Abstract

Pakistan’s gender equality ranking is one of the lowest in the world. If women are globally achieving more rights, then what factors have held back Pakistani women? The founding father of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, propagated women’s rights and the nation was formed with women and men granted equal rights. However, after Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s death in 1948, governance changed hands multiple times, and new laws were created that both helped and hindered women’s progress. While laws in Pakistan continue to be problematic, there are also other factors that further exacerbate women’s inequality because the nation is a parochial, male-dominated society. In a country where custom, law, and religion are intertwined, is it these same principles that limit women’s rights? What are Pakistan’s gender responsive plans and policies? How can Pakistan nurture an environment for women that is free from violence, and how can essential services be accessible to all women? With gender equality and women’s empowerment being at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, how will Pakistan achieve its goals of providing a more enabling environment for women for decent work, income security, and socioeconomic development? This chapter first explains how conflicting laws regulating women came into existence. Incompatible societal norms, sociopolitical exclusion, and radicalized Islam that disenfranchise women are then analyzed. The chapter ends with solutions. Recent book publications, journal articles, and news articles are used as data sources. The present research contributes to the field of women’s ongoing struggle for rights in Pakistan.

Keywords

Women’s Rights, Pakistan, Hudood Ordinances, Descriptive Research

Introduction

“At a time when awareness of women’s rights has been growing worldwide, it is paradoxical that violence against women should be on the rise in countries like Pakistan” (PWHRO, 2018). If Pakistan is a democratic country and the constitution of Pakistan explicitly states that both genders are equal, why is it that abuses against women continue? Why are atrocious acts of violence against women such as “honor killings,” “acid attacks,” and “forced marriages” usually associated with Pakistan? In Interpreting Islam, Modernity, and Women’s Rights in Pakistan, Anita Weiss begins with the word “ijtihad,” or interpretation (2014, p. 1). While the literal definition of the word is “to endeavor, strive, put one­self out, [and] work hard,” according to Islamic jurisprudence it is “the process of deriving the laws of the shari’ah from its sources” (Al-Islam, 2017). However, the methods employed to derive laws and what “sources” are used vastly differ in both the private and public sectors of Pakistan. Pakistan is a parochial, male-dominated nation. This is evident in everyday life and is imbedded throughout social hierarchies within Pakistan because men are the ones who predominately make decisions for women when it comes to education, work, social life, and/or marriage. The latter most explicitly benefits men because it solidifies their own homosocial bonds, whether it be for personal or monetary gain. This comes in the form of “watta satta” or “shigar” (bride exchange), “walwar” (bride price), “vani” or “swara,” also referred to as “sang” or “sangchatti” (offering a bride, oftentimes a young bride, in exchange for a misdeed, crime, or money), and “hak bakshwai” (marriage to the Quran). While “vani” or “swara” is illegal according to the Pakistan Penal Code and the Child Restraint Act of 1929, depending on the age of the bride, it is still culturally practiced (Nasrullah et al., 2014). As long as, “more women in Pakistan are murdered at the hands of close family members for supposed immoral behavior than Pakistani civilians are killed by terrorism,” the journey towards gender equality will be long and arduous (Mahmood, 2018). Pakistan is a secular democracy. As such, men and women should theoretically be equal. However, this is not the case in Pakistan because of conflicting laws and legal practices, cultural values, exclusion of women from various social and political contexts, and radicalized Islam, as manifested predominately through the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap Report ranks Pakistan 145 out of 146 countries based on factors such as economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment (WEF, 2022). Transparency International, which releases a yearly Corruption Perceptions Index, ranked Pakistan at 140/180 in 2022, indicating very high corruption levels. Out of the 50 countries looked at by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) in 2018, Pakistan ranked last in an analysis of the world’s strongest systems of higher education. For a country that does not fare well overall, how are women to achieve equal rights while living in a supposed democracy? Women’s struggle for rights in Pakistan is an ongoing battle, and it will continue to be a lateral endeavor if the nation retains the problems associated with its third-world status. Out of the 833.4 million available to help achieve the 17 Sustainable Development goals in Pakistan, the United Nations allocates 2.7% of the total towards gender inequality, 5.7% towards reduced inequalities, and 12.2% for quality education (United Nations Pakistan, 2022). Even though it will be slow and steady, change will come to women living in Pakistan. This chapter first discusses Pakistan’s conflicting laws related to women. It then demonstrates how incompatible societal norms, sociopolitical exclusion, and radicalized Islam has led to women being disenfranchised, and ends with multipronged solutions.

