been recognized as a key structural cause for the failure of
development policies and programs by both government and funding agencies in Pakistan. The
Government commits itself to addressing the crisis of governance through institutional reforms,
clearly stated in the Pakistan 2010 program. Therefore, there is common ground between the
objective of the ADB’s COF and the Government’s development plan of 2010 on improving
governance. ADB is well placed to include and promote gender in the general policy dialogue for
sector reforms.
The COF 1999–2000 particularly focuses on policy reform and capacity building.
Strengthening institutional capacity to mainstream gender issues into all sectors of society should be
another important element in the gender strategy for Pakistan.
38 Country Briefing Paper—Women in Pakistan
ADB is paying considerable attention to the policy environment in which projects are
formulated as it strongly impacts on the success of its projects. Thus it should also enter into a policy
dialogue with the Government on gender issues. Presently, the policy context for women in Pakistan
is fairly conflicting and contradictory. On the one hand there are positive policy
measures/commitment in the shape of the ratified CEDAW and official launching of the NPA by the
Prime Minister on 14 August 1998; on the other hand, certain Islamic legislation clearly discriminates
against women. Thus the policy context for women in Pakistan is riddled with conflict. The presence
of oppressive laws invalidates any progressive social policy on women. ADB can play an important
role in supporting efforts of other funding agencies and civil society that are trying to bring
consistency in the policy context for women in Pakistan.
Capacity Building of Ministry of Women’s Development
MWD is the key institution for the advancement of women in Pakistan. However, it has failed
to perform its function effectively. This is because of several factors, which include the lack of
political clout, weak coordination with other line ministries, and lack of institutional capacity.
One of the determining factors in the poor performance of MWD is its lack of technical
know-how to integrate gender issues into national policies, plans, and programs. There is a critical
need to develop the capacity of in-house professional staff of MWD in gender analysis, gender
planning, policy appraisal, gender impact assessment, gender budgeting and accounting, etc. This
would ensure that they plan and monitor development initiatives in the country and that decisions are
made with a gender perspective.
Strengthening Provincial Women’s Development Departments
At the provincial level there are women’s development departments. These departments also
implement and monitor some of the Federal Government’s national level projects in the provinces.
The performance of these departments is no different than a ministry at the federal level because of
lack of institutional capacity to promote and implement gender-related programs and projects at the
national and provincial levels. Capacity building of women’s development departments at the
provincial level in gender management skills will help mainstream gender in Pakistan.
There is a lack of coordination between the federal MWD and provincial women’s
development departments. It has been observed that the federal MWD starts development schemes in
the provinces without consulting provincial governments. After the completion of development
schemes, provincial governments do not take any responsibility for the recurring costs. As a result,
federal schemes suffer from lack of financial resources at the provincial level. It is imperative for the
effective use of financial resources that women’s development programs are well coordinated
between federal and provincial governments.
Focal Points in Line Ministries
Gender integration and mainstreaming at the national level is heavily dependent on strong
coordination between line ministries and provincial departments. MWD needs to build its capacity to
establish horizontal and vertical linkages and provide technical support to the gender focal points in
other ministries. Line ministries and provincial departments must recognize that women’s concerns
are not the responsibility of MWD alone.
Out of 26 focal points established in line ministries, none had a background in women’s
development. On the request of MWD, each ministry has made one person as a focal point. However,
Gender Issues Relevant to ADB’s Operations 39
no efforts are being made to develop the capacity of these focal points to enable them to perform their
job well. Therefore, it is highly recommended that the capacity building of focal points for gender in
various ministries be given priority in ADB’s agenda for institution building in Pakistan.
Development of a National Policy on Women
Presently, there is no national policy on women, although there are statements on women’s
development in the NPA and in the Ninth Plan. ADB should offer support through its technical
assistance program to help MWD formulate a national policy on women. It is important to have a
clearly defined policy on women that recognizes the multiplicity of women’s roles in the productive
and reproductive spheres. The framework of social relations should be used in the national policy
document to guide the Government’s development policies and programs to rectify the gender
imbalance in all sectors of the society.
Building a Database on Women
The third element of the strategy should be to build a database on women that will not only
establish the evidence of gender discrimination and disparities, but also help to prioritize areas of
policy interventions. ADB is already working to strengthen the capacity of the government statistics
office to do household surveys and to collect gender-disaggregated socio-economic development
data. ADB’s support towards filling information gaps and establishing mechanisms for collecting and
collating information on women will play a strategic role in establishing facts about women and
provide the legitimacy needed to redirect resources towards women’s development.
