Search

Gender and Development is a central priority of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs). International development agencies provide adequate financial support through development/humanitarian projects to achieve specific targets related to gender equality globally. Pakistan also aims to alleviate poverty and improve the status of women in society. In this context, the ‘Banzir Income Support Program’ (BISP) has launched various cash grant programs for the poorest families in Pakistan. Women are the direct beneficiaries, but the program also produces indirect beneficiaries including male family members. The program managers believe that reduction in poverty will indirectly improve women's position within families and they will gain financial and social empowerment. How does the BISP's support enable women to challenge traditional stereotypes toward their financial and social empowerment? And in which dimension does BISP's support bring change in gender relations within the family? These are the questions addressed in the current research. A mixed-methods approach is adopted to conduct this study – both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used to collect and analyze data, which was collected in two phases. Initially, secondary data is accessed from three tehsil offices of the Multan district. To follow up, in-depth interviews are conducted with two Assistant Directors of the BISP. The findings reveal that although the BISP support has significantly increased familial income, women appear only as indirect beneficiaries of the program. They pass on allocated funds to their male family members or nominate them as active business partners. In a few cases, women have started their own businesses. Several factors influence women's decisions while selecting business options under “individually-led” or “female-male” partnership models. Newly started enterprises have increased family income dramatically, although this does not alter the patriarchal division of labour within families nor does it empower women financially as well as socially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main objective of this research paper is to explore the men's perception regarding women empowerment in the economic field. The study was conducted in the rural area of district Dir lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, through measurement of variables as obstacle to women economic stability and empowerment i.e. attitude of male towards women economic stability, restriction on women to work, economic opportunities, cultural and religious constrains and attitude towards working women. The study summed up with uni-variate and bi-variate analysis. Main outcomes of the study are, Joint family pattern is very common in rural traditional society. People are less educated, low level of earning as compare to the economic necessities. Economic empowerment of women are not prevalent due to women exposures to various cultural practices in rural traditional society. Lack of economic opportunity, denial from inheritance right, dependency on male, disagreement of male on certain jobs with women and lack of suitable self-employment opportunities brought desolations to women. Economic empowerment of women are associated with lack of information from current jobs opening, dependencies of women on male while applying for a particular economic opportunity, attitude of male that women must take care of their like and dislike while seeking job are the major factors with contributes to women economic disempowerment significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Child marriage (before 18 years) is widely prevalent in Pakistan, and disproportionately affects young girls in rural, low income and poorly-educated households. Our study aims to determine the association of child marriage and attitude towards wife beating among currently married Pakistani women aged 15-24 after controlling for social equity indicators (education, wealth index, rural residence). Methods: We limited the data from Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, 2012-2013 to currently married women aged 15-24 years (n=2648). Five specified dichotomous variables indicating women's attitude towards wife beating (goes out without telling husband, neglects the children, argues with husband, refuses to have sex with husband, burns the food) were considered as outcome variables. The likelihood (OR and 95% CI) of each outcome variable for the child marriage group was estimated using logistic regression models. Results: The prevalence of child marriage was significantly higher among women having no education and Balochi ethnicity, living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region and rural area, and belonging to the poorest quintile of wealth index. Women married as children compared with women married as adults were more likely to justify wife beating for all five specified reasons. However, these associations were lost when social equity indicators and national region of residence were adjusted in the regression models. Conclusions: Highly prevalent child marriage practice among women can be minimized by promoting education and providing economic opportunities in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews feminist critiques, both on conceptual and empirical grounds, of the contention that microcredit empowers women. It also reviews other critiques of microcredit as being pushed by a neo-liberal agenda to extend the domain of the market or as a development panacea while not really representing authentic development. It makes a case for privileging women’s perception and voice and adds to the literature that does this using a case study from Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of education in Pakistani women's empowerment and self-determination. According to the author, the elements of women's empowerment include the ability to make decisions, access to resources, and free mobility. It is suggested that education offers women increased self-confidence and awareness of gender equity, as well as a better chance at financial independence. Other topics include Muslim identity and gender relations within families.

This paper explores Muslim women's experiences of empowerment in northern Pakistan by drawing upon the life history of a woman informant named Dana, it also outlines some of the methodological concerns related with researching empowerment in a situation where the researchers and the researched share common context. The paper re-conceptualizes the utility of empowerment by unveiling it as an intricate process, which involves the negotiation of roles, responsibilities and values by individuals. The findings evidence that empowerment is not always exhibiting absolute power over others or open defiance against standard norms; neither is it resistance against coercion at all times. Instead it is also about strategically acting in a way that makes women feel more secure within particular circumstances. Importantly, since the process of being empowered involves constant personal labor, pain of being denied respect and dignity it is not as glorious as depicted in the dominant development discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at analyzing public perceptions on political empowerment of women in Pakistan. According to the World Economic Forum index on gender gap regarding political empowerment, Pakistan is one of the lowest among South Asian countries despite the highest quota for women in parliament. The paper is first of its kind with an attempt to empirically evaluate people's perceptions on women's political empowerment in Pakistan and also to look at determinants of these perceptions. For this purpose, a questionnaire is formulated and Likert scale is used to compute a score on attitudes regarding women's political empowerment by both males and females. The data was collected from Rawalpindi district in Punjab province of Pakistan and total sample size is 231. The empirical analysis consists of two regression equations. The first is regarding the determinants of choice of candidate either male or female with equal qualifications for which Logistic regression approach is utilized. The second equation is a linear regression model with people's opinions as dependent variable. Results show that age, gender, marital status, education and income of the household of respondent are significant determinants of attitudes regarding women's political empowerment. The study concludes that wide ranging measures at societal level are necessary along with the quota to ensure effective political empowerment of women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore Pakistani women’s definition of women’s empowerment, including its enabling and disenabling factors. Through understanding empowerment, interventions may be developed for women to be empowered. Design: Transcriptions of 35 interviews from a previous study were reanalyzed through secondary data analysis. Findings/Results: The themes of economic stability, social acceptability, educational achievement, and family harmony emerged for the concept of definition of empowerment. Themes for enabling factors were strength of personality and openness of mind. Disenabling factors had sociocultural influences, religious misinterpretations, and dominant ideology as themes. Discussion/Conclusions: Pakistani women hold on to their customs, traditions, and religion tenaciously. The views of empowerment leading to the themes were expressed as true for their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]