women in Pakistan – Pakistan Gender News

April 19, 2015April 20, 2015

‘Vast majority of Pak women ignorant of their business aptitude’

Karachi: Around 95 percent of the educated women in Pakistan were unaware of their business abilities and entrepreneurial skills, which is not only hurting their own socioeconomic status, but also affecting the entire national economy too.

This was the notion aired at the annual meeting of Women Entrepreneurs Association held here on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, the association’s president, Anum Kamran, stated that through e-commerce, educated women of the country could make a big difference, particularly in business fields such as fashion designing and apparel making.

“E-commerce offers equal opportunities to our women in Pakistan. Many women have been using this wonderful medium to promote their business and trading objectives smartly,” she mentioned.

Anum was of the view that there was no glass ceiling for those hardworking women who want to make a real impact in the male-dominated business world.

Sara Ahmed, the association’s secretary, emphasised, “Pakistani women are now no more willing to be portrayed as worthless souls as they are brave enough to challenge the status quo with their own efforts and initiatives.

“No doubt, they still have a long way to go, as far as their full socioeconomic development is concerned, but overall things have really started to change for Pakistani women all in all.”

The News

March 20, 2015March 20, 2015

Activists highlight challenges faced by working women

ISLAMABAD: People from all walks of life on Thursday highlighted the challenges faced by working women in different sectors of the society organised by the by AASS Foundation.

Speaking at the seminar, “Challenges to working Women in Pakistan,” Nasreen Azhar from HRCP highlighted that a majority of females in Pakistan are engaged in the agricultural sector and domestic work but there is no acknowledgment or financial reward to their services.

“A lot needs to be done in policy and legislation to safeguard their rights.”

Fouzia Saeed from Lok Virsa stressed on need of women empowerment. She added that this is a big effort by AASS Foundation to empower sensitise Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s) on the need to address challenges to working women. “In our society women are facing problems from home based violence to external harassment and CSO’s need to change attitudes of society toward working women.”

Shad Begum, a social worker from Lower Dir, highlighted the issues of females from FATA that are limited work opportunities for females and even if there is any place for them, women are being sexually harassed. She added that they are making committees for their protection and rights of working women.

Taking the discussion forward women’s rights activist Qamar Naseem highlighted the issues of women in K-P especially in IDP camps where women are harassed and mistreated.

Uzma Osho, Chairperson AASS Foundation stressed that the government and civil society organisations should work together for the development and implementation of gender policy in their respective sectors to improve working conditions. She concluded that a nation is empowered, only when its women are empowered.

Express Tribune

January 19, 2015

Malala Fund purchases land for girls college

SHANGLA: The Malala Fund has purchased 20 kanals of land to set up a girls college in Barkana, which is Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai’s native village in Shangla.

A meeting was held on Sunday at a school in Shangla to discuss the institute’s construction. Speaking on the occasion, Malala Fund’s coordinator Mubashir Hassan confirmed that land had been purchased in the village and said construction work on the project would begin soon.

“The institution will provide the opportunity for underprivileged children to receive free education,” he said. The coordinator added the college will accommodate 200 students.

According to Hassan, land has been purchased for the project with the consent of elders.

A large number of elders who attended the meeting lauded the decision to establish a college in the district.

Express Tribune

January 15, 2015

SHC upholds girls’ will in forced marriage case

By Z Ali

HYDERABAD: The controversy surrounding the forced conversion and subsequent marriages of two underage Hindu girls may remain a mystery. Several contradictions in the claims and counter-claims surfaced as the case was being heard at the Sindh High Court Hyderabad bench on Monday.

One of the girls, Mavi Kohli, affirmed her parent’s stance of her abduction, forced marriage and conversion. The other girl, Badal Kohli, however denied any coercion in her marriage and acceptance of Islam. Both were allegedly kidnapped from their katcha homes in Arain village, Badin district, by local influential landlords in the last week of November. But the Arains claim otherwise.

The parents of Mavi, who was renamed as Hameeda after her conversion, claimed her age was 13 years. However, the court-ordered medical report placed her age between 16 to 17 years. Badal, alias Zeenat, is older.

The SHC order, issued by Justice Azizur Rehman, also reflected the wishes of both the girls against what were the contention of their parents and husbands. Mavi deposed that she was kidnapped, converted and was married at gunpoint to 62-year-old Mir Muhammad Arain. But her elder relative, Badal, stated that she willfully converted and married 26-year-old Khamiso Arain. The court ordered Mavi to go with her parents and Badal with her husband.

The controversy began soon after their alleged abduction when Veenjho Kohli and Shambho Kohli registered FIRs against the Arains at Tando Ghulab Laghari Police Station. The Kohlis also mobilised social support from among their community to retrieve their girls.

The All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat condemned the incident and demanded justice.

A team of over half a dozen Hindu lawyers reportedly provided voluntary services to fight the case on behalf of the Kohlis, who were the respondents in the case.

The separate, yet simultaneous, petitions were filed on December 1, 2014, by Khamiso and Mir Muhammad who accused the Kohlis of harassment and forced attempts to retrieve the girls.

“We have been working as peasants of these influential people for the last several decades,” said Veenjho. “They keep exploiting us one way or other.”

The stance of Shambho, Badal’s father, was the same as Mavi, though his daughter denied the Kohlis’ accusations. “My daughter has given her statement [in the court] under duress. She has been threatened with dire consequences against her and her family,” he had claimed, while speaking to the media after the last hearing on December 18, 2014.

At the last hearing, Badal was allowed to live with her husband. Justice Zafar Ali Rajput, who heard the case, ordered Mavi to stay at Darul Aman until the judgment.

However, Mavi prayed to the court to let her live with her parents. A surety of Rs500,000 was later submitted by her father to take her home.

For his part, Khamiso, claimed that his wife, Badal and Mavi, had both converted to Islam of their own free will. Mavi was married to an older man because no other person was willing to keep her at their home fearing backlash from the family, he added.

Express Tribune

January 6, 2015

Gender discrimination

By: Anum Afzal

RAWALPINDI: I would like to raise an important issue through your newspaper which has long been troubling working women. About 80 per cent of working and university-going women use public transport in Rawalpindi on a daily basis. The trouble that they face every single day is the continuous refusal of van and bus conductors to let women board the vehicles. It is understandable on their part, as more men use public transport than women, but women are also an important part of our working population and need transport regularly. The refusal of conductors causes women to be late for work and classes.

Indeed, seats for women are reserved in front of public transport vehicles and behind the driver’s seat, but these are filled with men in the mornings and evenings, and there seem to be no laws to curtail this blatant encroachment of women’s rights. The Metro Bus project in Rawalpindi is appreciable in this regard but there is still time left in its completion and inauguration. Till then, some educated and honest officer of the Rawalpindi Transport Authority should look into the matter and resolve this problem for thousands of women of Rawalpindi. There needs to be widespread recognition that utilising public services is a basic right for women just as much as for men and that that women are an integral part of the workforce too.

Express Tribune