Method: Design of Study

Descriptive research is used as a research technique to draw valid inferences by interpreting recorded information in texts and media to examine trends and patterns of women’s rights in Pakistan as it relates to economic participation and opportunity, education, health, and political empowerment. Descriptive research “is an approach that is very useful when researchers want to know, regarding events, who were involved, what was involved, and where did things take place” (Lambert and Lambert, 2012). Dulock identifies multiple purposes of descriptive research, and the first one is “to describe systematically and accurately the facts and characteristics of a given population or area of interest” (1993, p. 154). For this research, women in Pakistan are the chosen population. Another purpose of descriptive research is “to portray the characteristics of persons, situations, or groups and the frequency with which certain phenomenon occur” (Dulock, 1993, p. 154). How Pakistani women negotiate their rights is investigated.

One variable, the laws in Pakistan, is examined to understand how laws are contradictory and used to disempower women. Descriptive research helps to “to discover associations or relationships between or among selected variables” (Dulock, 1993, p. 154). In Pakistan, an interplay between three variables (culture, tradition, and radicalized Islam) defines normative behavior for women and is used to control the female body. Since descriptive research should also “answer questions based on the ongoing events of the present” (Dulock 1993, p. 154), research questions focusing on Pakistan’s gender responsive plans and policies, safe spaces and how they are cultivated and sustained, access to essential services, and the existence of enabling environments that promote decent work, income security, and socioeconomic development are considered. These are all aspects of the topic that I cannot influence as a researcher, but rather report on as I learn about them through scholarly and popular sources, which is why descriptive research is used as the design for this study.

This paper draws from both scholarly and popular sources. Recent book publications focusing on Pakistan provide context about cultural norms and expectations for women, and specifically how patriarchal structures are used to limit women’s physical movement and disenfranchise them from inheritance rights guaranteed by law. Nadia Agha’s Kinship, Patriarchal Structure and Women’s Bargaining with Patriarchy in Rural Sindh, Pakistan (2021) was a seminal text in this regard. Secondary sources in the form of journal articles, government sites, and local and global non-profit organizations are used to provide an overview of relevant concepts, laws, statistics, and movements related to women’s status in Pakistan. Popular media sources, although less credible, are used because they provide current information. In this paper, I use popular sources from Pakistan such as Dawn, Pakistan Today, and The Nation. Dawn is the largest and oldest English-language newspaper in Pakistan. Pakistan Today is also an English-language newspaper and is distributed to the three main cities in Pakistan: Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad. Popular media sources outside of Pakistan include The New York Times, CNN, Duetsche Welle, BBC, Open Democracy, The Diplomat, and The Economist. The popular sources chosen for this research are respected publications both within Pakistan and abroad. The goal was to use diverse sources to gain a broader, more well-rounded view of women’s struggles towards equality and empowerment in Pakistan by including several perspectives and voices both within and beyond traditional scholarly discourse.

“Never the Twain Shall Meet”: Conflicting Laws on Women in Pakistan

In a speech made on March 25th, 1940, at the Islamia College for Women, the founding father of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, said the following:

I have always maintained that no nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take its women along with the men. No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women.

