Women in Parliament in Pakistan: Problems and Potential Solutions.

Since the inception of parliamentary form of government, women's political participation and representation in decision-making institutions has remained minimal irrespective of the fact that women constitute more than half of the world population today. With the passage of time there is an increased awareness that emergence of a gender-balanced society for addressing issues of status of women can only be realized by encouraging enhanced participation of women in decision and policy making institutions in general and politics and legislature in particular. In different regions of the world there are considerable variations in the political participation of women. This paper, with a focus on South Asia, analyzes the factors, which have contributed to the increasing number of women in legislatures in different regions of the world, and presents the case of Pakistan. The focus of this research is on the role of Pakistani women in the political arena. Throughout the history of Pakistan, the 2002 and present parliament has shown the maximum representation of women. The study observes how this numerical strength in parliament has contributed to the empowerment of Pakistani women and whether women are the 'subjects of change' or the 'agents of change' and if these changes are brought about by women themselves or being launched by some exogenous factors? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]