Cultural Revolution: Women eager to work despite barriers
Still face lack of education, harassment, limited mobility
Women working in a garment factory. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Women in Pakistani culture are to date expected to follow outdated norms, and conventionally still expected to stay at home and participate in household chores, as opposed to going out and establishing their place in the workforce, and building momentum for their careers. Several women defy these norms and social conventions. They build their careers and contribute largely to the national economy.
Tahmina Fatima works as a human resources manager in a large multinational pharmaceutical company in Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad. Despite a number of challenges inside and outside the workplace, she likes her job.
"The company I work for gave me the strength to be tough and independent and I am perfectly capable of handling my own finances, shopping, travel, wardrobe and everything else. I stand on my own two feet and I am not dependent on anyone," said Tahmina.
"My workplace is dominated by men like most other organizations. There are men who do not like to be subordinate to women and sometimes they do not take me seriously. I have to be very strict with them because of the prevailing male culture in our country," she further added.
Tahmina is among the millions of hard working and dedicated women valiantly contributing to the growing economy of Pakistan, but still women in the country are mostly confined to the inner boundaries of the household and duties of keeping the house in order.
Data from the Pakistan bureau of statistics and the World Bank suggested that the participation of women in Pakistan’s work force as a percentage of the total women's workforce and percentage of total countries' workforce is below par when compared to international standard and developed countries. Showing how seldom women are encouraged to work.
According to the latest statistics of the World Bank, the average rate of women’s participation in Pakistan's work force from 1990 to 2017 was 18.43 percent, hitting a minimum of 12.5 percent in 1995 and a maximum of 24.93 percent in 2017.
Chairman of the Mass Communication department at the Allama Iqbal Open University, Professor Syed Abdul Siraj said that in Pakistan, women work primarily at home or are associated with the informal sector which is mostly agricultural work in rural areas, which is considered as their cultural duty and part of their gender specific role, which largely remains unpaid and isn't considered as contributing to the nation's economy.
"Although women play an active role in Pakistan's economy, their contributions have been grossly underreported in some censuses and surveys," Siraj said, adding that Pakistan has a significant number of females in judiciary, education, medical, military, business, politics and other important fields of life.
However, successful female entrepreneurs in Pakistan admit that the discrimination against their gender is still high, which is responsible for such a low level of participation of women in the workforce.
Sidra Batool, a young entrepreneur who is the co-founder of one of the best shoe selling companies in Pakistan, told Xinhua that most of the women in Pakistan work informally and are viciously exploited. They get less pay than men for doing the same job and are not respected or facilitated. Rural working women particularly suffer more than urban female workers.
“Women in Pakistan comprise half of the population, yet they constitute one-fourth of the total work-force,” Sidra stated, adding that "there is a need to be realistic and be aware of the barriers that women face at almost every stage of their life, such as a lack of equal education opportunities and technical skills, limited mobility, lack of safe and affordable transport, and vulnerability to sexual harassment in public spaces and in the workplace."
Sidra believed that the Pakistani government should introduce laws to increase women's participation in the workforce and remove barriers to women's access to businesses and all kinds of work to earn and own their share in the country's growing economy.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2018.
Women in Pakistani culture are to date expected to follow outdated norms, and conventionally still expected to stay at home and participate in household chores, as opposed to going out and establishing their place in the workforce, and building momentum for their careers. Several women defy these norms and social conventions. They build their careers and contribute largely to the national economy.
Tahmina Fatima works as a human resources manager in a large multinational pharmaceutical company in Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad. Despite a number of challenges inside and outside the workplace, she likes her job.
"The company I work for gave me the strength to be tough and independent and I am perfectly capable of handling my own finances, shopping, travel, wardrobe and everything else. I stand on my own two feet and I am not dependent on anyone," said Tahmina.
"My workplace is dominated by men like most other organizations. There are men who do not like to be subordinate to women and sometimes they do not take me seriously. I have to be very strict with them because of the prevailing male culture in our country," she further added.
Tahmina is among the millions of hard working and dedicated women valiantly contributing to the growing economy of Pakistan, but still women in the country are mostly confined to the inner boundaries of the household and duties of keeping the house in order.
Data from the Pakistan bureau of statistics and the World Bank suggested that the participation of women in Pakistan’s work force as a percentage of the total women's workforce and percentage of total countries' workforce is below par when compared to international standard and developed countries. Showing how seldom women are encouraged to work.
According to the latest statistics of the World Bank, the average rate of women’s participation in Pakistan's work force from 1990 to 2017 was 18.43 percent, hitting a minimum of 12.5 percent in 1995 and a maximum of 24.93 percent in 2017.
Chairman of the Mass Communication department at the Allama Iqbal Open University, Professor Syed Abdul Siraj said that in Pakistan, women work primarily at home or are associated with the informal sector which is mostly agricultural work in rural areas, which is considered as their cultural duty and part of their gender specific role, which largely remains unpaid and isn't considered as contributing to the nation's economy.
"Although women play an active role in Pakistan's economy, their contributions have been grossly underreported in some censuses and surveys," Siraj said, adding that Pakistan has a significant number of females in judiciary, education, medical, military, business, politics and other important fields of life.
However, successful female entrepreneurs in Pakistan admit that the discrimination against their gender is still high, which is responsible for such a low level of participation of women in the workforce.
Sidra Batool, a young entrepreneur who is the co-founder of one of the best shoe selling companies in Pakistan, told Xinhua that most of the women in Pakistan work informally and are viciously exploited. They get less pay than men for doing the same job and are not respected or facilitated. Rural working women particularly suffer more than urban female workers.
“Women in Pakistan comprise half of the population, yet they constitute one-fourth of the total work-force,” Sidra stated, adding that "there is a need to be realistic and be aware of the barriers that women face at almost every stage of their life, such as a lack of equal education opportunities and technical skills, limited mobility, lack of safe and affordable transport, and vulnerability to sexual harassment in public spaces and in the workplace."
Sidra believed that the Pakistani government should introduce laws to increase women's participation in the workforce and remove barriers to women's access to businesses and all kinds of work to earn and own their share in the country's growing economy.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2018.