While these words were shared by Muhammad Ali Jinnah seven years before Pakistan’s independence on August 14th, 1947, they nonetheless reflected the mindset with which the country’s first Governor General assumed office. However, his death a year later signaled that change was imminent. Even though Pakistan did not have its first democratic elections until 1970, women were given the right to vote under Pakistan’s first constitution that was implemented in 1956. Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s vision of women being equal to men became a reality in the 1973 version of the constitution where women were explicitly guaranteed equal rights. In Chapter 1, Section 25A titled “Equality of Citizens,” in Pakistan “All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law” and “There shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex” (National Assembly of Pakistan, 2017). Women have access to public spaces (Article 26) and the constitution confirms that “Steps shall be taken to ensure full participation of women in all spheres of national life” (Article 34). When it comes to fair working conditions, Chapter 2, Article 37 titled “Promotion of Social Justice and Eradication of Social Evils” claims to “Make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work, ensuring that children and women are not employed in vocations unsuited to their age or sex, and for maternity benefits for women in employment” (National Assembly of Pakistan, 2017). Women are granted safe and fair working environments, and they are also guaranteed medical leave. Moreover, they also have rights in the political domains of Pakistan. In Chapter 2 of Pakistan’s constitution, the section that discusses the Majlis-e-Shoora (otherwise known as the parliament), Article 51 says, “There shall be three hundred and forty-two seats for members in the National Assembly, including seats reserved for women and non-Muslims” (National Assembly of Pakistan, 2017). Pakistan’s current constitution was adopted in 1973 and then later reinstated in 1985. This means that the government currently operates under the 1973 version of the constitution.

If women are equal according to Pakistan’s constitution, then why do so many social disparities and human rights issues against women continue to prevail in Pakistan? One of the major reasons why some argue that Pakistan still lags behind in terms of women’s rights is because of the Hudood Ordinances. Pakistan experienced an Islamization period during the leadership of Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s sixth and longest serving head of state. Introduced in 1979, the Hudood Ordinances severely limited women’s rights and were justified by the constitution. Part IX of the constitution is titled “Islamic Provisions.” In Article 227, which falls under part IX, it states that “All existing laws shall be brought in conformity with the Injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Holy Quran and Sunnah” (National Assembly of Pakistan, 2017). Ijtihad, or interpretation, resurfaces; for many radical Islamists, the Hudood Ordinances were simply in alliance with the Holy Quran and Sunnah (the words, sayings, and/or actions of Prophet Muhammad). For others, however, “The principles of the so-called hudood laws are founded on a decontextualised interpretation of the verse 24:4 of the Koran which clashes with human rights standards” (Shah, 2006, p. 227). The Hudood Ordinances included five different ordinances, and the worst among them was the “Offence of Zina” ordinance. The word “zina” means unlawful sexual relations between a man and a woman who are not married. Crimes of rape and adultery blended because the needed evidence and punishments for both crimes were the same: four male witnesses needed to confirm the allegation, and whipping and stoning were the prescribed punishments. As Mullally states in her book Gender, Culture and Human Rights: Reclaiming Universalism, “The Zina Ordinance clearly conflicts with Pakistan’s constitutional guarantee of equality” (2006, p. 178).

The main problems with the Zina Ordinance were two-fold: first, it made it increasingly difficult for women to bring charges of rape against men; second, rape victims could reversely be accused of adultery (Tabassum et al., 2013, p. 311). To make matters worse, the Qanoon-e-shadat (law of evidence) introduced in 1984 meant that a women’s testimony was only worth half of that of a man’s. The Law of Evidence reads: “Unless otherwise provided in any law relating to the enforcement of Hudood or any other special law, — (a) in matters pertaining to financial or future obligations, if reduced to writing, the instrument shall be attested by two men, or one man and two women” (Ministry of Law and Justice, n.d.). If a woman could not bring forth four male witnesses in her defense, then she would need two female witnesses for every male witness she lacked. The outcome of the Hudood Ordinances was that law was misused as an instrument to hurt and subjugate women; the Zina Ordinance, specifically, made it difficult for women to end familial and community ties altogether (Mullally, 2006, p. 181). “Until 1988, almost half of the number of women in detention were accused of zina” (International Crisis Group cited in Ivănescu & Radu, 2015, p. 195). While some of these female inmates might have committed the crime they were accused of, it is harder to believe that half of all the imprisoned women were perpetrators of the exact same crime.

