Women In Pakistan

History of Pakistani women's struggles for their rights in the 20th century. This struggle is set in the context of the country's troubled politics and the specific role of the Islam

The military rule of General Zia ul-Haq, former President of Pakistan, had significant political repercussions for the country. Islamization policies were far more pronounced and control over women became the key marker of the state's adherence to religious norms. Women's rights activists mobilized as a result, campaigning to reverse oppressive policies and redefine the relationship between state, society and Islam. Their calls for a liberal democracy led them to be targeted and suppressed. This book is a history of the modern women's movement in Pakistan. The research is based on documents from the Women's Action Forum archives, court judgments on relevant cases, as well as interviews with activists, lawyers and judges and analysis of newspapers and magazines. Ayesha Khan argues that the demand for a secular state and resistance to Islamization should not be misunderstood as Pakistani women sympathizing with a western agenda. Rather, their work is a crucial contribution to the evolution of the Pakistani state. The book outlines the discriminatory laws and policies that triggered domestic and international outcry, landmark cases of sexual violence that rallied women activists together and the important breakthroughs that enhanced women's rights. At a time when the women's movement in Pakistan is in danger of shrinking, this book highlights its historic significance and its continued relevance today.

In the USA, racism is the most widespread root of oppression. Black people in America, specifically, have suffered from centuries of discrimination and still struggle to receive the same privileges as their white peers. In other countries, however, there are other groups that face similar struggles. Discrimination and oppression based on religion, ethnicity, socio-economic status, political affiliation, and caste are just a few categories. However, education is a root for widespread societal change, making it essential that educators and systems of education enact the changes that need to occur to achieve equity for the groups being oppressed. Education as the Driving Force of Equity for the Marginalized highlights international research from the past decade about the role education is playing in the disruption and dismantling of perpetuated systems of oppression. This research presents the context, ideas, and mechanics behind impactful efforts to dismantle systems of oppression. Covering topics such as teacher preparation, gender inequality, and social justice, this work is essential for teachers, policymakers, college students, education faculty, researchers, administrators, professors, and academicians.

This book critically examines the feminization of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a major movement for Islamic renewal and reform in South Asia. Through an ethnographic and textual study of Jamaat women elected to local, provincial, and national bodies in Pakistan from 2002 to 2008, Jamal draws attention to the cultural-political forces that enabled these women to become influential within the party and in Pakistan’s major urban centers of Karachi and Lahore. Jamal situates Jamaat women within Islamic modernism without reifying them as either pious agents reacting to state-imposed modernization or gendered citizens who use Islam for class-based instrumental ends. Jamaat women are represented as subjects who move in many directions by acting against and through the discourses of Islamic tradition, cultural modernity, and modernization.

As gender training is applied increasingly as a development solution to gender inequality, this book examines gender inequality in Pakistan's public sector and questions whether a singular focus on gender training is enough to achieve progress in a patriarchal institutional context.

Though Pakistan has made progress toward achieving its education, gender equity, and health Millennium Goals, it is unlikely to reach 2015 targets. In general, achievements were lower in rural areas and in lower-income households. Pakistani girls still have lower enrollment in primary and secondary schools, and do not perform as well as boys on tests. Adult female literacy varies widely by province. Women continue to face many forms of gender-based violence, and often are restricted from leaving their homes. While employment rates among women have doubled in the last decade, women are more likely to be unemployed than men, and lack access to finance or assets.

Seeking to explore the plight of female healthcare practitioners in the country, Sara Rizvi Jafree's Women, Healthcare, and Violence in Pakistan is an examination of the South Asian cultural approach towards the traditional and historical working woman, particularly the healthcare professional. The book describes the laws that protect or harm such women in the workplace, and the real perils of physical and verbal harassment that they face during their service. Imbued with deep insights into the role of women in Islam, their socialization and the threats to the healthcare professionals like nurses, doctors, and lady health workers, this book presents anecdotes based on ethnographic research and factual knowledge which makes it an impressive resource for understanding this social issue. Exploring the perpetration of brutality through victims' testimonies, the author successfully paints a panorama on the theme of workplace cruelty, an important factor in the current discourse in Pakistan on this issue.