The Status Of Women In Pakistan

The Status Of Women In Pakistan 1.1 Demographic Transition and Status of Women in Pakistan Womens empowerment has more than one component: their right to make a decision; their access to opportunities and resources; authority to be in charge of their own lives, both inside and outside the home. Female empowerment has many dimensions. It includes access to knowledge, possession of social and economic resources and more autonomy in political and economic decision-making processes. All these components and dimensions of female empowerment are interrelated and an alteration in one component will not bring a huge transformation unless all change. If females have access to the productivity of men, then both genders can work simultaneously towards the betterment of the country, and this will lead to a sustainable way out of poverty. Therefore, women should get equal work opportunities. But women have greater challenges, as they do not get the same economic opportunities as men do. They do not get access to the decent working condition and lag behind men in decision making. In Pakistan, women do not has proper identities, as she is owned by her male peers. Their integrity and health are often beyond their own control. They are taken as invisible, underserved and undernourished. The culture of Pakistan is greatly patriarchal, there are many old and conservative traditions of women having a subservient and subordinate role. Decisions for female individuals are made by men in her family, especially in under-developed and distant regions. In Pakistan, specific religious beliefs are deeply rooted in citizens beliefs, on which many traditions and social perspective surfaces. Gender empowerment means that females ought to gain equality under the law and it must be implemented and enforced. Womens empowerment essentially contains legal fairness, equal access to education and practical exercise, females management at the national level, positive action for jobs with one and the same pay, and a gender-sensitive justice system. 1.2 Factors Effecting Women Empowerment In Pakistan Women consist of more than 50 percent of population in Pakistan and to deprive this half population of empowerment is to deprive our economy of growth. Women empowerment will not only result in the empowerment of women but also the economic well-being of the country. The development of the country also should result in equitable distribution of development benefits especially to the women sector. Economically empower women have more autonomy and resultantly this can transform their children and family lives. As she is a pivot about which entire family unit revolve, therefore an economically enriched woman has a constructive impact on the future generation. Countries who dont take benefit of its full population and ignores half of it, it is actually misallocating its resources, which will only lead to the reducing their development potential. All countries should focus on its weakness and learn from more successful countries. It should also set up such policies which take advantage of the whole population, as in both female and male. As successful countries are the one who recognize the potential in the women force as well for development. Throughout the world, there is not a single country which can boast of gender equality and full women empowerment. Women still out there face discrimination and are lagging behind in one way or the other. Gender equality in two critical sections is very important like economic and political empowerment of women. There is improvement in health and education with the advent of technology and as globally economies are developing but yet there is a long way to go as women are still very behind men especially in decision making and income earning. With the past trend it is quiet visible women are actively participating in to take charge of their own lives and this is in fact effecting the communities and society as a whole. But there is a big problem as women are not consistent class, they vary by race culture, society, brought up and opportunity, thus these factors also plays an important part in the disparity of women as these factors affect the behavior of society members. The objective of this research is to find out what political and economic determinants effect the women empowerment especially in Pakistan. The main goal is to find out what past variables have been selected and to learn from them and find new determinants. 1.3 Incidence and The Extent Women Empowerment In Pakistan As Pakistan is a growing and developing country and for the past few years its condition is not much improving, this in act is further affecting the condition of women. As more and more people are effected and thus poverty is increasing. Thus women have to strive hard to contribute to the family income, so that their family is at least above poverty line In Pakistan, apparently through the perspective of Islam this country says it gives equal right to both men and women but there is another side to the picture. Women constitute a small portion in decision making and they contribute very less o the development of the country as there labor force participation with respect to men is very less. The status of women in this country represents the traditions and the social customs, which led women to this condition. Women are always underprivileged then man in Pakistan, they get less education, food, decision making and health. As it is consider men are the lords of women, and women are deprived from their basic rights. Women destiny is controlled by men. This is not the case in Pakistan only but also in many countries men are considered superior than women. To achieve development, we have to convert our weakness to strengths. It is also known that increase women participation in the labor force will benefit the growth and resources can be distributed more easily to disadvantaged people. Thus women should get decent work, social protection and voice at work. As most of the time women are subjugated to lower wages than men and their wages have barely increased over time and they are offered low skilled, low paid atypical jobs, mainly performed from home. One of the greatest achievements in Pakistan, during the last decade has been the increasing proportion of women in the labor force, enabling women all over the country to use their potential in the labor market and to achieve economic independence. But yet we still have a long way to go. From Global perspective higher percentage of female are working in the developed countries than ever before, yet at the identical time these women continuing raise children to bear new burdens. But these women face tradeoffs as it will be difficult to find good demanding jobs with children to look after too as well. That is why there is not equal