Photo of Benazir Bhutto, the first female prime minister of Pakistan.
Gender Inequality Index[1]
Value
0.534(2021)
Rank
135th out of 191
Global Gender Gap Index[2]
Value
0.575 (2023)
Rank
142th out of 146 (2023)
Women in Pakistan make up 48.76% of the population according to the 2017 census of Pakistan.[3] Women in Pakistan have played an important role throughout Pakistan's history[4] and they are allowed to vote in elections since 1956.[5] In Pakistan, women have held high offices including that of the Prime Minister, Speaker of the National Assembly, Leader of the Opposition, as well as federal ministers, judges,[6] and serving commissioned posts in the armed forces, with Lieutenant General Nigar Johar attaining the highest military post for a woman.[7][8] Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as the first woman Prime Minister of Pakistan on 2 December 1988.
The status of women in Pakistan differs considerably across classes, regions and the rural/urban divide due to the uneven socioeconomic development and the impact of tribal and feudal social formations on lives of women in Pakistan. Gender Concerns International reports that the overall women's rights in Pakistan have improved with increasing number of women being educated and literate.[9][10][11][12]
However, Pakistan does face issues where woman are kept behind in the field of education. This is also associated with low government funding,[13] fewer schools and colleges for women, and a low enrollment rate of women in educational institutions due to lack of awareness and women's rights in certain areas.[14][15] Cases of rape, honor killing, murder, and forced marriages in backward areas are also reported.[14][16][17][18] All these issues are related to constraints due to a lack of education, poverty, a judicial system of Pakistan that is disrupted, the negligence of government authorities to implement laws[19][20] and widespread underperformance of law enforcement agencies such as the Police.[21][22]
^"Human Development Report 2021/2022" (PDF). HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTS. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^"Global Gender Gap Report 2023". Retrieved 7 March 2023.
^"Population census 2017: Men outnumber women in Pakistan". Samaa Tv. 25 August 2017.
^"Powerful women of the Pakistan Movement". 14 August 2014.
^"The rising voices of women in Pakistan". National Geography. 6 February 2019. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019.
^Women Judges in the Muslim World: A Comparative Study of Discourse and Practice. BRILL. 30 March 2017. ISBN 978-90-04-34220-0.
^Karen O'Connor (18 August 2010). Gender and Women's Leadership: A Reference Handbook. SAGE. pp. 382–. ISBN 978-1-4129-6083-0.
^Laura Sjoberg (17 July 2014). Gender, War, and Conflict. Wiley. pp. 7–. ISBN 978-0-7456-8467-3.
^"The Situation of Women in Pakistan". Retrieved 25 June 2020.
^Mariam S. Pal (2000). Women in Pakistan: Country Briefing Paper(PDF). Asian Development Bank. ISBN 978-971-561-297-5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2014.
^"Pakistan: Status of Women & the Women's Movement". Womenshistory.about.com. 28 July 2001. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
^"JPMA – Journal of Pakistan Medical Association". jpma.org.pk. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
^"Financing Education in Pakistan" (PDF).
^ ab""Shall I Feed My Daughter, or Educate Her?"". Human Rights Watch. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
^"Critical Analysis of the Problems of Education in Pakistan" (PDF).
^"11 rape incidents reported in Pakistan every day, official statistics reveal". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
^"Pakistan: Two men sentenced to death for motorway rape". BBC News. 20 March 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
^"Child, early and forced marriages". The Express Tribune. 3 January 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
^"Absence of laws to ensure women's rights is not the problem; failure to implement existing ones is". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
^Adil, Hafsa. "Pakistan's laws fail to check violence against women". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
^Ghumman, Faisal Ali (4 October 2014). "'Declining' morale hits police performance". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
^Akhtar, Jawaid (30 May 2020). "Police performance". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
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47%. Marriage inPakistan Divorce in India Hindu marriage laws inPakistan Divorce in Islam WomeninPakistanWomen related laws inPakistan Munir Mohsina...
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