In general, the Hudood Ordinances made it very difficult for women to file complaints and be given fair trials. The Protection of Women Act (Criminal Laws Amendment) in 2006 did amend the Hudood Ordinances, specifically in relation to women being victimized in rape cases. The Protection of Women Act recognizes that “The Zina Ordinance has been abused to persecute women, to settle vendettas and to deny basic human rights and fundamental freedoms” and that “The object of this Bill is to bring the laws relating to zina and qazf, in particular, in conformity with the stated objectives of The Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the constitutional mandate and in particular to provide relief and protection to women against misuse and abuse of law” (Pakistani, n.d.). While the Protection of Women Act does legally alleviate a lot of the harms associated with the Hudood Ordinances, the problem is that the Hudood Ordinances still exist; the reality is that they need to be gotten rid of altogether. A famous example is of Zainab Zia, who was raped by her brother-in-law in 2008. She tried to file a complaint (FIR) against her brother-in-law, a prominent MQM member, but was blocked by the Station Head Officer (SHO) of Hyderabad and subsequently almost burned to death because of his affiliations with a prominent political party (PWHRO, 2018). Zainab Zia’s story demonstrates how “women’s powerlessness in the context of Pakistani society is the result of exploitation and oppression that they suffer. Conflict between law and culture is the most important factor that contributes to this powerlessness; women are given equal rights in written law but local cultural practices do not favour equal rights for them” (Maqsood, 2007, Shaheed, 1998, cited in Agha, 2021, p. 205). Clearly, existing laws have not sufficiently enacted change, and this is because of Pakistan’s cultural and traditional norms, female exclusion, and aggressive Islamist groups.

Incompatible Societal Norms, Sociopolitical Exclusion, and Radicalized Islam

Qandeel Baloch was a Pakistani model and actress, made famous through social media and dubbed as Pakistan’s version of Kim Kardashian. When she was 26-years-old, she was asphyxiated by her brother who justified the murder as an honor killing. Qandeel Baloch’s death became a media sensation; some felt that her brother’s actions were warranted, while others condemned his actions and made her a symbol of why more attention needs to be directed towards women’s rights in a country where culture, tradition, and religion are so closely intertwined.

In Pakistan, female identity is intrinsically tied to one’s family. Typically, Pakistani females are exchanged in the hands of men. They live at home when they are young. When they are older and of age, they are married to a suitable partner, usually of their family’s choosing and “a young married woman’s mobility is also conditional to the patriarchal authority; women’s going out for anything involves seeking permission from more than one family member” (Agha, 2021, p. 196) and is often frowned upon in rural areas (Ahmad et al., 2012, p. 200). Restricting women’s access to the outside world reifies male hegemony in Pakistan (Agha, 2021, p. 14).

Arranged marriages are usually preferred because Pakistani culture values the knowledge and experience of one’s elders. The cultural belief that your “elders know better” is oftentimes accepted as fact. Arranged marriages, for the most part, bolster homosocial relations, especially when it comes to property rights or strengthening intertribal relations. Marriages, especially cousin marriages, are for the purposes of solidifying ties within one’s extended family, which means “a high number of marriages tak[e] place within the close kin group, placing Pakistan among the countries which have the highest rates of consanguineous marriages in the world” (Agha, 2021, p. 24). “Watta satta,” a marriage where one pair of male/female siblings marry another pair of male/female siblings, is intended to ensure that women are treated well in their respective marital homes (Agha, 2021, p. 101), but it can have the reverse effect, too. In Pakistan, it is not a matter of if someone will get married, but rather when someone will be married. Similar to other south Asian and East Asian cultures, children are an expected outcome of marriage, and male heirs are preferred (Agha, 2021, p. 17). The reason why marriage is so highly valued in Pakistan is because it propagates family, and a Pakistani man’s honor and reputation is directly derived from the female members of his family (Agha, 2021, p. 14). This is why family always comes first for women, and why education, work, and politics take a back seat.