opportunity for men and women. Not only the family but also the society, government and the whole nation will benefit from the empowerment of women. Versatile aspects contribute to the passive functions played by women in the Pakistan Society. Great emphasis has been laid on removing gender inequality and improving women empowerment as Millennium Developmental Goal, resultantly many efforts have been initiated by the Government and NGOs in Pakistan on this issue According to (Pakistan employment trends for women) , international Labor Organization (ILO), has the objective of the promotion of opportunities for women and men to obtain productive employment is also the overall objective of the four fundamental ILO Conventions stressing gender equality cover: (1) equal remuneration (2) non-discrimination in employment and occupation, (3) workers with family responsibilities and (4) maternity protection. The Millennium Development Goals that emerged from the UN Millennium Declaration of September 2000 are specific measurable targets, including the one for reducing the extreme poverty that still grips more than 1 billion of the worlds people by 2015. Essential to this promise are the MDGs interrelated to educational results: (1) Guarantee that all youngsters complete primary education by 2015. (2) Remove gender inequalities in primary and secondary education. By 2006, most countries have already fallen well behind the necessary targets to meet these goals (Millennium Development Goal, 2006). As stated in millennium development goal 3 the promotion of gender equality and empowerment is fundamental to achieving the remaining MDGs .Likewise, there is evidence that addressing gender issues benefits individuals and families, workers and employers, society and national economies. Improving womens wages and earnings has been identified as a key element in tackling poverty and achieving the MDGs. Yet there are Country specific activities to promote gender equality and decent work as in Pakistans constitution ensures all fundamental human rights and guarantees equal employment opportunities for men and women. Existing labor legislations do not discriminate against anyone on the basis of sex, but women are not allowed to work in a few areas for health and safety reasons, but the society as a whole plays a big part. the traditions of Pakistan forces women to sit at home and look after the children only , whether there husband give them money or not ,. Society or community does not approve females going out and raising voices for their rights. They also disapprove females working outside their homes. It is consider the work of women juts to look after their families. So to change this whole perceptive media is playing a big part but the government also needs to be active. As recently the Government initiated a number of activities to promote gender equality at the heart of decent work and to achieve MDG target calling for full and productive employment and decent work for all including women and young people. Those activities range from gender Sensitive revisions of constitutional and legal provisions to the establishment of new policy frameworks that help to accomplish the target. Therefore, the elevation of privileges of women and men in the domain of work and to achieve gender equality are reflected in a number of national development frameworks and policy documents including the Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF) for 2005-10, the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and documents exclusively relating to labor markets such as the 2002 Labor Policy and the 2006 Labor Protection Policy. Pakistans Decent Work Country Program (DWCP) spells out the main strategy and plan of action to promote the creation of decent work with gender equality as a cross cutting theme. Overview of existing national policies and development frameworks that stress gender equality and decent work in the country. (Haq) 1.4 Managerial and Academic concerns My research will highlight the key determinants of women empowerment in Pakistan. As this issue is not only prevalent in Pakistan but is a global issue. as It is very important to conduct a research on determinants of women empowerment because it will stress on women troubles and bring them in to attention and it can facilitates and direct the policy makers to make such an intervention in their area, that could enrich these females not only economically but also politically and financially so that they can make a difference in their children lives and their individual living environment .Consequently providing her the individual safety and self-respect that is her essential right. this research is will also help independent institutions like NGOs to reach out to economically and politically deprived women as The negligence of women in development process will be big loss for Pakistan as it will result in loss in human potential and ultimately effect national development. Academically, this research is very significant for the undergraduates as it will help them pinpoint the economic and political determinants which effect the women empowerment in Pakistan. Student will find this research more realistic and precise. As now more individuals are getting conscious of this issue, so more instructors and undergraduates are doing research on women empowerment. They will find this investigation more helpful. 1.6 Keywords and Definitions Empowerment Refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities (Ouellette) Womens empowerment refers to the ability of women to transform economic and social development when empowered to fully participate in the decisions that affect their lives through leadership training, coaching, consulting, and the provision of enabling tools for women to lead within their communities, regions, and countries (Wise earth) Economic and political Determinants An identifiable element in economic and political that affects that limits or defines a decision or condition. 