The Local Government System of Pakistan: Participation, Representation and Empowerment of Women

Politics is the field where women have been ignored since ancient times, due to the political notions determined by ideological beliefs and cultural norms. Among the United Nations’ measures remove gender inequalities, includes recommendation for reserving 30 per cent seats for women in legislatures. In Pakistan, this remarkable change was effected in 2000, as it reserved 33 percent seats for women at the local government and 17 per cent at the Provincial/National Assemblies and the Senate level, so about 40,000 women entered in local bodies throughout the country in 2000-01, and almost 55,000 women contested local government in 2005. Despite these developments, women are still facing challenges that deter the full realization of their roles as active interlocutors of policy-making. Keeping in view these aspects, this paper has analyzed the local government, focusing on women, exploring whether the increasing number of women in legislatures is merely a numerical strength, or is empowering them, too, Whether they are the ‘subjects of change’ or the ‘agents of change.’ It is calculated that administrative structures of local government is male-dominated, whereas women are trying to ensure their position, however, gendered barriers remain unbroken

The Changing Roles and Status of Women in Cholistan, Pakistan

Social change is a natural and constant phenomenon. It also modifies function of social institutions with passage of time. Cholistan, a desert of the south west Asia, is socially and economically backward area lacking basic amenities of life. Despite of its aloofness, it has witnessed change in socio-economic roles of women. The present study “The Changing Roles and Status of Women in Cholistan, Pakistan" was designed to investigate socio economic roles of women and assess the social change in their way of life for the last over four decades. For this purpose, ethno-methodology was employed selecting 50 elderly women through experience survey and purposive sampling method. Protracted qualitative interviews and participants‟ observation technique were used for data collection. Findings showed that women in Cholistan were playing significant role in functioning of social institutions such as marriage, family, religion, economy, education and health but neither visible nor counted. As a family member, they were performing multifaceted jobs but household decision making rested in the hands of men. Marriage decision making rested with the elderly men of the family and clan. Their role was expanding from household chores to livestock care and wage labourer. They were contributing in economic activities without becoming owner of wealth and property. Women were dependent on men for knowledge and practice of religion. Women were informally educating next generation about survival skills in Cholistan and now few were getting education themselves unlike forty years back. In case of health, still problems were faced by them and were mostly dependent on home based remedies, shrines, spiritual healing and holy saying. The major change for them was the introduction of the new reproductive health facilities to some extent but they could not avail them due to cultural impediments and conservatism. The study concluded that women were living under miserable conditions due to non-recognition of their role and poor social status but rays of hope of their development also shine. With increased awareness, women were getting empowered in Cholistan as compared to past. The study suggested that availability of social services through social institutions can induce major changes in the lives of women in the Cholistan and this Pakistani experience can be a harbinger for other countries against the myth of desertification.