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Last updated December 2018

mmahindro@yahoo.com

Status of Woman in the international perspective,

in Islam, and Pakistan
Humankind is inclined to exploit the weaker segments of the society world around,
whether it is womenfolk, illiterate/ignorant masses, or nations. The whole colonial era, slavery,
apartheid and segregation laws and discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or color all bear
witness to it.
Woman by virtue of its biological weakness has been subjected to and still being a victim
of extreme maltreatment in many parts of the world. She is more vulnerable in the
underdeveloped world than the developed one. However, as regards the wage difference she is
still being discriminated against the menfolk even in most of the developed countries.
Women's suffrage - the right of women to vote – has been achieved at various times in
countries throughout the world. For instance, Australia was the first country in the modern world
to enable women to vote at federal elections and permitted to stand for election to the Australian
Parliament in1902. American women got right to vote in 1920. The United Kingdom gave this
right to vote to all women over the age of 21 on equal terms with men in 1928. In Saudi Arabia,
women were first allowed to vote in 2015 in the municipal elections.
Offenses committed against her are sexual assaults/harassments, acid throwing, wage
discrimination, non-payment or less payment of her share in legacy, indifference to her consent
in marriage, and maltreatment for giving birth to female babies in the underdeveloped world.
However, she is comparatively more protected in the developed world and the
underdeveloped if she happens to be educated and financially independent. The woman in the
west got her rights with when she had access to education. The overall high literacy created a
socio-cultural environment in which human dignity and respect was acknowledged as inherent
right of every human being just being a human being in total disregard to variation in cast,
colour, and sex. Law was enacted and implemented to abolish all such discriminations and
segregations. This helped a lot in the emancipation of woman from the undue clutched of the
uncivilized norms.
Why is she better off in the West?
1. There is no discrimination between girl education and boy education
2. More financial independence
3. Women protection laws
4. Free quality education up to secondary level
5. Logic/reasoning having precedence over the conventional norms
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6. Developing of the mindset of ‘focusing on taking care of the weaker segments of the
society, i.e., people with disabilities, pregnant women and women with kids, senior
citizens, and pedestrians.’
7. It was the impact of education which prompted Rosa Parks, a black lady not to surrender
her seat for a white passenger in 1955, and finally compelling the supreme court of the
United States in 1956 to abolish the segregation law.

It is a matter of common observation that womenfolk notably in our poor and illiterate
classes are not receiving their due share of respect, dignity, and freedom of choice via a viz the
menfolk. Woman throughout the pages of history mostly has been considered a liability. Not to
talk of the Islamic world only even in India in many families birth of a girl is not a welcoming
feature as they have to spend on them in the form of dowry and legacy and then hand over to
some other family. However, this situation is comparatively better in the educated and elite
classes, and also in western societies.

As a matter of fact, weaker segments everywhere whether individuals, societies, or

nations/states are prone to become a victim of exploitation in the hands of powerful. Human
history testifies this crude fact. It has been rightly said that this is a world where only fittest
survive. With the exception of educationally advanced nations, women folk is not enjoying their
due rights. Some scholars believe that the low status of women in some parts of Pakistan is due
to the legacy of Hindu culture which considers women as ‘born to serve menfolk”. The situation
is, however, changing with the exposure of womenfolk to education and awareness of their rights
through media.

Though Pakistan is an Islamic country but on this subject, it has yet to give way to Islamic
principles of fair play, and Quranic injunctions with respect to their share in the legacy of their
father as in most of the cases they are deprived of their right. Sometimes she is also married
against her wish. However, the status of women in Pakistan is different in different regions,
rural/urban setups and in different socioeconomic development levels, and on account of tribal
and feudal impacts. The women's situation is one of systemic gender subordination with respect
to men. Although efforts have been made and are being made to accord due respect to women
both from the government side and by the civil society but still it requires a lot to be done in this
regard.