1.7 Study Objectives This study is an attempt to find the determinants of women empowerment in Pakistan as women being the core element of development and in Pakistan it consists of more than half of the population. To study the impact of the Economic participation on women empowerment. To study the impact of the health on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Power over economic resources on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Microfinance on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Political empowerment on women empowerment. To study the impact of the Education attainment on women empowerment. To study the impact of the traditions on women empowerment. End notes With the advent of technology and progress in development, yet in this era women still lack behind men in power because even though a lot has been done for the empowerment of women but there is still a long way to go. Especially in Pakistan, the norms and tradition practiced are such that which suppresses the rights of female. Since independences of Pakistan, women have not gained freedom from these discriminating norms. Even though there has been a progress but this progress is very slow but to empower women not only our government but also society as a whole has to work very hard. LITERATURE REVIEW: Measuring women empowerment Empowerment is a multi-dimensional procedure that aids women to achieve power and control over their individual lives. Empowerment gives due right to women. Yet measurement of women empowerment is difficult and it is challenging to judge country level performance as there is difficulty in gathering diverse data. Based on the findings of, Womens Empowerment: Measuring Gender Gap, five important dimensions have been selected for the examination of women empowerment. Economic participation refers to contribution of females to workforce in quantitative terms. Economic opportunity is related to how much women are involved in the economy, beyond their mere presence as workers. This problem is concentrated in developed countries where women gain access to employment easily but they have little chances of upward mobility. Political empowerment means women have contribution in the decision making and can influence policy making. Educational attainment is very important as women can get the same opportunities as men do and it can be a big step for development purpose. Health and well-being is associated with how much females have access to suffici ent nutrition, healthcare and reproductive facilities. It is very difficult to measure each dimension in each country and to implement policy as each country has many other factors effecting its women empowerment. The GEM quantitatively measures the liberation of women on a country level. This indicator comprises of the share of inequality in control over earned economic resources, involvement in governmental decision-making and economic decision-making. This variable measure how much a power woman holds. Drawing upon Womens Empowerment: Measuring Gender Gap, a report on Taking action: achieving gender equality and empowering women, takes a step forward and elaborates further more on that there are three main domains. These three domains are interconnected, and alteration in every one of three is significant in accomplishing Goal 3. Women: Current Reality In a report by Augusto Lopez-Claros, it is mentioned that the past three decades have witnessed a progressively aggregate awareness of the necessity to invest in women through measures to increase political justice, social, financial and wider access to important social rights but it is argued that changes in women state is a very slow process, up till now a lot of work has been done but yet still the picture is depressing. It is not only the issue in male dominated society but also in developed country as well. A spotlight on deprived female is acceptable for numerous causes. Unfortunate female have the furthermost requirements. It is regularly stated that female outnumber male among the underprivileged. One more important report, Taking action: achieving gender equality and empowering women, further elaborated that poor women have greatest need; investment in them will produce greatest benefit. Further, investment in the adolescent girls is very crucial as they experience more disadvantage than boys. Plus with progress in education and health, yet poverty among women has increased even in the richest countries where womens labor force participation has grown, but the terms and conditions of their employment have not improved. According to Linda Mayoux, Women also help in poverty reduction, if they are given liberty to save with no interference and or they are offered with loan, these women can cater to the need of their house hold eventually reducing poverty. Microfinance has been fruitful in reaching poor women through inventive methods to address gender-specific restraints. According to a report Womens Control over Economic resources and access to financial Resources, including microfinance, 2009, it is obvious that microfinance has a constructive effect on income, but this income expansion has definite limits. As females are subjugated to unfair customs and practices which limits their activities. Females face constraints in gain access to financial services. From all these studies it can be assumed that in spite of numerous accomplishments in giving power to women still women empowerment are effected by many factors .women should be given equal opportunities not only in education, health, and political, economic but also socially as well. Society as a whole should be targeted where new changes, changes in lifestyle and thinking should be accepted. To empower women in Pakistan all these determinants should be taken into consideration. Increasing socialism, religious fundamentalism, and traditionalism are main limiting reasons for womens safety and liberty. other than that self-regulating groups like NGOs and other self-governing research and academic organization, have been very energetic in formulating policy documents, raising public responsiveness and encouraging for gender-sensitive strategies and activities at all stages in order to progress womens empowerment in Pakistan. Womens Economic Activity Economic participation refers to contribution of females to workforce in quantitative terms. Economic opportunity is related to how much women are involved in the economy, beyond their mere presence as workers. This problem is concentrated in developed countries where women gain access to employment easily but they have little chances of upward mobility. With the passage of time and despite considerable work done on women economic enrichment yet this is still time-consuming as due to many norms and practices women continue to be missing from many important decision-making opportunities which result in the determining the distribution of economic and financial resources and opportunity, that makes women more underprovided. Depriving women from economic resources makes a nation less productive resulting in negative economic consequences. Several social practices seem as ordinary from culture and religious perspective move women out of the main stream. Paid employment for women continues to expand slowly and remains meager in many countries including Pakistan. As the global financial crisis does not create problems for men but also for women. With men finding difficulty in recruitment as fewer jobs available due to recession thus, less jobs available for females as well. As females previously were offered less employment the men now with recent event they are less proffered and they are at huge disadvantage