What Is It Like To Be A Woman In Pakistan?

Pakistan is considered to be the third most dangerous country for women in the world. In the paper, I would analyze the problems that women in Pakistan face every day, and how difficult it is to survive in a male dominated society.

Women in Pakistan are thought as subordinate to men. In a patriarchal society such as Pakistan, women consist half of the population yet are not given the same rights as men, they’re treated ruthlessly especially in the rural areas where education is practically a non-existent concept. Being a woman in Pakistan should be considered as an act of bravery because they have to endure problems such as physical/ sexual assault, marital rape, forced marriages, honor killings and the list goes on. From her birth a woman is considered to be a burden/ liability, her worth is decided based on her power of reproduction. Women all around Pakistan are looked as an object of sexual satisfaction; they are looked as a commodity that needs to be protected until it’s passed along to the chosen recipient.

The reason I have selected this area to research is because this is an important social issue that needs to be highlighted. Women are only guaranteed a life if they agree to conform to outdated traditions and social norms. In the mind of a Pakistani, a woman’s only supposed purpose is to provide their husbands with a male heir, a mindset that is irrational and illogical and needs to change. In some extreme cases, daughters are considered to be such a liability that female baby infants are buried alive.

A woman, despite being educated faces the same hardships a woman who may have been deprived of it. The issues may be targeted towards different aspects of their life, but the criticism and the hardships still persist. Due to the fact women are considered to be the inferior gender they endure severe discrimination. Little boys, mostly in rural areas, will be sent to receive an education whereas little girls are forced to stay at home and do housework. Boys are given the role of a breadwinner from an early age but if a woman decides to take that role, her character is shamed and she is looked down upon in society. Matriarchal households rarely exist those to after the death of a male breadwinner.

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One of the major problems that women face in Pakistan is honor killings (Karo-Kari). Honor killing is defined as killing of a relative, mostly targeted towards a girl/ woman who are perceived to have brought dishonor on the family. It is a heinous act that is still practiced in some parts of Pakistan and is an act some even take pride in because they believe it restores the honor also known as “izzat” of the family. The fact that such an immoral act is still accepted in our country shows how little value is given to a women’s life. Honor killings are extremely common in Pakistan; however in some areas the rates are alarmingly high. According to Aurat foundation’s statistics a total of 557 women were killed in the name of honor in 2010, 604 were killed in 2009 and 475 women were killed in 2008. These are the cases that have been reported, however there are so many cases that go unreported, or are dismissed. One of the most major and well- known case was the Qandeel Baloch case, a woman who was honor killed by her brother in her hometown Multan. Ms. Fauzia Azeem also known as Qandeel Baloch was a 26-year-old, model, social media sensation and self-proclaimed feminist who belonged to the village Shah Saddardin in Dera Ghazi Khan District of South Punjab. Media claimed that she had an unsuccessful marriage and a child too. She was known for posting daring and bold pictures, videos and statements on her social media accounts. She used social media as a platform to get her point across in her own unique way. On July 16, 2016, she went to visit her ill father and to celebrate Eid-Ul- Fitr in Multan when she was strangled by her younger brother in her sleep. Few days before her murder she responded to an interview question “I don’t know HOW many girls have felt support through my persona. I‟m a girl power. So many girls tell me I’m a girl power, and yes, I am. I was 17 years old when my parents forced an uneducated man on me. The abuse I have been through… It happens in places like this, in small villages, in Baloch families. This happened to me too she said, No, I don’t want to spend my life this way‟. I was not made for this.” In this we come to the realization that Qandeel Baloch was just another woman who was suppressed by her family, she was a 17 year old girl who was forced to marry a complete stranger. Qandeel herself stated that her family never supported her. The man she was married to tried to throw acid on her face just because he thought she was too beautiful. She stated that despite coming out with my story the media didn’t give me any credit for speaking about women empowerment. Her character was judged based on the videos she posted but the media never highlighted the fact that this was her only way to escape the abuse she endured; they also failed to specify that she was responsible for supporting her family financially. Instead they criticized her; her own brother murdered her because a woman standing up for her rights in Pakistan is unacceptable.

Qandeel wasn’t the only woman to have gone through this. While carrying out my research I came across multiple cases of domestic violence. Another incident that took place was with a woman named Ayesha. When she was 10 she was stopped from attending school due to the birth of her younger brother. While these celebrations were taking place in the name of her brother, she was raped by an unknown young man in her uncle’s house. In order to save the families reputation the man was forgiven. Not just this but her father was also extremely abusive towards her mother, it was a very common practice in her village. A few years down the line, her father also started sexually abusing her despite knowing the trauma that she had endured when she was a child. From this we see that women’s safety is always in question even when they’re at their own homes. Another case that stood out was of a woman named Rehana. In majority poor households women are physically abused but are also the primary breadwinners because the husband refuses to work. This was the Rehanas’ life story where her husband refused to contribute anything to the household. Before she was married to her husband, she had to face rejection on the basis of an incident that took place in her house when she was 14. These men came to rob their house, but had more sinister intentions. She threatened to kill herself before anything extreme happened. Despite being brave enough to stand up to her sexual offenders, the family who had asked for her hand in marriage now rejected her on the basis of being impure and used. Even now being treated like a normal human being is a privilege due to her husband’s abusive tendencies.