Family is prioritized throughout all sectors and social classes in Pakistan. In urban cities and among the wealthy, educating women is valued. However, expectations of entering the work force are not and women are relegated to the domestic sphere (Hakim & Aziz, 1998) where they are expected to be good wives and mothers (Mehmood et al., 2018, p. 189). Oftentimes, urban women are educated to increase their marital and employment prospects. In some families, the idea of a woman working is frowned upon because it demonstrates that she cannot be taken care of by male members; unemployed women are a marker of a family’s healthy financial standing. Stereotypically, a well-to-do family should not need its women, especially the unmarried ones, unnecessarily exposed to the outside world. While women are more visible in major cities such as Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, the same cannot be said for the majority of Pakistan, where women are primarily relegated to domestic affairs because of conservative cultural norms. In these places, “Females are subordinated by male opponents in decision making regarding marriage, job and education. They are discouraged to work and harassed at work places” (Mehmood et al., 2018, p. 388) if even given permission to work in the first place.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, more than half of Pakistan is rural (Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2017). In these areas women are not as frequently seen in outside spaces, especially in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of northwest Pakistan, both of which border Afghanistan. KPK and FATA govern under a strict tribal system and are known for their militancy, extremism, and acts of terrorism. These are the same places where acid attacks and honor killings are commonplace, and why Pakistani women experience sociopolitical exclusion.

While culture, tradition, and religion reign supreme in all of Pakistan, the problem in areas such as KPK and FATA, or all rural and tribal areas of Pakistan, is that cultural practices and Islam are so intertwined that it is difficult to distinguish between the two. What is acceptable in Islam and what is deemed “normal” according to traditional mores is not always the same. In this manner, tradition is used to misinterpret Islam. The Pashtuns populate the northwestern areas of Pakistan. They strictly follow both Islam and Pashtunwali, the latter being an unwritten ethical code of behavior. Most of their traditions predate Islam, which is why religion and culture are intertwined for the Pashtuns. An example is the cultural practice of “ghag,” where a man can openly claim an intended bride without her or her parents’ consent. Naseer (2019) explains how the word literally means masculine roar, and “is not a romantic gesture, but a reflection of the tribal mindset of a woman being a commodity and property, devoid of choices, rights and feelings” (p. 436). It is to humiliate and disgrace the woman and her family that how dare they refused a proposal.” Not only does “ghag” force women into undesired marriages, it also leaves them single and unmarriageable if the man chooses not to go through with the marriage; no one else will propose to her since the intended bride has already been “spoken for.” This conflicts entirely with the teachings of Islam where a woman and her “wali” (or guardian) must give their consent for a marriage to take place. In general, an Islamic marriage between a man and a woman is not valid unless the bride agrees first. Currently, “ghag” is an offence that is punishable with up to seven years in prison, a fine of Rs 500,000, or both because of The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elimination of Custom of Ghag Act that was passed in 2013 (Ashfaq, 2013). Nevertheless, the practice continues to exist.

Another example of why rule of law is not always applied is because certain areas of Pakistan, such as the KPK and FATA, have their own system of law that they prefer to practice. “Jirgas” (also termed panchayat), are male tribal councils, and they make consensus decisions that are rooted in Pashtunwali. “Jirgas” have been used to enforce and justify honor killings, “rape as retribution during tribal feuds, the exchange of girls to settle disputes, and the broader exclusion of women’s voices” (Khan, 2017). More severely, “the jirgas’ orders include gang-rapes, forced child marriages (vani, swara), honour killing (karo -kari) and other practices described as ‘tribal,’ ‘customary’ which in fact are destructive and inhumane” (Junik-Luniewska, 2016, p. 295). “Jirgas” negatively affect not only women, but the entire nation’s health. For example, polio is endemic in Pakistan. Pakistanis, women in particular, have opened polio vaccine clinics, but their progress has been hindered by extremists who incorrectly use religion to justify why vaccines are not allowed in Islam. “Jirgas” contribute to Islamic extremism, even though “jirgas” and Islam have little to do with one another. “Jjirgas” are founded on tradition, not faith.