Supporting initiatives such as gender auditing of the budget and annual gender audit to map
women’s position in all areas of life could help to increase and redirect financial resources to those
areas where women are lagging behind.
Strengthening Civil Society
ADB should recognize the interconnection of poor governance and a weak civil society,
which reinforce each other. A weak civil society is unable to generate public pressure on the
Government to increase its commitment in the social development sector.
NGOs working as catalysts in community development are growing in number. It is difficult
to assess the exact number of NGOs working in Pakistan as they are registered under five different
laws. The number quoted in different studies varies from 8,000 to 35,000.4 A study undertaken by
UNDP in 1991 covered 4,833 registered NGOs. Women were identified as the target population by
50.9 percent of the NGOs.
Capacity building of NGOs that are working towards gender equity—especially those led by
women with grassroots orientation—should be the key approach in strengthening civil society. ADB
should also support development projects that encourage women to form groups, organizations, and
cooperatives.
Women’s study centers could play an important role in generating knowledge that is essential
for the promotion of gender equity. Centers for women’s studies would provide a space to reflect on
local experiences in the field of development and would help to develop indigenous theoretical
models based on the local socioeconomic context. The growth of civil society is hampered by the lack
4 Simi Kamal (1997), “Country Report: Pakistan,” Study of NGOs in Nine Asian Countries, p. 4.
40 Country Briefing Paper—Women in Pakistan
of understanding on gender issues among activists in social movements. Institutions of women’s
studies can play a strategic role in producing knowledge and understanding on gender issues that can
be used by civil society in their struggle for social change. The support to develop the institutional
capacity of women’s study centers will go a long way toward legitimizing gender discourse and
creating a knowledge base for gender equity.
Gender Concerns in ADB’s Project Pipeline for Pakistan
This section undertakes an indicative gender analysis of selected projects in the pipeline for
2000–2002 only. ADB’s program evolves on a yearly basis to best address the needs of the
Government. The list of gender issues and proposed interventions for integration of women’s
concerns is by no means exhaustive. It is indicative and emphasizes that there is always scope for
gender integration in all projects, even in those that appear to traditionally belong to men. The
analysis below, by sector and by proposed project (where relevant), indicates gender issues that need
to be taken into account for the sector.
Sector: Legal Reform
Proposed Project: Legal and Judicial Reform Sector Development Program Loan (2001)
Scope: The loan will focus on the problems of inefficiencies in the legal and judicial system,
including court congestion and the inefficient delivery of legal services. This will entail addressing key
policy and structural issues that perpetuate the current inefficiencies in the system. The project will,
among other things, cover court administration and case management including introduction of an
efficient management information system in the courts, accountability of the judiciary, legal education
and training, strengthening of ministries in the federation and provinces, improving access to justice
including induction of more women judges particularly in the family courts, and an improved legal
information system to enhance transparency and create efficiency.
Gender Issues
• Gender imbalance in the judiciary
• Gender biases of the judiciary
• Women’s lack of knowledge about their rights
• Women’s lack of knowledge about legal procedures
• Limited number of family courts
• Delay in matrimonial cases
• Women’s inability to pay court and lawyer’s fees
• Lack of seating area for women clients in courtrooms
• Lack of toilets for women
Areas of Intervention for Gender Integration
• Judicial reform review should include women and gender perspective
• Redressing gender imbalance in the judiciary by hiring more female judges
• Gender training for the judiciary
• Gender disaggregated information on court cases/information
• Free legal aid
• More family courts
• Speedy justice by disposing cases of matrimonial disputes within six months
Gender Issues Relevant to ADB’s Operations 41
• Creating women-friendly space by building separate waiting rooms and toilets for
ladies
Sector: Microfinance
Proposed Project: Rural Microfinance (2001)
Scope: Likely project components include a credit line to NGOs and small financial
institutions (SFIs) for onlending to the poor and near-poor people for development of
microenterprises; strengthening NGOs and SFIs to provide viable, small-scale financial services to
individuals and groups of the poor; and strengthening the capability of provincial
development/cooperative banks in monitoring and supervising NGOs and SFIs.