then men. They are getting more menial jobs and are given less wage jobs. To a great extent of work of females remains imperceptible, as most of the work done by them goes unaccounted and invisible The segment of women in salaried employment separate to the agricultural segment has amplified only slightly over the years, this shows that women are not getting work in productive jobs which can lead to development. According to (Oxaal, 1997) , with the shortage of jobs, a woman does not have any opportunity except for to accept these kinds of job. With that those women who are not allowed to leave their house for income are also at disadvantage , as their men after recession are losing jobs , even than they are not allowed by their females to also take the burden of earning income thus , females due to poverty get undernourished and malnutrition makes them unhealthy , which resultantly effect their families. Poverty, unemployment and lack of economic prosperity further strengthen this aggressiveness in rural areas the large amount of time women spend on housework and caring for family members means that they had little time to spend on employment and personal care. Since beginning women face a lot of constraint and these restraints replicate womens difficulty in education; lack of power and confidence and negotiating authority; as from their household they are misjudge which effects in low self-respect plus with comparatively high participation in part-time or transitory professions; leads to less employment for women and discrimination against them. Despite womens increased participation in the labor market, there has been no significant increase in the sharing of unpaid work, which affects womens employment choices. Access to Education The living conditions of women, their poverty and huge family household prevent them from gaining education. Since the beginning girls are required to work with their mothers to look after the whole family and do household chores this, therefore limits their time and energy to get involved in education. Issue of illiteracy is the main priority for women. As only educated women can access to economic and political sphere. According to (Medel-Anonuevo, 1993) , providing education to women will develop self-esteem and self-confidence; they will have knowledge of their health and well-being plus they will have the aptitude to make their own choices and negotiate; further this will increase the ladies attentiveness towards their civil rights. In addition will be able to provide skills for income generation and will participate in community/society more effectively and this will prepare them to be good women leaders. As according to the report Taking actions, educated females are more operative at refining their own well-being and family. They are better prepared to get the most advantage from prevailing facilities and chances and to generate alternative chances. In underprivileged countries, girls from their childhood are given domestic work; this handicaps them in terms of education. Gender inequality in rural location is even more noticeable at the phase of tertiary education. Girls from poor and rural Families face higher obstructions to education. Boys are always preferred over girls in education in each level from primary to tertiary. But directed public policy and governance actions can help overcome gender disparities. According to The Millennium Development Goals Report, 2009 policies like removing school fees and providing incentives for girls to attend school can alleviate financial pressures on households. Building schools close to distant communities and recruiting local female teachers can also constricted the gender gap in rural areas. A lot of work must be done to finish inequality and discrimination based on gender especially in schools .hard work must be done to enroll all children in to school, especially girls. And to make sure that they complete their studies up till tertiary level as this can lead to good productive jobs and high economic growth for the whole country. Barriers in the Political Domain Institutions: Since the independence of Pakistan, Pakistani governments has passed many laws for the rights of women but the change in women condition is still very slow with the passage of time. There is a huge gap between the policy making and practical work. An analysis by (JAHAN, 1996) stated that after freedom, leading Muslim women in Pakistan continued to support womens political liberation through lawful reforms. According to (Haq, Khadija Haq on Womens Political and Economic Empowerment in South Asia), government is starting to take steps to surge womens political contribution through the founding of quota systems at countrywide and local levels. Introducing quota systems is nonetheless only single step on the road to female political empowerment. We are still facing inherent male-controlled traditions and approaches that limit chances for womens participation in public life. Environment for womens political empowerment Less number of women, who attain decision-making places in a political sector dominated by men, will be unproductive in manipulating decisions as large majority is needed. Women are less represented in civil service, government and other public establishments and still massive gaps continue in education and job opportunities. At the identical period, women face legal restrictions that halt them from gaining equal access to property and inheritance. We can achieve gender equality by promoting women in politics. According to (Moser, 2007), throughout the world women are still disproportionately represented .They remain a very small minority at the center of political power. One significant approach to assisting womens empowerment is the elevation of the participation of females in politics it comprises of encouraging women in administration and national as well as supporting womens involvement in NGOs and womens movements. In government, women concentration in decision-making positions should be in social, law and justice ministries Women in Pakistan face a lot of stereotypes like women are considered as unsuitable for leadership positions; and all men contemplate that if women have political influence she must be all knowing. Ever since beginning women are disqualified from leadership roles, they are deprived of chances for leadership skills preparation. Domestic errands make it difficult for females to go for training or further studies as they solely do not have the essential hours for study. Thus they lack the talent and ability of political contribution. Most women are linked to a male political leader: as wife of an assassinated leader or daughter of an older, if not late, politician. While most women ultimately emanate into their own as leaders, it does not alter the fact that women, compared with