While it may seem that women are marginalized in Pakistan, there are various examples which highlight the success of women especially when it comes to social issues. One such is example is of Meesha Shafi who took inspiration from the #Metoo movement and spoke out against Ali Zafar, a well-known singer and actor, who allegedly sexually harassed her. After her public declaration, other women followed her lead and spoke out against Ali Zafar and the case has been going on for months. This boosted the confidence of several other women spoke out for those who were taken advantage of. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, a renowned journalist and filmmaker, spoke out against a doctor on Twitter who harassed her sister. Later on, action was taken against the doctor and he was asked to step down. Another such case took place where an 11 year old girl spoke out against the CEO of a Pakistani Streaming Website. The girl’s claims were backed by another woman who claimed to have felt extremely “uncomfortable”. An investigation took place and later the CEO was asked to step down. Aurat March, which took place in major cities like Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Peshawar and Mardan, was another milestone for women which should go down in history. In a country like Pakistan, where women speaking for themselves is considered shameful and derogatory, movements like these ad platforms like the Aurat March are creating a safe space for women to share their stories and fight these social stigmas together. Many women have been taking steps towards making Pakistan an empowered nation such as Malala Yousufzai, who has won a Nobel Peace Prize award for speaking for female’s rights to education after facing harsh consequences for pursuing her own education. Ghulam Sughra Solangi is another commendable example of a woman who, once oppressed herself, is now working in hopes of building an educational path to a prosperous future for other young girls deprived of opportunities. While several cases of female oppression have been brought forward over the decades, it is only in the 21st century where women have taken a stand and are breaking free from the chains of social stigmas and taboos. Social media has given women the opportunity to keep the conversation going about topics like physical and sexual abuse, marital rape, education and marriage related rights and extremely isolated topics such as the female menstrual cycle. It seems as though women have a new found passion for righting the wrongs of our society with a lot of compassion and accountability. Female voices are louder than ever and are being recognized for what they are worth. This conversation ignited by women all over Pakistan stands on the grounds of inclusivity and empathy.

However despite all the progress that has been made there still a lot of issues that remain. Through Meesha Shafi’s case, we see how ignorant the Pakistan society is towards sexual harassment of women. Meesha shafi received around 3000 comments in which most of them disregarded her and criticized her for defaming Ali Zafar, a very “respectable” celebrity. Ali Zafar on the other hand is denying the accusations and using national television to invalidate her claim. Another incident that took place was related to Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy where her sister was harassed by her doctor. Her main claim was highlighting how inappropriate it is for a doctor breach doctor- patient confidentiality. She was highly criticized and was accused of dramatizing the situation and blowing the matter out of proportion. The public failed to empathize with her sister rather showed sympathy with the doctor because he was asked to step down. This shows how the people of Pakistan would rather sympathize with the accused rather than believe a woman who is risking her reputation to do the right thing. In the previous paragraph I stated how the Aurat march was a movement that provided a safe place for women to address the social stigmas they face on a daily basis. However, the Aurat March was severely criticized on social media. The women who organized this entire event were sent death as well as rape threats. There was severe backlash to such an extent that there was a petition sent to court against the Aurat March which was in fact later thrown out. But however the fact that a petition was sent in the first place shows how intolerant the men of Pakistan are. In retaliation of the Aurat March, there were pictures of doctored placards/ posters that went viral on social media. Women claim it was a way to compromise the credibility of the march and also a form of harassment. Social Media pages such as Facebook also made memes about the march thus showing us how women standing up for their rights were a joke to the general public. One man used Instagram to compare the Aurat March participants to the Al Qaeda militants. He stated in his plea that he as a man feels “isolated” and “marginalized.” His entire statement is extremely ironic because men are considered to be the superior gender thus men feeling isolated and marginalized is the furthest thing away from reality. The concept of the “Mard March” only was emphasized on after women decided to stand up for their rights. Even when the Mard March happened, not many men participated. The Mard march was just a means to oppose the Aurat March because the march questioned tackled the masculinity of a man and their insecurities. When we talk about influential women like Malala Yousufzai, Ghulam Sughra Solangi, we fail to recognize the criticism that these women face every day, the hardships that they had to endure in order to get to this platform where they can finally take a stand to make Pakistan a safer place for women. Now if a man were to take their place, he would receive no conflict whatsoever, rather he’d be praised and idolized.