Gender Issues
• Male bias among NGOs in favor of male borrowers
• Lack of marketable skills among rural women
• Lack of entrepreneurial experience among rural women
• Women’s restricted mobility and lack of access to market
• Lack of confidence and willingness to apply for credit for microenterprise
• Male biases among the staff of provincial development/cooperative banks
Areas of Intervention for Gender Integration
• Ensuring the gender balance among borrowers
• Availability of credit for income-generating activities as well
• Counseling the clients and helping them undertake feasibility study for the proposed
microenterprise
• Provision of support services such as skills development, training, enterprise
management, marketing, costing, accounting, quality control, and provision of
infrastructure and favorable local, national, and international policy environment
• Undertaking market studies to identify viable microenterprises and skills needed by
women
• Conducting research in efficiency and problems of small-scale enterprises for women
and areas that need institutional support
• Advocacy for policy support from the Government for small-scale enterprises
• Gender training of NGOs and bank staff
• Encouraging women’s cooperatives
Sector: Integrated Rural Development
Proposed Project: NWFP Barani Area Development (Phase II) (2000)
Scope: Patterned after the successful first phase project, and subject to the findings of the
technical assistance, the components include rural roads, rehabilitation of irrigation systems, rural
credit, market and village level development, and community organizations.
42 Country Briefing Paper—Women in Pakistan
Gender Issues:
• Women’s exclusion from infrastructure development projects due to gender
stereotypes of women’s concern with the home
• Male-dominated community organizations
• Women’s lack of access to rural credit
Areas of Intervention for Gender Integration
• Gender impact assessment of phase 1 of the project
• Ensuring women’s involvement in community organizations
• Involving women in the decision-making processes of projects related to roads and
rehabilitation of irrigation systems
• Ensuring women’s access to rural credit
• Including women in needs assessment and development priorities of their village
Sector: Water Supply
Proposed Projects: Punjab Water Resources Sector (2000) and
Quetta Water Supply and Sanitation (2001)
Scope: The Punjab project will comprise a policy component to strengthen implementation of
the reforms aimed at developing more autonomous and accountable management institutions and an
infrastructure component comprising upgrading of the Marala Ravi Link Canal and other canal
infrastructure. The Quetta project will focus on the better management of water resources by
conservation and development in the Quetta Basin.
Gender Issues
• Women’s work and need for water
• Women’s lack of access and control over productive resources such as water
• Rural women not being seen as stakeholders due to gender role ideology
• Role of women in family decision-making on water utilization
• Increased productivity and rural income impacting positively on rural poverty
• Women being left out to make use of opportunities created by the project due to their
social position
• Improperly placed water having an adverse impact on women
Areas of Intervention for Gender Integration
• Gender and poverty impact assessment of the project, e.g., location, access, and
willingness to pay
• Assessing women’s needs/interest in the project and encouraging them to get
involved in determining location, access, prices, etc.
• Creating employment opportunities for women in water facilities, maintenance, and
management
• Ensuring sustainability of enhancing female farmers’ access to water for irrigation
and for household purposes
Gender Issues Relevant to ADB’s Operations 43
Sector: Urban Development
Proposed Projects: NWFP Urban Development Sector (2000) and
Punjab Urban Development (2002)
Scope: The NWFP project will cover upgrading of water and sanitation facilities, roads,
drainage, solid waste management, slums, promoting guided land development and housing schemes,
and strengthening the provincial and local government institutions. In the Punjab, the Project will
address deficiencies in urban infrastructure and improve the capacity of local urban councils in
recovering costs and undertaking proper operation and maintenance.
Gender Issues
• Women’s invisibility in local government
• Lack of women’s voices in urban planning
• Deteriorating urban environment leading to ill health and poverty affecting women
more than men due their role as service providers at home
Areas of Intervention for Gender Integration
• Supporting democratic processes/efforts to enhance women’s representation at the
local government level
• Increased women’s awareness about the power and function of local governments
• Political education programs for women
• Encouraging women to organize themselves to voice their concerns in urban planning
• Including women in planning and managing the project
Sector: Education
Proposed Project: Nonformal Education for Rural Women (2002)
Scope: The project will include (i) investment components to design and improve the
delivery of nonformal education program; (ii) microfinance component; and (iii) social development
components, including institutional capacity building and community participation.