“The Objectives Resolution,” which is a part of Pakistan’s constitution, states: “wherein the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice as enunciated by Islam shall be fully observed” (National Assembly of Pakistan, 2017). Is democracy, freedom, equality, and social justice followed according to Islam in Pakistan? Is formal law followed, or does custom take precedence because of weak governance? Laws protecting women do exist and more of them continue to be implemented. For example: A law against honor killings was implemented in 2004, the Prevention of Anti-Women Practices and the Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act was applied in 2011, the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act began in 2012, and a year later The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Elimination of Custom of Ghag Act was passed. There are multiple laws in place to protect women in Pakistan, but the social and political reality is different. As previously mentioned, an increase of radicalized Islam in Pakistan means fewer and fewer rights for women. Even when police officials are ready and willing to rally against the practice of jirgas, for example, they are not supported at the government level.

One of the reasons why there is little government oversight is because of the power and control that extremist organizations are capable of exerting. Because of “military rule and increasing talebanisation of particular sectors of Pakistani society, human rights advocates have struggled to negotiate conflicting religious–cultural claims and to challenge the discriminatory claims of family, community and tradition” (Mullally, 2006, p. 181). Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, is heavy-handed in its interpretations of what women can and cannot do. Aside from wanting to overthrow the government, the TTP believes that women should not work, should not be educated past elementary school, should occupy spaces that are completely separate from men, should completely cover themselves through modest dress, and should not go outside unless accompanied by a “mahram,” or male relative. Despite laws passed at the government level, honor killings and cultural practices such as “vani” (forced female marriages as a punishment for crimes committed by male relatives) continue to exist, especially in areas where the TTP has its stronghold. Malala Yousufzai, for example, was shot in 2012 for promoting female education in Swat. The TTP has taken responsibility for the attack against Malala Yousufzai, the 2014 Peshawar school massacre (which is the deadliest terror attack to date in Pakistan according to Biberman & Zahid, 2019, p. 172), attacks against police stations, and many others. The TTP causes complete social chaos and political turmoil. They are so prevalent in Pakistan that military measures have been ineffective at eradicating them altogether, there are multiple no-go zones, and some believe that any long-term solution will have to involve reintegrating TTP members back into mainstream society (Brumfield and Ng, 2014). Radicalized Islamist groups are why “attempts to reform discriminatory personal laws have been labeled as un-Islamic, unfaithful to and out of touch with Pakistan’s inherited traditions. Lost within this web of competing traditions and beliefs is the recognition of women as moral agents and as bearers of rights” (Mullally, 2006, p. 168). How can feminist discourse advance if equality clashes with misguided religious beliefs and cultural practices?

In “Evolutions of Women’s Leadership and Human Rights in Pakistan. From Isolation to Participation,” Ivănescu and Radu (2015) write that “Pakistan is a signatory state of the International Conference on Population and Development, of the Beijing Plan, and of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)…unfortunately, the radicalization of Pakistan has led to the development of a space incompatible with the observation of human rights, an environment in which is absolutely necessary to enforce such legislative acts in order to protect the Pakistani feminine sector” (p. 190). If women are to have a greater presence in politics and Pakistani social life in general, then they must be given the right to an education at all socioeconomic levels (Ahmad et al., 2012, pp. 202, 215). If educated, then the culture should encourage women to work or in some other way give back to the larger community of which they are a part.