All this happens in the face of the women’s extremely high contribution for the socio-
economic development of the society in all her different roles like that of mother, wife, daughter,
and sister even if she is not a professional. Unfortunately, their active economic role played
remains unreported in the census and surveys particularly the job done by them in the
agricultural fields and in raising of livestock including the cottage industry in rural areas. They
play this role in addition to the raising of children and looking after the kitchen and husband.
This all happens in the face of Pakistan’s constitution which places no constraints on female
education and their participation in government jobs rather mandatory quota has been fixed for
most of the jobs for women to ease their participation and role in the government sector. They
have also been encouraged in the Parliament and politics to play their role. This all bear witness
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that if there is low female literacy level and urban professional engagements that id due to
prevailing of undue certain socio-religious mindsets and trends of the society.

The Socio-Religious mindsets:

The female literacy percentage in Pakistan is around 40 as compared to the males which is 68.
This along with other things speaks for the low percentage of women participation in the society
outside the family. The reason for this low percentage of girl education is that still most of our
rural families prefer girls to acquire only basic home management skills instead of education.
This is more common in KPK, Sindh and Baluchistan provinces. In these societies and regions
still, there is a long-lived socio-cultural mindset, that since women have to play only
reproductive role and cooking of meals within the four walls of the home, therefore, there is no
need to educate them and send them to the job.

However, as discussed women in urban areas particularly in the big cities enjoy a far more
privileged status and lifestyle than their counterpart in the rural poor communities. In most of the
villages non-existence of educational facilities particularly in secondary schooling also
discourage girl education after primary education hence leaving them no choice except to do the
household and wait for the marriage.

Women Health:
The health wise status of women particularly in rural Pakistan is one of the worst. This is on
account of food distribution bias in favour of a male child leading nutritional deficiencies in the
female children. Early marriages of girls, excessive childbearing sometimes in search of a male
child coupled with illiteracy adversely affect the health of women. According to men estimate
around 40% of these ill fed women in Pakistan are anemic. The neglect of female child also leads
to higher female infant mortality rate than that of male children. This criminal negligence is due
to biased treatment of female infants in the backward areas. The maternal mortality rate is also
high as about 80% of women are not attended by trained nurses during delivery.

Though the government has taken steps to address the gender imbalance including the
community-based program of Lady Health Workers, to provide primary health care and family
planning to women at the grassroots level but still a lot of is required to be done.

Crimes against women:

Crime against women is also a significant problem in Pakistan. Rape and sexual harassment
are the most important but underreported due to shame attached to these crimes. A large number
of women in police custody are also subjected to sexual violence. There are acid throwing cases
as well. Women’s trafficking is also on the rise in Pakistan. It has also been observed that
women from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and India are brought to Pakistan and sold.
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Manhandling and humiliation of women due to fewer dowries is common in Pakistan.

Domestic violence against women in the form of beating, torture, and mutilation are also not less
frequent.

Child marriage/ (Vani):

Although child marriage under the age of 16 is illegal in Pakistan yet this is practiced.
Vani is a child marriage custom followed in tribal areas and in areas of Southern Punjab under
which young girls irrespective of their age are forcibly married to resolve tribal feuds.

Watta satta:

Watta Satta is a custom in which brides are exchanged between two families. To marry
your son, you also marry your daughter in return in the same family. In most of such cases, girls
are forced to marry against their wishes. Subsequently in case of any dispute between the
families divorce of both the brides takes place simultaneously, in most of the cases for no fault
on their part.
Honor killings (‘Karo Kari’):
This is the summary killing of a person suspected of having an illicit relationship. This is
practiced in some parts of Sindh and Baluchistan. Many cases of honor killings have also been
reported against women who marry against their family's wishes or who have been raped.

Marriage to Quran:

The marriage of women to the Quran is prevalent in some parts of Sindh among the landlord
families just for the reason that the share of land of their daughters and sisters does not move out
of the family.

