Dawn: For women, taking back the wheel has always been a herculean task.
In neighbouring India, for instance, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the female labour force participation fell from 34 per cent in 1999 to 27 per cent in 2011 by seven percentage points, despite the economy growing significantly. India has failed to integrate women into the labour force and one of the major reasons given by analysts is, piety.
In Pakistan, the situation is much more dire. Pakistan’s female economic activity rate lags behind at 15.8 per cent (Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2014). It is almost as if Pakistani women were filed in the non-asset category; a relic stowed away in the basement.
When it comes to piety as a factor in keeping women out of the economic pie, the notion goes something like this: the most pious woman is the least seen one – public space is a no-no.
Public transport is an even bigger no-no.
As families struggle to keep afloat financially and are forced to educate and get women to work, there is a seeming clash between necessity and the false notion. The result: women are stripped of their dignity, going from place A to B.
In Pakistan, seeing a woman on a Vespa scooter as one often does in the cities of India, is an anomaly – a fact that any sane Pakistani should shudder to think of (as opposed to, say, the number of nuclear weapons we have less or more of than India).
Categories: Anti-Islam Attitude, Asia, Behaviour, Double Standard, Pakistan, Women Rights, Women's right