From One to the Collective Whole: Initiating Change through Group Effort

Change takes time, and it will be no different in Pakistan. Two major organizations that promote gender equality are the Aurat Foundation and Shirkat Gah. The Aurat Foundation was established in 1986. The organization “is committed to creat[ing] widespread awareness and commitment for a just, democratic and caring society in Pakistan, where women and men are recognised as equals, with the right to lead their lives with self-respect and dignity” (Aurat Foundation, 2013). The Aurat Foundation treats all facets of women’s lives, whether campaigning for women’s rights issues, repealing discriminatory laws, ending violence against women, guaranteeing seats for women in legislatures, or providing disaster relief.

Shirkat Gah, another leading women’s organization in Pakistan, also works on projects and programs that help women gain greater agency and freedoms for themselves. Some of the organization’s missions are to “challenge the patriarchal system and create a gender equal future for Pakistan,” “cultivate a sense of collective self and mobilize male allies so women and girls can tackle structural and systemic obstacles at all levels and in all arenas,” and “support Pakistan’s policy-makers to craft and effectively implement gender-responsive laws and policies…we promote appropriate local, provincial and national laws and policies” (Shirkat Gah, 2021). The organization helps women understand and attain equal property rights through paralegal trainings, which (in the past) has helped the Pakistani government pass laws concerning Haq Bakshish (marriages to the Quran). Haq Bakshish is not rooted in religion, but rather a tradition that is meant to protect property and ensure that property remain in the family (Ahmad et al., 2012, p. 199). Although Pakistani law mandates that “the Haq Bakshish tradition is punishable by a seven-year prison sentence…no one dares report such cases” (Farooq, 2017). The benefit of organizations like Shirkat Gah getting involved is that even though the practice continues to exist, cases of Haq Bakshish are fewer now than they were in the past. Similar to the Aurat Foundation, Shirkat Gah works on projects related to women’s health and healthcare rights, women’s empowerment, social justice and better governance, limiting gender-based violence, and more (Shirkat Gah, 2021).

Conclusion

Despite living in a secular democratic society, women in Pakistan do lack a lot of the rights and freedoms that women in other countries take for granted. One explanation is that religion gets misused for political purposes and religious misinterpretations are commonplace in a country with high illiteracy rates. According to the United Nations, Pakistan has one of the lowest literacy rates, and “literacy can not only lead to dependence, but it also allows people of different social and economic levels to participate in the decision-making process to the fullest” (Rehman et al., 2015, p. 140). According to the Pakistan Today, two-thirds of women in Pakistan cannot even sign their own names (“Illiteracy in Pakistan,” 2011). Education is one step towards diminishing the gender gap. In a study conducted by Ahmad et al. (2012), researchers who sampled 507 families in District Lakki Marwat, a rural province in KPK, found that higher education (including religious education) correlated with respondents’ more positive views towards women’s inheritance rights and more favorable attitudes towards women in general. Alongside education, extremist organizations must also be considered. Extremist organizations, although impediments to national progress, will not disappear altogether.

Government interventions and negotiations with such organizations may seem futile, but ongoing dialogue is still necessary. More importantly, human rights and Islam must be talked about in unison because culture, tradition, and religion are so closely interconnected in Pakistan. “Jirgas,” for example, are illegal in Pakistan and have been illegal since 2012; nevertheless, they continue to exist in areas where the police have little to no control. FATA and KPK are large areas of Pakistan, and “jirgas” are no longer as commonplace as they once were. However, old traditions are actively nurtured in the rural parts of these areas and will take time to disappear. In some rural areas local issues are now resolved at police stations instead of a convening “jirga.” While the proposed solutions offered by police officials are not mandated, the police serve as arbitrators. If the offended parties do not like the decision, they can always take their issues to court. However, going to court is not always an optimal nor immediate solution in a country where lawsuits are settled in an average span of ten years. Mahfooz Waheed, a former bureaucrat and proponent of “jirgas,” argues that “only jirgas in illiterate backwaters produce the sort of decisions that end up making shocking headlines” (“Pakistan is ‘Mainstreaming’ Misogynist Tribal Justice,” 2017). Otherwise, “jirgas” save both time and money in lawyers’ fees, especially when it comes to commercial disputes. Moreover, the Alternative Dispute Resolution Bill (ADR), passed in 2017 by Pakistan’s Senate, further complicates people’s attitudes toward “jirgas.” Some people believe the ADR will decrease the number of cases that go to court through neutral arbitrators, while others feel that the ADR legitimizes “jirgas” and further complicates the legal system. To effect change, women living in these areas have also created female “jirgas.” In Swat, for example, a “25-member female jirga deals with domestic violence, inheritance, healthcare and other social issues, including child marriages” (Inayat & Collins, 2017). Nevertheless, conflicting perspectives on “jirgas” are one reason why they cannot be eliminated altogether. Police interventions and female-only “jirgas” are examples of Pakistan working towards greater freedom and democracy for women.

