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.