Gender Issues
• Social attitudes towards female education
• Time constraint due to burden of triple roles on women
• Availability of support services to enable women to make good use of microfinance
• Sex-segregation and women’s exclusion in community decision-making structures
Areas of Intervention for Gender Integration
• Providing support services, including training in marketable skill development for
women
• Developing culturally appropriate curriculum for nonformal education
44 Country Briefing Paper—Women in Pakistan

source:www.adb.org/Documents/Books/Country_Briefing_Papers/Women_in_Pakistan/chap_04.pdf

CRITICAL ISSUES FOR WOMEN IN PAKISTAN

Keeping these concerns in view, women activists in Pakistan have adopted a two-pronged
strategy. On one level they are trying to build up pressures for the affirmative action and reservation
of women's seats in all legislative and local administrative bodies. Women have been demanding
reservation of 33 percent of seats at national, provincial, and local government levels, which should
be filled through direct election by joint electorate. There is also a demand that the Political Party Act
be amended to make it mandatory for all political parties to field at least 33 percent of female
candidates during election. On the other hand, women are also trying to create an alternative vision of
politics based on social justice.
Pakistani women are trapped in a web of dependency and subordination due to their low
social, economic, and political status in society. The majority of women suffer from all forms of
poverty. In order to change women’s position and societal view of their inferiority, structural changes
need to be brought about in the social and economic order that shape our social world.
Women are totally absent from the state structures and decision-making bodies that could
introduce such structural changes. Women’s inclusion in governance structures is critical to bring
about substantive changes in the development policies and programs that would lead to a shift in
gender relations in the society.
Presently, in order to maintain the status quo, institutionalized violence against women at the
family, community, and state levels is used as a mechanism to ensure their compliance with gender
norms. This serves to prevent any attempt leading to the subversion of the male order.
Ironically, at the same time, a great deal of rhetorical attention has been paid to gender issues
at the national level. Pakistan has made several commitments at national and international forums to
ensure gender equality at home. However, there is a wide gap between commitment and
implementation. The persuasion of the State to translate its commitment to gender equality into
concrete reality is the major challenge faced by women in Pakistan.
These are the four critical areas in ADB’s gender strategy for Pakistan.
Feminization of Poverty
Pakistan’s consistent economic growth rate for the last 50 years has failed to bring prosperity
to its people. The absolute number of poor has increased from 19 million in 1960 to 42 million in
1995.1 In the absence of reliable data on poverty assessment, as the definition of poverty and tools for
the assessment of poverty has been constantly changing, it becomes difficult to assess trends in
poverty in Pakistan. A recent study conducted on the profile of poverty in Pakistan gives different
percentages of people living in poverty according to different definitions, i.e., calorie intake, 21
percent; basic needs, 29 percent; income poverty, 30 percent; Poverty of Opportunity Index, 44
percent; and Human Poverty Index, 47 percent.2 A systematic gender analysis of poverty remains
elusive in Pakistan due to the absence of gender-disaggregated, poverty-related data.
1 United Nation Development Programme (1999), A Profile of Poverty in Pakistan, Islamabad, p.1.
2 The Department for International Development (DFID) has commissioned a study to design the
Participatory Poverty Assessment. The study will provide a better understanding of the complexity of
poverty.
16 Country Briefing Paper—Women in Pakistan
Box 6: Gender Disparities in Human Development Indicators
(percent)
Female Male
Literacy rate 28.0 51.0
Gross primary enrollment 64.0 80.0
Combined enrollment ratio 25.0 50.0
Labor force participation 11.4 69.1
Earned income share 20.0 80.0
Seats in Parliament 3.4
Top administrative/management jobs 3.0
Maternal mortality 340 per 100,000 live births
Mortality rate (1-4 years) Female 12% higher than males
Source: United Nations Development Programme (1998), “Statement
on Gender in Pakistan.”
Poverty manifests itself along the lines of class, gender, region, and rural-urban divides. The
incidence of poverty in rural areas is higher than in urban areas according to both income poverty and
broader measures.3 Three quarters of Pakistan’s poor live in rural areas. A review undertaken by the
Social Policy and Development Centre claims that “while incidence of poverty has been falling in the
urban areas in recent years, it has been climbing in rural areas.”4 Among the four provinces,
Balochistan is the poorest. The highest incidence of poverty is found in the rural areas of Southern
Punjab and Balochistan.5
The link between gender and poverty is evident all over the world. Out of 1.3 billion people
living in poverty, 70 percent are women. Feminization of poverty is a global phenomenon. Women
are the poorest among the poor and the most vulnerable among communities.
