It’s not just an ill-representation in academia that is the only case of discrimination against women in Pakistan.
Even in the professional environment, it is frowned upon for a woman to stand shoulder to shoulder with men
in a company or an office.
In fact, the only comparatively respectable jobs are supposed to be teaching and/or medical
Pakistan ranks high on the list of countries with rampant discrimination against sex. In a country where religion is often used as an excuse to bind shackles around girls’ feet, being a girl in this patriarchal society is hardly less than a crime. From infanticide to honour killing to other abhorrent traditions such as wanni, being a woman in Pakistan is a tall order. Moreover, acid attacks, child marriages, sexual assault, are only some of the other consequences that women in Pakistan have to bear for the crime of being born a female.
Discrimination against females in academia.
Be it the educational sector or any other; one can observe a stark difference in the number of boys and girls enrolled in any program at school, colleges, and universities. In fact, there are significantly more schools in Pakistan that are designed for boys only. There are considerably less all-girls public schools in Pakistan than all-boys public schools. Even in the co-ed schools, the ratio of male to female students is unequal. The ratio of girls to boys enrolled in public schools in Pakistan is approximately 0.83. Moreover, as per the statistics of 2015, the literacy rate in Pakistan for girls was 45.8pc, while the literacy rate for boys was 69.5pc. These numbers haven’t changed much over the past two years since then. Although both numbers are equally disappointing, one can observe that the boys seem to be faring much better.
When one moves beyond the school level, things become even more discouraging. Statistics reveal that only 28 percent of females opt for education beyond matriculation or intermediate. And those that do largely belong to developed cities. In rural areas, the figures are downright dismal.
In Pakistan, the spending on education is quite low as it is, but due to the fact that a majority of females who have studied and graduated from schools, colleges and universities, choose not to make use of their education for contributing to the national economy, is resulting in a lack of tangible results. Of course, one can’t deny that by teaching the women of Pakistan, we are looking at a bright future where the children of these women will have an educated role model to look up to, but these results are slow to appear and can take years before they bear fruition.
Pakistan stands at the precipice of an economic downfall. We need tangible results and we need them now to make the country stronger. This only becomes harder when half the potential workforce is forced not to participate. And that too when that half of the workforce has been performing much better and scoring higher. Take a look at the toppers of any board exam or survey any school, college, university and you will find that amongst the classmates, the female students score higher, despite being disfavoured in terms of strength compared to their male counterparts. If these girls were allowed to enter the workforce, then Pakistan would see a much better return on the investment it makes on educating them. The likes of Shirmeen Obaid Chinoy, Arfa Karim, and Malala Yousafzai have demonstrated just what Pakistan has to gain by educating the women of Pakistan and allowing them to pursue a career.
Discrimination at the work place
It’s not just an ill-representation in academia that is the only case of discrimination against women in Pakistan. Even in the professional environment, it is frowned upon for a woman to stand shoulder to shoulder with men in a company or an office. In fact, the only comparatively respectable jobs are supposed to be teaching and/or medical. Apart from this, any other job is a big taboo. Even these two professions aren’t very common for girls.
Moreover, the few women that do dare to open the Pandora’s box, in our business offices, are often made victims of harassment and abuse. Countless cases are reported where women were sexually exploited or verbally and physically abused at the hands of the employers, supervisors, and coworkers, to the extent that many women themselves choose to opt out. They believe that a career is just a cheap trade-off for their dignity, honour, and self-respect. Furthermore, the women who are abused or harassed in the workplace, academic institutions or anywhere else rarely make these transgressions public, as they fear that their male guardians will take away the few liberties they have been provided.
For example, if a girl who is pursuing a career in a firm is harassed by a co-worker, she would think twice before confiding in her family, because more often than not, her father, brother or husband, instead of addressing the perpetrator, will instead instruct the girl to give up her career and stay at home where she won’t attract unwanted attention. Moreover, should she think of reporting the harassment to the authorities, she would have to face ridicule and adverse publicity both at the hands of the law enforcement agencies and the media.
Established stereotypes
With the passing of the Haqooq-e-Niswan Bill in 2016, things looked up for a bit. It seemed that women might get some support from the government against discrimination against sex. But these things, which looked good on paper, hold little merit in the real world as far as Pakistan is concerned. Girls and women are still sexually exploited, there is a disparity in the number of men and women in any professional setting, and it is still frowned upon for a woman to demand her right to education, express a desire to work or to have an equal status as a man. Any woman who expresses such desires or dares to stand up against the societal norms and the accepted stencil of the standard woman in Pakistan is dubbed as masculine, pariah, tomboy or a freak. To the extent that the woman herself starts questioning herself regarding her choice to rebel against the accepted stencil.
(To be continued)
