GENDER DISCRIMINATION
By: Fartashia Sheikh
Tags: Domestic Violence, Gender Inequality, Womens Rights, Gender Discrimination, Social Issues

GENDER DISCRIMINATION

The prejudicial system of inequality rose from about 800 years ago. The cultural practice of valuing men over women was entrenched in middle eastern societies in pre historic times, even before the written records emerged. Men of the society were over represented, had power and dominated women and were habituated to violence. The drastic situations women have to go through their everyday life in every field due to cultural and religious norms. Pakistan is a developing country confronting almost every problem, related to illiteracy, poverty, joblessness etc. Women in our country is consigned to secondary role, with being comprise of half of the population in Pakistan but still they suffer maltreatment in the hands of the men of this society. Nearly 70–90% of women endure domestic violence. They are not acknowledged for their hardships and contribution in the production. Their lives are neglected and ignored by society’s attitudes and treated as trash. Women are denied to their own identity, they are not allowed to make their independent decisions. Pakistani women are submissive to men and viewed as a property. They are considered as a commodity possessed by their father or their husbands. Women are manipulated that the work they do at their homes is a duty and not worthy of any reward. Whereas the work done by men is considered valuable with social and economic value. In Pakistan domestic violence is a private matter which is not any concern of courts, with no intervention of family and friends. Women are ignorant that violence is a crime. The spousal mistreatment includes mental, sexual, physical, psychological and emotional abuse. This manhandling is not considered a sin unless it’s a severe type of murder, either driving a woman to the point of suicide or severe injuries are endured (burning women in many cases). No one assess this or raise voice over this rough treatment. Women are threatened to be silent. Due to this social taboo and lack of family support for shelter women keep their mouths close and bide with this throughout their life. Only a few women come forward to report it to higher authorities. The status of women in Pakistan is better in urban areas as compared to the rural areas.

We need gender balance in our country to reduce gender discrimination against the females of our society and give them equal chances in every field and in this society. The government of Pakistan needs to work up on their laws constituted of ensuring equal rights of citizens and equal chances of employment of both sexes. Women should be informed and educated about their rights and privileges. Mass awareness campaign on gender discrimination should be created. NGOs should come forward and shed some light upon the cases of gender discrimination and support victimized women to get justice. Jurisdiction should inspect and investigate gender discrimination in workforce. Proper laws should be made and strict actions should be taken against the exploiters of women rights. Together all the forces in power, of our country should come forward and remove women from their downgrading status and uplift them in our society.