The empowerment dilemma By Amtul Hafeez

The status of women in Pakistan changes across classes, regions and rural-urban
divide due to irregular socio-economic development and the considerable impact of
tribal, feudal and capitalist social structure on a womans life in Pakistan.
The status and empowerment of women in households and society has been a major topic in
national development policies of Pakistan since
independence. The Constitution of Pakistan advocates full
participation of women in all spheres of national life and
therefore guarantees non-discrimination against women.
Successive governments have tried to promote the
social and economic status of women through
different policies. The National Commission on Status of omen came into being in
!""". The motivation was to eradicate laws that are discriminator# to women.
$n !""%, the government presented the Prevention of &nti-omen Practices 'ill. The
bill prohibits using women as a means to settle a (uarrel between groups either under
marriage or as )ani. &n# violation of the bill involves a prison term of three #ears.
The second bill on women rights protects women from being deprived of inheritance
in propert#, a violation which carries imprisonment of seven #ears, while forced
marriage is punishable under the law too, which carries a ma*imum sentence of three
#ears imprisonment.
&lthough a variet# of attempts have been made for the protection of women
rights but still there are some constraints. Toda#, although the status of women in
Pakistan varies across economic, social, rural-urban and religious-ethnic divides,
gender ine(ualit# remains high in ever# sector of public and private life.
+omestic violence, gender discrimination in access to education, healthcare facilities
and career opportunities are important to be mentioned in the societ#. Polic# failure,
lack of commitment and political discontinuit# along with a seriousl# constrained
resource and institutional base contribute to this situation.
The detachment of research and academic debate with polic# has further e*acerbated
the problem. $n addition to the conceptual abstraction of the term empowerment, the
literature also identifies problems when it comes to measuring empowerment. $t was
in the mid-,--"s that the .nited Nations +evelopment Programme /.N+P0
developed the 1ender-related +evelopment $nde* /1+$0 and 1ender 2mpowerment
3easure 1230.
The 1+$ looks into life e*pectanc#, education and earned income whereas the 123
comprises proportion of seats held b# women in national parliaments, percentage of
women in economic decision-making positions and the female share of income. 'oth
of these indicators have been severel# criticised for being gender blind as these
measures do not deal with relative ine(ualit# between men and women, build up on
international databases rather than data from national governments and e*clude the
real gender defined power relations.
&ccording to .nited Nations +evelopment Programme, 4uman +evelopment $nde*
!",5, the 1ender $ne(ualit# $nde* /1$$0 indicates gender-based disparities in three
dimensions 6 reproductive health, empowerment, and economic activit#. &dolescent
fertilit# rates and maternal mortalit# rates are used to determine reproductive health.
omen empowerment is measured b# the allocation of parliamentar# seats held b#
each gender and achievement at secondar# and higher education b# each gender.
3easurement of economic activit# is based on the labour market participation rate for
each gender. The 1$$ replaced the previous 1ender-related +evelopment $nde* /1+$0
and 1ender 2mpowerment $nde* /12$0. The 1$$ shows the loss in human
development due to ine(ualit# between female and male achievements in the three 1$$
dimensions.
Pakistan has a 1$$ value of ".7%8, which ranks it ,!5 out of ,9: countries. ;or each
,"",""" live births, !%" women e*pire due to pregnanc#-related health problems< and
the fertilit# rate during adolescence is !:., births per ,""" live births. ;emale
participation in the labour market is !!.8 percent compared to :5.5 for males. $n
Pakistan, women hold !,., percent of parliamentar# seats and ,:.5 percent of adult
women have reached a secondar# or higher level of education compared to 95.,
percent of their male counterparts.
$n most developing countries, the nature of work and its social d#namics dont
transfer the balance of authorit# in the favour of working women. $t does not improve
their status relative to men i.e. empowerment has a strong non-economic dimension
and a ver# rich person ma# not necessaril# be empowered. &uthorit# itself cannot
guarantee empowerment, neither can participation. These are highl# relative concepts
which have different meanings and interpretations for individuals and cannot be
generalised.
omens participation in the econom# can lead to a reduction in incidents of domestic
violence or can improve their access to information and mobilit# but at the same time,
it can also mean the mistreatment of their labour b# men who declare complete
control over womens earnings. There have been several e*amples in the world, where
men have inflicted ph#sical and ps#chological violence over women for getting hold
of their earnings or not allowing them to ask where their mone# is used up.
$n addition, women are sub=ected to e*ploitation at workplace. >ow and
discriminating wage rates, tough working conditions, longer hours of work, health and
environmental risks and se*ual aggravation are some of the man# manifestations of
such female e*ploitation. This situation makes the relation between economic
participation and empowerment ver# complicated< the most important issue in the
empowerment discussion is the womens own vision and ideas about their
empowerment.
4owever, it is not all doom and gloom. omens involvement in econom# has
significantl# improved and changes are taking place in the gendered division of
labour. This is due to an e*tensive range of factors such as education, rural-urban as
well as international migration, demographic changes as declining fertilit# rates,
globalisation and technological development. The push factors towards female
participation in formal econom# include commercialisation of agriculture sectors and
rising cost of living and lack of social care facilities provided b# the government.
;urther, globalisation has significantl# altered the wa# both men and women practice
their lives. The increased economic and social reorganisation of the world has had a
strong bearing on gendered sub=ectivities, roles and responsibilities. $t has in man#
wa#s twisted the balance of power on the women side b# offering them an e*tensive
variet# of economic opportunities even in professions which were conventionall#
considered male-dominated such as scientists, pilots, economists and politicians.
;actors such as access to information and media have brought a process of social
change worldwide which has tampered with deepl# rooted gendered identities to (uite
an e*tent. ?ne can sa# that the changing social and economic inter-relationship
between countries has highlighted the role of women in both public and private
spheres and enhanced their status to an e*tent. omen empowerment and gender
e(ualit# have to make both men and women e(ual partners with e(ual powers. The
happ# acceptance of coercion and discrimination b# women is most troublesome.
1ender has been a severel# problematic issue mainl# because it has remained
uncontested b# women themselves.
2conomic participation alone does lead to empowerment. 2mpowerment is a highl#
relative and composite concept which has diverse articulations for different
individuals. $t is a state of mind which has to come from within and cannot be decided
b# an# outside pla#er like government, and non-governmental organisations.
4owever, government, and non-governmental organisations can create a women
friendl# environment which enables them to work out their choices in
life. Providing women with a social space free of fear, violence and discrimination
should be the first step. The government should take measures to make work places,
for women, safe and secure. .nless the underl#ing gender ine(ualities are addressed,
the women status within households and societ# will not improve. There is a need that
roles, responsibilities, powers and remunerations should be distributed e(uall#
between men and women.
This process will need a long-term social and cultural change. 1ender-oriented
research is re(uired to be an important part of the governments planning and
polic#making. omen have to be the focal point of povert# alleviation strategies.
omen povert# alleviation and empowerment have to be simultaneousl# handled with
a two-fold approach. +irect income support should be provided to women living in
acute povert# to pull them out and to help them establish economicall# in the societ#
through entrepreneurship and small scale industr#. omens economic and social
welfare are inter-related concepts and cannot be isolated.
The writer is a researcher