Social relations of gender mediate women’s experience of poverty. Poverty in Pakistan has a
“woman’s face.” There are considerable intrahousehold disparities in food distribution and
investment of resources between male and female members. Among poorer households, incidence of
chronic malnutrition is higher among female children.6 Women’s access and control over productive
resources are extremely limited. In addition to suffering from the same deprivations as men, women
face the additional suffering of unequal opportunities to education, health, and other social services
due to patriarchal control over their sexuality and cultural restrictions over their mobility.
Pakistan ranks 120 in
146 countries in terms of the
Gender-related Development
Index and ranks 92 in the
Gender Empowerment Measurement
ranking of 94
countries. Gender gap in all
key social sectors is increasing
in Pakistan. Box 6 shows
glaring gender disparities that
exist in some human
development indicators.
The impact of macroeconomic
stabilization, liberalization
policies, and structural adjustment programs have been disproportionately high on women.
In the absence of macrolevel data, it is difficult to assess the impact of a structural adjustment
program on people in general and on women in particular. However, some microlevel studies have
clearly indicated the effects on unemployment, inflation, decline in real wages, and reduction in
caloric intake for the poor.7
Economic crisis and structural adjustment affected women adversely in their roles as
producers, household managers, and mothers. Although women’s labor force participation rate
increased during 1988–1993, there was also a sharp increase in their unemployment from about
3 UNDP (1999), A Profile of Poverty in Pakistan, Islamabad, p.46.
4 Social Policy and Development Centre (1998), Social Development in Pakistan: Annual Review, p.34.
5 See footnote 4, Executive Summary.
6 Ibid., p.10.
7 See footnote 6, Executive Summary.
Critical Issues for Women in Pakistan 17
1 percent to 10 percent, accompanied by a 40 percent decline in self-employment.8 As household
managers, they had difficulty in managing their households due to high inflation caused by the
decline in food subsidies especially wheat and edible oil, which constitute a large proportion of the
caloric and protein intake of the poor. Due to budget cuts in the public social sector expenditure,
women have to increasingly take on more responsibilities for the future survival of their children.9
Due to male migration and high unemployment, more and more women are seeking incomeearning
opportunities in the job market. Lack of education and skills forces many to concentrate
either in the informal sector or secondary sector of the segmented labor market. In 1990–1991, 77
percent of economically active women in urban areas were working in the informal sector where they
were economically exploited and had no protection of labor laws.10 Exploitative working conditions
at the workplace, compounded by oppressive conditions at home where women continue to take the
sole responsibility for domestic work, overburdened them to the detriment of their health.
The number of female-headed households is growing in Pakistan. The Socio-Economic
Survey of Pakistan reports that less than 5 percent of women head households. This is contrary to the
findings of the study conducted in Karachi in 1987 that indicated women head 10 percent of
households. Female-headed households are usually among the most impoverished due to the low
earning capacity of women. The average monthly income of female-headed households is only one
fourth of male-headed households.11
The Government is fully aware that if structural adjustment reforms continue to be launched
without cushioning their impact on the poor, a large number of households may fall into the poverty
trap, which could cause a serious civil unrest in the society. Some positive initiatives have been
launched to protect the poor, including the SAP launched in 1992 to improve the quality of and access
to basic social services with special focus on women. Other initiatives include the Pakistan Poverty
Alleviation Fund to address income poverty, Public Works Program, Small Farmer Based
Agriculture, Employment/Credit Facilities, Training and Credit for Women, Land for Landless, and
Food Stamps Program, along with traditional Islamic safety nets for the poor, like Zakat and Bait-ul-
Mal. There is a pressing need to sharpen the focus and efficiency of these poverty reduction efforts to
reach women who are the poorest of the poor.
Political Participation
Although women do not have a role in the formulation of macroeconomic and social policies,
they have borne the brunt of such policies. Women’s exclusion from decision-making bodies at the
local, provincial, and national levels does not provide them any opportunity to voice their concerns or
promote their perspective on governance. The male-dominated governance structure has been
creating and recreating gender inequalities. It is critical that women claim their share of power to
make decisions that affect their lives. The synergy of women’s strong political representation and
reduction in the incidence of female poverty has been increasingly recognized all over the world.
Women’s representation in formal political bodies is negligible in Pakistan. There are only 3
percent of women in the National Assembly (7 out of 217), about 2.3 percent in the Senate (2 out of
8 Ibid., p.161.
9 Shahrukh Rafi Khan and Mehnaz Ahmed (1996), “Gender and Structural Adjustment in Pakistan.” The
Lahore Journal of Economics, vol.1, no.1, pp. 78-82.
