By Pakistan Ink Staff (Farah Mahmood/Mahnoor Ejaz/Minaal Shamimi/Noor Usman Rafi/Hina Aslam/Farheen Ikram)
Islamabad — Pakistan Ink reporters spoke to young women on International Women’s Day about the biggest social challenges Pakistani women face and what would they do to resolve the issues. Here are some of the responses we received (edited for clarity):
READ: Part I and Part III of our series on International Women’s Day
“…It is still a tremendous challenge for Pakistani women to develop themselves professionally, particularly due to the gender role stereotypes that exist in our society …Through our parents, education, media and often, misinterpreted concepts in religion, we are made to believe that a man is supposed to be strong and be the breadwinner of the family while the woman is supposed to be confined to housework and raising children. Over the years, these ideas have become societal norms which makes it extremely difficult for women to deviate from the usual expected way of life, and unfortunately most women have to face severe consequences for doing so. Therefore, it is essential for us to break these gender role stereotypes and highlight the importance of gender equality so that women in Pakistan are given the freedom to work, get exposure and to develop themselves. Our nation can only prosper when men and women are seen as equals and are given the liberty to adopt whatever role deems most suitable to them as individuals.”
—Noormah Malik, NUST student and president of AISEC Islamabad
“(A woman) should not be judged for the lifestyle she chooses nor should she have to apologize for the choices she makes. Women need to stand up for themselves and against the society sometimes, in order to live the life they want. It might be hard but it will definitely be worth it in the end. ” Sania Javed, a college student
“The biggest social challenge for Pakistani women is the fact that they are not a man. In all honesty, that’s the first answer that came to my mind since I’ve had the personal, bitter experience of being undermined, looked over, scoffed at just because of my gender. Yes, my gender. If I drive on the road and I make a mistake, people driving around me raise their eyebrows and say, ‘Aurat chala rhi hai, aise hi chalaye gi.’ And if some man is driving terribly, he only earns the title of a ‘rash driver’. If I work at some office due to financial constraints or whatsoever the reason, I am the target of endless stares, taunts, mockings and perverted bosses. All because of what? Because of the reason that I am not a man. Here I’ll give a personal example; a few years ago, I worked as an intern at the Blood Donation Department of Red Crescent. And they changed my department on the first day. Why? Because I was a woman and they wanted a man because of the fact that ‘men think and work better than women’. And voila, I had to intern somewhere else only because of my gender. Would things have been different if I had been a man? Definitely. How does an issue like this be resolved? Well, women always have the option to change their gender. But on a serious note, it’s about time stereotypes revolutionise.”
— Ghunwa Ijaz, law student
“The thing that needs to change in the Pakistani society for better lives of women is our male chauvinist thinking process.”— Asra Khurshid, marketing and business development professional
“The one thing I would change in our society to make the lives of women better is tolerance – both genders respecting each other, and each gender respecting itself. I don’t mean this just in the most commonly mentioned moral terms, though those are also very important. I also mean it with regards to respecting each other’s right to make our own decisions and be respected for those decisions. There are very hard extremes in our society, with “liberated”, “modern” women bashing housewives, and on the opposite end, “chauvinistic”, “patriarchal” men oppressing helpless women. It is essential to break the extremes. We have to learn to respect each other. Women have to learn to respect each others’ choices and wishes. Not every woman has to go out and get a job in order to be free and strong, but she should in no way be discouraged if she wishes to. The same goes for working women – if they wish to work, they should in no way be discouraged from doing so. In a world where we’re so busy fighting The Man, we often forget to support each other, and not turn that strong warrior front onto our own. We have to accept that everyone doesn’t see the world the way we do, and that they are perfectly entitled to their own view. So there’s no need to hate on the girl who doesn’t wear an abaya, or the girl who is covered head to toe; no need to hate on the woman with a strong personality and a successful career, and no need to belittle the woman who has devoted her life to raising her children. Tolerance of each others’ thoughts and ideas would help womankind immeasurably. That’s what I would want – just a little more respect, just a little less arrogance, just a little more open-mindedness.”
— Zainab Zaheer, Public Administration student at NUST
“(A) social challenge for women is their education. (With) proper education, no one can oppress their rights and even if they do so women can stand up to fight for it themselves.” Izza Iftikhar, Bahria University student
“I would want to change and enhance the economic role of women in today’s society. The share of Pakistani women where the economy is concerned, is dismal. Women are not aware of their economic rights granted in Islam and the constitution. Women should become more financially independent and be able to support their families and themselves without fearing the disapproval of society. If that happens, it would truly revolutionize the status of women in Pakistan’s society.”
— Ifrah Waqar
“I would like to revise the system of delivering justice to women. The process of filing a complaint and acquiring justice is so complicated and socially unacceptable for women that they tend to forgo the injustices done against them.” — Mehar Inaam
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