men, have partial access to the support of political parties and males. People have different expectations of male and female leaders. As females are responsible for their family needs with their political career simultaneously. But men have only their careers to concentrate on. When women are elected, they are expected to be all-rounder and all-knowing and in their initial stage of political career, they are expected to make a strong constructive influence in altering the situation of women or talking critical issues such as poverty, health care and education within a small time from their election. According to report ISSUES IN WOMENS POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION,Unjustified and inequitable beliefs results in insufficiency of females to consider entering into politics. This diminishes the group of prospect women leaders who can be confronted, motivated, prepared, and developed for politics. Womens plea for representation is not to substitute mens power but to create places for both women and men to grow their potentials and foster a collaboration that can take on the tasks of the new millennium. Culture barriers Taking the argument in a new direction by a report on Guidelines on Womens Empowerment, states that social issue also plays major role in empowerment. In Pakistan, the girl is still differentiated from the boys from the birth, through her childhood, and into her womanhood. In the tribal fragments of Pakistan, native men are grasping more power through religion and tradition. Girls are considered socially weaker in a Pakistani culture that discriminates against them. In rural areas they observes violence, male violence against their mothers and against them thus from start this becomes a part of their life. Brothers also then participate in this violence against the girls in the family to show their manhood to peers and family male members. Male children become more violent when they grow up. Extreme poverty is a major factor that will impede the elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child .The state of extreme poverty is so severe that it leaves its victims inert to awareness, legal punishment or even religious obligations. The economic empowerment of girls and mothers is critical to the achieveme nt of equality. Females in Pakistan live in a domain, which is controlled by severe religious, family and tribal traditions. According to Zaheer Udin Babur, Pakistan, They are exposed to discrimination and viciousness on a daily basis .Islamic views are not properly interpreted , they are molded according to the views of men as Islamic views wrong interpretation results in females oppression physically, mentally and emotionally. Females in Pakistan are facing numerous methods of violence, discrimination and difference in nearly every part of life. Viciousness against womenfolk in many grounds is often not considered as a violation of civil rights but rather as a standard feature of lives of Pakistani people. They live in an atmosphere of fear, and their lives are guaranteed in exchange for obedience to social norms and traditions. Because of this fear and sense of being inferior, imposed by the traditional thoughts of a male dominated society, women are suffering immensely especially in their homes. The most abusive forms of violence being faced by women take place in their homes. A thesis by (Faridi, 2009) states that women are under the control of men as the decision about education, health, occupation, marriage and physical mobility are all made by her men folk from the selection of their dress to the selection of life partner is made by either her father or brother. Women especially in Pakistan are the property of their males and to give them empowerment they should be given their due right. Moreover, Segregation and veil as perceived by men folk ma The status of women in Pakistan The status of women in Pakistan Pakistani Society is highly patriarchal which is attributed to the age-old traditions of a subordinate role of women. Women constitute approximately half of the population in Pakistan. Gender relations in the country are based on two basic perceptions. First being the impression that woman are subordinate to men, and secondly that a mans honor depends upon the women of his family. Thus it is women duty to uphold the family honor. The disparities between men and women prevails in health, education, employment, income opportunities, control over assets and participation in the political process that make women less empowered as compared to men. There are many complicated aspects contributing to the submissive role played by the Pakistani women in the society, leading to a conservative society and to a vicious cycle of poverty under-nutrition and low level of education amongst Pakistani women. In order to ensure that women do not humiliate their families, society puts a limit on womens mobility and restricts her activities. For these reasons women live under purdah. Therefore women spend most of their lives within the boundaries of their homes. In many parts of the country other than in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and some other rich cities, it is considered shameless if womens mobility is not restricted. Moreover in Pakistan, working women poses a threat to male self-esteem and identity. Therefore women are mostly engaged in multiple home-based economic activities such as cooking, laundry, agricultural duties etc. and pays them very low wage. Not only are these tasks physically tough and demanding but they have robed girls of the opportunity to study. However, due to recent concern and emphasis on removing gender inequality and improving women empowerment as Millennium Developmental Goal, some efforts at social and official reform have been made to increase practical literacy of women, giving them more access to employment opportunities at all levels in the economy and promoting awareness of womens roles and status. The empowerment of women is one of the main issues in the development process for all the developing countries in the world. According to UNDPs Human Development Report, Gender Equality Measure (GEM) for South Asia shows the lowest value (0.235) among all the regions of the world. Furthermore, as per Gender development Index (GDI), Pakistan has been noted the poorest (0.179) among South Asian Countries where the average index is 0.226 (MHHDC, 2005). According to UNDP report of 2007-08, the HDI for Pakistan is 0.551, which ranks Pakistan on 136 out of 177 countries. Elements of the social, economic and political participation of women The low health status of women in Pakistan is the result of womens lower social, economic, and cultural position. Women do not play any major role is making social and political policies, however they are equally affected by them as the male members of the