The question is why the woman was subjected to this discrimination in history? Does
Islam prohibit any one of the above points? If not where the fault lies? Why the condition of
women is equally bad in the non-Muslim underdeveloped world including India? Why the same
has improved a lot in South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Turkey, and Indonesia?
The answer is that it was overall literacy, particularly the female literacy which happened to
be instrumental in emancipating woman from the sinister clutches of exploitation and her
degradation the world around.

Status of women in Islam:

The role and status of the woman have always remained controversial throughout the ages.
Different religions and civilizations accorded different status to women. In most of the ancient
cultures, the woman was considered a chattel, marketable and transferable to others. Hindu
religion kept her deprived of the right of inheritance and consent in marriage. Even in 18th
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century Europe, she was not given right to vote. In pagan Arabs, before the advent of Islam, the
very birth of a daughter was a source of disgrace and shame for the parents and heinous crime of
female infanticide was in vogue in some of the tribes. In the Quranic words, “when the news is
brought to one of them about the birth of a daughter, his face darkens and is filled with inward
grief! With shame does he hide himself from his people, because of the bad news he has had!
Shell he retain in on contempt, or bury it in the soil? (XVI- 58-59). This was the situation when
Islam came to the rescue of a woman and proclaimed, “Allah has created you from a single soul;
from it, its mate and spread too many men and women from it.” Thus negated all inequalities due
to sex, cast, color, and creed. It spoke for the equality of both men and women before Allah
regarding their religious duties and deeds done in this world. This was a declaration in plain
terms that in essential human dignity and fundamental rights, all human beings of whatever sex,
race or nationality stand on equal footings and must enjoy fundamental human rights, because
they all ultimately spring from the same single source. This all speaks why Islam conferred on
her the right of inheritance, consent in marriage, and privilege to seek ‘Khula’ in extraordinary
circumstances.

Islam ordained to be kind to daughters and wives. In prophets (SAW) words, “A man on
whom only daughters are born, and he brings them up carefully, they will become covering for
their father against hell.”

Women Protection Bill:

The women protection bill 2006 has taken into account the excesses being done against the
womenfolk. The bill removes the right of the police to detain people suspected of having sex
outside the marital bond; instead, it requires a formal accusation in court.

The bill further declares “forcing of a woman into a marriage for settling a dispute to be a
non- bailable offense, bartering a woman in such a way to be punishable by three to five years
imprisonment and a fine of Rs.0.5 million, depriving a woman of her inheritance can lead to
imprisonment of between five and 10 years or a fine of Rs1 million or both, forced marriages
(other than those for settling disputes) to be punishable by between three and 10 years
imprisonment and a fine of Rs0.5 million, a forcing a woman to “marry” the Holy Quran to
result in a jail term of three to seven years and a fine of Rs0.5 million.

However society’s objection is still there that the spirit of the law in favor of women is not
being taken care of properly by the law enforcing agencies, and the courts also consume a long
time to dispose of such sensitive issues, and this fair sex is still mostly in the clutches of stronger
sex and the corrupt government functionaries including her own fathers and brothers who keep
them deprived of their due share in the property and legacy.

Last word:
If the women folk in the backward areas of Pakistan is not enjoying its due rights as laid
down in the Islamic principles the most important reason of the same is its illiteracy and non-
adherence to the Islamic values of the stronger sex, i.e., menfolk. If the women folk is
comparatively enjoying better living conditions in the North Punjab and other urban areas of
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Pakistan that is for the reason that men folk in that part of the country itself send their girls to
schools and colleges and believe in developing them as educated mothers, wives, and also to
stand on their feet financially in odd days. Even in the backward areas, the condition of women
is changing now as they are becoming more and more aware of their rights, and also have started
collecting courage to voice for the same. Of course, the credit goes to media, increasing female
literacy rate, and the role played by the civil society.

One thing is sure that the only single most crucial factor to emancipate the women in
Pakistan would be its ‘Education.’ Since girl education is taking roots in the society over time,
therefore, one should be quite optimistic in witnessing the women condition significantly
improved in the days to come.

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