10 See footnote 4, Executive Summary.
11 Ibid, p.13.
18 Country Briefing Paper—Women in Pakistan
87), and 0.4 percent overall in the four provincial assemblies (2 out of a total of 483). In local bodies,
about 12.5 percent of seats are reserved for women in Punjab, while Balochistan has reserved 27.6
percent of its seats for women. Elections for local bodies in two other provinces have yet to be held.
There is no woman minister at the federal level, and only one has the status of a minister of state
(1 out of a total of 21).
Women’s participation in politics as voters, candidates, and political activists is increasing;
however, this has not led to the emergence of women as leaders in the arena of formal politics. This is
so because political party structures are male-dominated. Women in political parties are not given
decision-making positions within the parties and are often not fielded as candidates during elections on
the pretext that they lack political skills. The traditional notion of women's role is primarily in the family
context. The nature of political parties, the criminalization of politics and the culture of corruption that
permeates public life, and the fear of character assassination effectively block women's participation in
government structures.
The failure of government structures to redress gender disparities in access to productive
resources and adequate provision of social services for women have led to rethinking among women
activists that they must become part of the state structure to influence policies and politics in their
own favor. The lack of political commitment to implement gender-related components of policies
necessitates women’s participation in the government structure to ensure their implementation.
After having established a link between lack of representation of women in the political
systems and the disproportionate poverty of women, women’s rights groups, NGOs, and activists
started pushing the margin of the state and political parties to create political space for them through
affirmative action. This is reflected in their demand to reserve 33 percent of the seats for women at
the local, provincial, and federal government levels, to be filled through direct election by the joint
electorate. They also demanded a change in the Political Parties Act and People's Representation Act
in favor of women.
It is imperative for women to gain political representation in democratic institutions for any
substantive change to occur in their lives. Also, their visibility in formal political bodies will
challenge the ideology of the sexual division of labor. Their increasing visibility in the public arena
will enhance their status and change social attitudes towards them. Therefore, women’s political
representation has become a priority advocacy issue of women’s movement in the country.
Violence Against Women
Violence against women is the most powerful mechanism used by family, society, and state
to silence voices of resistance to the existing gender-related social order. It ensures that women will
continue to accept gender hierarchies in all social relations of production and reproduction and
perpetuates their subordination.
Violence against women is a fundamental violation of the human right to life, physical safety,
self-respect, and dignity. It is the manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men
and women. The social construction of gender establishes male authority and power over women, and
provides the basis for gender-based violence in the society.
Some forms of violence against women, especially domestic and customary violence, are so
entrenched in the culture that they are hardly recognized as violence and largely condoned by the
society. It is difficult to assess the extent of violence against women due to lack of data. Also, the
Critical Issues for Women in Pakistan 19
incidences of violence are grossly underreported. However, a few microlevel studies give some
indication on the form and extent of violence inflicted on women.
Domestic violence is fairly widespread across all classes. It ranges from slapping, hitting, and
kicking, to murder. Since the society, police and law enforcing agencies view domestic violence as a
private matter, it goes unnoticed until it takes extreme forms of murder or attempted murder. A study
conducted by the Women’s Division suggests that domestic violence takes place in approximately 80
percent of the households in the country.12 Incidences of stove burning are being increasingly
reported in the press. During 1998, 282 burn cases of women were reported in Punjab. Of these, 65
percent died of their injuries. Data collected from two hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad over a
period of three years since 1994 reveal 739 cases of burn victims.13
The official figure for murder of women during 1998 was 1,974; majority of them were
victims of their own relatives—husbands, brothers, fathers, and in-laws.14
Rape is one of the most common crimes against women but grossly underreported due to the
shame attached to the victim. According to official statistics, one woman is raped every six hours in
the country. During 1998, 706 rape cases were reported in Punjab, of which 55 percent of the victims
were minors and half were victims of gang rape.15 Women are also victims of male honor. If the male
honor is compromised in any way, the womenfolk of the rival party are humiliated by being made to
strip off in public and paraded through the streets to take revenge from the family. The Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan recorded 48 such cases in 1992–1994.