society are. Womens elimination from decision-making bodies deprives them of the opportunity to raise their concerns or advance their perspective. The male-dominated governance structure creates gender inequalities which lead to the social and economic deprivation of women. Womens exclusion from politics stem from the social and political discourses, political structures and institutions and the socio-cultural and functional constraints that put limits on womens individual and collective agency. Patriarchy as a system of male domination shapes womens relationship in politics. When the gender role ideology intersects with economic, social and political systems of a particular society; women continue to be defined as private across countries which resulted in their exclusion from politics. Male domination of politics, political parties and culture of formal political structures is another factor that hinders womens social, economic and political participation. Often male dominated political parties have a male perspective on issues of national importance that disillusions women as their perspective is often ignored and not reflected in the politics of their parties. Also women are usually not elected at the position of power within party structures because of gender biases of male leadership. The gender status quo is maintained through low resource allocation to womens human development by the state, society and the family. This is reflected in the social indicators which reflect varying degrees of gender disparities in education, health, employment, ownership of productive resources and politics in all countries. Additionally gender is mediated through class, caste and ethnicity that structure access to resources and opportunities. The socio-cultural dependence of women is one of the key detrimental factors to their political participation. Sources and the extent of women deprivation and exploitation In Pakistan, there is a huge diversity in the status of women across different classes and regions. Gender is one of the main ideologies of Pakistani society. An artificial divide between production and reproduction, has given women the reproductive roles as mothers and wives at home and men are given the productive role as breadwinners which eventually leads to a lower investment in women. Thus, low investment in womens human capital, along with the beliefs of purdah, negative social biases, and cultural practices lays the foundation for gender discrimination and inconsistencies in all aspects of life. Moreover early marriages of girls, excessive childbearing, high level of illiteracy and nutritional deficiencies negatively affect womens health. Gender biasness in the health service delivery system ranging from lack of female service providers, ignorance of womens essential and reproductive health needs further aggravates womens health status. Women are officially authorized to own property from their families, however very few women have access and control over resources. Mostly women in Pakistan lack ownership of useful property or assets. Similarly, formal financial institutions do not cater to womens credit needs. Commercial banks pay no attention to women clients due to their defined views on womens creditworthiness because of their dependency on men for physical collateral, high transaction cost of small loans.  [1]  The Agriculture Development Bank of Pakistan and First Womens Bank Limited and now Khushali Bank are the only banks who have credit programs that cater to women. Other sources of credit to women include informal sources such as nongovernment organizations, friends, relatives, and moneylenders and microfinance institutions. Women in Pakistan are facing various forms of violence. Domestic violence is fairly widespread across all classes. Due to this fear and sense of being inferior, imposed by the traditional thoughts of a male dominated society, women are suffering immensely and this issue needs our utmost attention. An overview of the microfinance constitutions and microfinance lending Microfinance was started in the 60s and 70s, when organizations such as ACCION International Opportunity and Grameen Bank started to grant small loans (less than 100 dollars) to microentrepreneurs, mostly women, backed by a group guarantee, thus overcoming the collateral that was the main reason for the lack of attention paid by commercial banking to the low-income segments of the population. Microfinance has experienced considerable growth ever since. Mohammad Yunus was the first and the foremost person to introduce the concept of microcredit with the help of Grameen Bank into an ever more important instrument in the struggle against poverty. Inspired by the Nobel Peace Prize winning Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, there has been a growth of microfinance institutions in developing countries; Pakistan is no exception. Growth and diversity in its microfinance sector have been encouraged by the microfinance Ordinance 2001, which resulted in the establishment of the First Microfinance Bank in Pakistan. Before the promulgation of the microfinance ordinance, the main providers of microfinance services in Pakistan were NGOs and government-sponsored rural support programs. Gaining access to finance in Pakistan has an important potential for considerable advances in the economy. Credit to the private sector is equal to 29% of gross domestic product (GDP), individuals and SMEs prefer to rely on retained earnings to finance their working capital, investment, housing financing, and other financial needs. Of the total population, 14% have access to formal finance, and about 40% have no financial access to formal or informal financial systems altogether. However, access to financial services remains quite limited in Pakistan. The predominant share of the financial system, the banking sector, is mostly focused on large enterprise lending, with an increasing interest in consumer financing and neglects SMEs, rural areas, microfinance, and the poor. SMEs comprise of almost 90% of all the enterprises in Pakistan, they employ 80% of the non-agricultural labor force and their share in the annual GDP is 40%, approximately. This innate feature of an SME makes it esse ntial that there should be a system through which it support in business including technical up gradation, marketing, and human resource training development. The beginning of microfinance sector in Pakistan has its roots in the rural development project. The Agha Khan Rural Support Programs development model is used all over Pakistan. Along with poverty alleviation, microfinance in Pakistan has been seen as an important instrument for gender empowerment. Microfinance in particular has proven to be an effective tool for poverty easing and creation of employment prospects. The GOP has formulated comprehensive Microfinance Sector Development Programme with the assistance of Asian Development Bank to broaden the microfinance sector. This will be attained through the creation of conductive policy environment, developing appropriate financial infrastructure, promoting and strengthening microfinance institutes, developing linkages with NGOs and community organizations, investing in building social capital, mitigating risks of poor households and institutional development. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) and various rural support programs in the country feel that by providing credit to women, which is used for income generation and consumption, the social and economic status of women in the household and at the community level can be improved. Currently, the network of microfinance providers is 1,343 branches with about Rs 15 billion portfolio. Among microfinance providers, Khushali Bank alone provides coverage in 86 districts. The three microfinance entities, namely, National Rural Support Program (NRSP), Khushali Bank, and Kashf Foundation accounted for approximately 70% of the sectors active clients. However, there are two main challenges faced by the microfinance institutions of Pakistan. The first challenge for microfinance is for service providers to become profitable so that service provision to poor people can grow on a sustainable basis. A study of South Asian MFIs done in 2005 showed that only 42% of microcredit borrowers in Pakistan received services from profitable MFIs which is the lowest percentage in South Asia (Microfinance Information Exchange, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, and the World Bank (2006). Most microfinance providers rely on a combination of donor/noncommercial funding, and cannot claim commercial viability, with the exception of the recently formed Microfinance Banks (MFBs). The second challenge is that microfinance is almost exclusively focused on loans, while other financial services, savings, transfers/remittances, and insurance are often more in demand by poorer households. Gender norms of microfinance institutions and microfinance lending Microfinance programs are known to empower the poor men and women. In these programs, the relationship between the provider and the client is inherently empowering. As a result, microfinance has become a vital element of many donor agencies, poverty alleviation, and community development strategies. Micro-finance programs are not only known for giving both men and women credit and access to savings, they also reach people all over the world and bring them together in organized gropus. They play a significant role to promote gender equality and to empower women. By enabling women to earn income, these programs have the potential to increase the welfare of women and their families and hence empower them. Microfinance in Pakistan has been seen as an important instrument for gender empowerment. The Government of Pakistan (GOP) and various rural support programs in the country feel that by providing credit to women which is used for income generation and consumption, the social and economic status of can be improved. As a result, microfinance has gained immense popularity for poverty alleviation, women empowerment and community development strategies. However, capturing and measuring empowerment and emancipation is a particularly difficult task. Within the group of NGOs identified Kashf Foundation and ASASAH were appropriate for this study. Moreover, it should also be noted that Khushali Bank does not have a gender-specific program in rural areas but works with a third party retail organization, Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP), to give loans to poor women in urban slums of Lahore therefore khushali bank clients were strategically left out. Kashf Foundation, a non-profit NGO based MFI, started its operations in Lahore District in 1996. Kashf started with the mission to `provide quality and cost effective microfinance services to low income households, especially women, in order to enhance their economic role and decision making capacity.  [2]  Kashf provides four types of loan products: Firstly, the basic loan product is the general loan; secondly, it has an emergency loan which is confirmed only if the credit committee takes responsibility for repayment; thirdly, there is the home improvement loan for old and reliable clients; and fourthly, Kashf has introduced a business loan for the missing middle market. The most popular one is the general loan, which has to be repaid over a period of 12 months at an interest rate of 20%. Kashfs solidarity group lending model is a Grameen Bank replication with some adaptations. At the first, the branch officers find women in the local area who want to establish a center. The center is sub divided into five groups and each group has a leader. Together, these seven women form the credit committee and are responsible for maintaining credit discipline in the center. ASASAH is a non-governmental and non-profit organization established in 2003 with a mission to provide quality health and social services to underserved communities. One of the core objectives outlined by ASASAH is the empowerment of women. The organization has launched its microcredit program, as part of its commitment to work towards the training of women as agents of socioeconomic development. It sees a huge opportunity to fill the present gap in the microfinance industry by developing an innovative model that brings creates a sustainable and cost effective financial services institution serving the bottom of the pyramid. Keywords and definitions Microfinance: offers a broad range of financial services to low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed. These services include housing loans, savings, health insurance and remittance transfers to help them grow very small businesses. The local MFI might also offer microfinance plus activities such as entrepreneurial and life skills training, advice on topics such as health and nutrition, sanitation, improving living conditions, and the importance of educating children. Microcredit: refers to the loans and credit needs of the poor people, especially farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs who cannot get access to normal bank loans and enables them to become self-employed. Empowerment: is a process of awareness and capacity-building leading to greater participation, greater decision-making power and control over ones life and other processes. Economic Empowerment: Womens access to savings and credit gives them a greater economic role in decision-making by giving them the power to decide the utilization of credit. When women can make decisions regarding credit and savings, they will optimize their own and the households welfare. Social and Political Empowerment: is a blend of womens increased