Session 13: Root Cause of Gender-based Inequality in Pakistan

The Global Gender Gap report in 2014 ranked Pakistan at the second lowest position in Gender Gap Index which is a measure of the amount of gender disparity existing in a country across the four important sections of health, education, economy and politics. This tragic statistics makes one to re-evaluate one’s society to analyze the reasons and causes behind this terribly large gender gap. It exists because Pakistan is still a patriarchal society ensuring male dominance over women via several religious, cultural and social practices.

This ideology of patriarchy promotes women as emotionally, physically and intellectually weak and it makes one to infer that they are best suited for only ‘conventional roles’. This is one of the main causes of the lack of education of women in Pakistan since for people it is useless to educate them as their roles are restricted to only domestic sphere of life. This lack of education makes a woman dependent on men both socially and economically. There is a widely held belief that exists in almost every man here in Pakistan that daughters of Eve are ‘born to obey-not to question, to listen-not to speak”. This thinking ensures the continued subordination of women in many cultural practices of Pakistan. The tradition of giving dowry and expensive gifts to the groom’s family in the sacred event of marriage makes a woman an economic liability and burden for the family. So they are least bothered with girl’s education and her importance in the society. Professor Margaret Alston once said that Pakistani men believe that they are entitled to control women through any means possible. This kind of thinking is manifested not only in the family but also in the economic, legal and political spheres of the society and also becomes the root cause of gender inequality here in the society.

 Moreover, religion which is the base of living a life is undeniably plays an extremely important role in shaping the thinking and perspective of the society.  Society defends the men superiority over women by giving Islamic justification on it. A glaring example of the kind of discrimination women face in Pakistan is the Zina Hudood Ordinance of 1979 and the Law of Evidence (1984). But in reality the interpretation of the divine laws is strengthening up the notion of gender inequality and patriarchy in Pakistan. These interpretations of the language are undoubtedly influenced by social norms and values. This is true here because there are some clauses in Law of evidence which makes a woman a second class citizen and promotes violence against woman. This makes one to conclude that these interpretations are highly debatable when it is such a sensitive issue in Pakistan.

Therefore, one of the most effective ways of changing and eradicating gender inequality in Pakistan is through the spread of feminist interpretation of Quran. Making people realize and understand the importance of woman and respect given to her in Islam. Second way is through education as it will assist in dealing with social injustices going on in the society. It is not enough to make laws which ensure gender, social and political equality. These laws are insufficient to eradicate patriarchal values which are deeply embedded in every institution of the society. Despite the fact that Constitution of Pakistan (1973) recognizes and legitimizes woman as an equal citizen but this gender discrimination still persists in Pakistani society. So a reevaluation of the mainstream is required to win this battle against these patriarchal values. In conclusion, the notion of gender inequality is deeply rooted so it will take years to cut and weaken these roots from the minds and ideologies of people. However, by systematically countering the main belief in the superiority of men over women through various means such as liberal interpretations of religion and protesting against misogynistic cultural practices, it is possible to work towards a future where the problem of gender inequality will no longer exists in the Pakistani society.