While the Aurat Foundation and Shirkat Gah are widely known organizations centered on promoting women’s rights, there are many other lesser known, grassroots organizations scattered throughout Pakistan. Examples include, but are not limited to, Tribal Women Welfare Association (TWWA), Awaz-e-Niswan, Women’s Association Struggle for Development (WASFD), Tehreek-e-Niswan, Women’s Rights Association, Acid Survivors’ Foundation, Depilex Smile Again Foundation, Kaarvan Foundation, and Pakistani Women’s Human Rights Organization. Other organizations that are led by women and focus on the welfare of both women and men are: Hope, Kashf Foundation, Gulbahao, and Khana Ghar. As more and more organizations form, they will collate to make for a larger collective conscience. The efforts of these organizations, combined with other measures in place that focus on women’s issues and promote their rights, mean that change is coming in Pakistan.

One more solution is to bridge the gap between contradictory laws since “the statutory Islamic laws of Pakistan discriminate against women in the areas of criminal law and the law of personal status. These laws conflict with the Koran as well as the 1973 constitution of Pakistan and international human rights law. They require reformation…to bring them into line, first with the Koranic spirit and second, to achieve greater compatibility with international human rights standards” (Shah, 2006, p. 234). A few laws that have been passed for women in Pakistan include a law against honor killings (2004), the Prevention of Anti-Women Practices and the Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act (2011), Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act (2012), Acid and Burn Crime Bill (2018), and Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Bill (2022). If there is a law against acid attacks, for example, then why do acid attacks still occur in Pakistan? One potential reason is because acid sells for as little as 80pkr, which is equivalent to 34 US cents (Bandial, 2021). Regressive practices against women continue when crimes are not reported, laws are not implemented or upheld, or other issues take precedence such as COVID-19 or the record floods that displaced 33 million people in Pakistan (Goldbaum & ur-Rehman, 2022). Corruption is also an ongoing issue in Pakistan that impedes progress, which means that the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal initiatives must be monitored and reported, especially financial allocations.

Fakhra Younus, a former red-light district dancer, was the victim of an acid attack by her estranged husband. Her case drew tremendous international media support. Despite receiving multiple reconstructive surgeries in Italy and being the focus of Pakistan’s first Academy Award-winning documentary, Fakhra Younus took her own life. Her case begs the question: Could the media, international support, and an encouraging network of people have released her from her trauma and freed her from the shackles of her culture? Pakistani women’s rights will remain latent—dormant or unfulfilled—as the 2018 case of seven-year-old Zainab Amin, the twelfth victim of a violent sexual crime within a two-kilometer area in Kasur, Pakistan, surfaced and became a media sensation, or more recently the 2020 case of a woman who was raped in front of her three children in the Gujjarpura area. The Lahore Police Chief, Umer Shiekh, said it was the mother’s fault since she chose not to drive on a more densely populated road at night (“Pak Woman Gang Raped,” 2020). Pakistan is at present experiencing political uncertainty. How will women’s advancement be affected when the Prime Minister’s seat is currently being contested? Irrespective of Pakistan’s shifting political climate, women’s advancement will become less latent through education and the combined and ongoing efforts of policymakers, NGOs, and government initiatives that minimize the gender divide in Pakistan.