Marital rape is not even recognized as a criminal offense in Pakistani law, which is a negation
of women’s right over their own sexuality. Rape in police custody is also widespread but vastly
underreported as it involves members of the police as the perpetrators of this crime. Out of 41 cases
reported in Punjab during 1998 only six got registered and only one person was arrested. A 1992
report found that 70 percent of women in police stations are subjected to sexual and physical
violence.16
The provision of the Hudood Ordinance that requires four adult male Muslims of good repute
as witnesses of the actual rape or the rapist to confess as a condition of proving rape has made it
impossible for rape victims to get justice. Under this law, if a rape victim cannot prove rape she can
be charged with and sentenced for adultery.
Trafficking of women is also on the rise. Foreign women from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and
Myanmar are brought to Pakistan and sold. In 1991–1993, approximately 100–150 women from
Bangladesh were brought into Pakistan.17 Kidnapping, forced prostitution, and sexual violence at the
workplace are other forms of violence on the rise. Customary practices that include exchange of
women between families, selling and buying women as a commodity, using women as barter to settle
family disputes, marriage to Quran, and killing them in the name of honor are other forms of violence
against women being condoned in the name of tradition and culture.
12 See footnote 8, Executive Summary.
13 See footnote 9, Executive Summary.
14 Shahla Zia and Farzana Bari (1999), “Women’s Political Participation in Pakistan, Islamabad,” p.25.
15 Ibid., p.25.
16 “Report of the Commission of Inquiry for Women” (1997), Pakistan, p. 83.
17 UNICEF (1998), “Children and Women in Pakistan: A Situation Analysis,” Islamabad, p.57.
20 Country Briefing Paper—Women in Pakistan
There is no support mechanism for victims of male violence. There are only 13 state-run darul-
amans (shelters) for women in the country. The living conditions of these shelters reinforce
women’s subordination and oppression by establishing control over their sexuality and mobility
instead of providing them with a supportive environment where they could rebuild their own lives.
They do not have the means to protect themselves against violence. The legal system does not
encourage women victims to use it for the redress of the violation of their rights. High costs and delays in
obtaining justice further discourage women victims/survivors to avail of legal means to protect their
rights.
The increasing violence against women is a matter of serious concern. A society where
violence against women is endemic can never fully develop either socially or economically. Violence
in the private domain undermines women’s confidence and self-esteem and destroys their health,
while the fear of sexual assault in the public domain deprives them of their full participation in all
aspects of development. This is a high social and economic cost for the society to pay. Violence
against women is also a public health and development issue. As stated in ADB’s gender and
development policy paper, the relationship between female-focused violence and maternal mortality,
health care utilization, child survival, AIDS prevention, and cost to the judiciary and law enforcement
agencies is receiving increasing attention.”18 Therefore, a society free of violence is an essential
condition to establish women as equal partners in development.
Translation of Gender Commitments into Practice
Pakistan is one of those countries that has appropriated the gender discourse and has reflected
it adequately in its national level policies and programs. It is a signatory to numerous international
conventions, including the Convention on The Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women (CEDAW), Health for All by the Year 2000, Education for All by the Year 2000, and
Universal Access to Reproductive Health Information and Services by the year 2015. At the national
level Pakistan has officially launched the National Plan of Action (NPA) to Implement the Beijing
Platform of Action. It has reflected gender concerns in the Ninth Plan, National Strategy on Poverty
Reduction, and Agenda 2010. However, the gap between commitment and reality is too wide. Policy
commitments have hardly been delivered in practice. No substantial efforts in terms of financial
allocation, implementation plans, or machinery appear to be in place to translate the vision reflected
in policy documents into operational reality in the country.
The translation of de jure rights of women into de facto rights will substantially improve the
position of women. This is not to say that the policy environment in Pakistan is ideal for women.
Antiwomen legislation such as the Hudood Ordinance and the laws of evidence, Qisas and Diyat, are
still a part of the Constitution. Other legislation such as family and labor laws also discriminate
against women.
Women in Pakistan are now confronted with the challenge of how to ensure that the State
will fulfill its commitment towards gender equality. International conventions require Pakistan to
create a favorable social, legal, and political policy environment for women by introducing necessary
changes. However, no substantive initiative has been taken by the Government to meet its
international commitments. Therefore, it is important that the international community and social
movements at the national level assume a stronger role in this regard. Similarly, civil rights
movements need to build up support from the grassroots level. In order to expand the base of social
movement for gender equality, civil society needs to be strengthened to be able to fulfill its role.
18 Asian Development Bank (1998), “The Bank’s Policy on Gender and Development,” p.7.

source:www.adb.org