control over income resulting from access to microfinance with improved womens expertise, mobility, and education status. Womens status: Womens position relative to that of men in a society. Grameen Bank: is a microfinance organization and community development bank started in Bangladesh that makes small loans (known as microcredit) to the poor without requiring collateral. Study objectives This study aims to look at and measure the status of women in selected semi urban areas in the outskirts of Lahore city. Furthermore we will determine the factors related to the empowerment of women. Lastly we will assess the role of microfinance lending upon women empowerment in Pakistan. In order to achieve this objective, the study seeks to understand how microfinance opens up economic opportunities for women and their families, increases earnings and reduces their vulnerability, and brings about potential changes in womens social and economic roles that ultimately can lead to greater empowerment of women. The study also seeks to determine different pathways through which such social and economic transformations are more effectively (or less effectively) managed and point out negative consequences that may be faced. Chapter 2 Literature Review To understand the impact of microfinance on women empowerment we look at two sets of literature; womens empowerment and microfinance institutions. In the first set of literature we review how microfinance institutions work and in the second set of literature we review what is understood as empowerment for women and how far microfinance institutions are successful in empowering women. 2.1 Informal credit markets in developing countries Informal credit markets are those which are not regulated or monitored by the banking authorities and these account for much of business credit in developing countries. Despite the development of formal financial markets, and the propagation of micro-credit institutions, informal lenders continue to play a key role in the provision of credit to rural households in most developing countries. This is so because the process of establishing and maintaining a network of rural financial institutions is expensive, and managing their operations is difficult especially in the absence of proper training, monitoring, and incentive structures. The informal sector has commonly been viewed as unregistered sources of credit, such as money lenders, pawnbrokers and traders, along with rationing services and credit associations (ROSCAs), accumulating savings and credit associations (ASCRAs) and deposit takers. Moreover, formal providers are those that are subject to banking laws of the country of oper ation, those which provide retail services to the customers and engage in financial intermediation. According to the World Bank, the conventional provider categories of informal and formal have been complicated by the arrival of microfinance institutions (MFIs) that may be regarded as semi-formal (World Bank, 1997). Capital is an important element in the development of any project. Kurwijila and Due (1991:91) state that the main hurdle to micro-enterprise development is lack of capital. When the poor lack access to the standard sources of credit, they are exploited by loan sharks and other illegal market operators. Following this reason, it is recommended that increasing state efforts are required to eliminate informal finance, while enhancing the availability of state-sanctioned financial intermediaries, especially microfinance programs devoted to poverty alleviation. Savings are an important determinant of wellbeing at both the individual and national levels. For individuals, savings may be motivated by investment opportunities, the desire to smooth consumption keeping unpredictable incomes in mind, or the need to accumulate resources for large purchases. Households in low-income countries have a variety of mechanisms available for saving. These mechanisms range from formal institutions such as banks and credit unions to less formal mechanisms such as holding cash, asset accumulation, and participation in rotating-savings-and-credit-associations (ROSCAs). It is important to highlight the distinction between formal and informal institutions for several reasons. Informal finance mechanisms are quite prevalent in low-income countries. The advantage of informal mechanisms such as ROSCAs is the ability to overcome some of the information and enforcement problems that often lead to the absence of formal markets. Since savings groups are usually localized, agents on both sides of transactions often know each other personally. This helps in overcoming the informational problems such as adverse selection, moral hazard, monitoring, and verification. Further, participants in informal savings committees share a common social bond (for example, they tend to form among friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers) which provides incentives against voluntary default. However, such institution is more vulnerable to local economic shocks affecting all group members. The formal sector is better on these grounds, and provides some additional advantages over the informal sector, both for the individual and the economy. For depositors, government insurance reduces the default risk of banking. A further distinction between the formal and informal sectors is that effective monetary policy typically relies on central bank or government control over the banking system. A large informal financial sector may compromise this ability. Limited access to various sources of credit is seen to harm women more as compared to men. This is due to the specific credit needs of women as their business requires smaller amounts of capital than are customarily lent, and repayment and collateral requirements must be fairly flexible. (Reichmann, 1989:135). Also, it is a legal requirement of many countries, asking women to get their husbands signed approval in order to obtain the loan. Lycette and White (1989:24) cite evidence from Peru that women borrowers usually receive smaller amounts of loans than men from the banks. However, there has been an ongoing debate that women are active in commerce and production activities which require less credit and therefore it is acceptable to provide them with smaller amounts of loan. For these reasons, it is not clear whether discrimination exists, preventing women from obtaining large loans or that women deliberately chooses to borrow less than their males. 2.2 Credit information, credit availability and access Poor women face much inconveniency and problems in acquiring financial services along with the standard barriers that lower income people have to face when dealing with financial institutions. Illiteracy is a key feature that hampers both women and mens capacity to complete application forms necessary to be filled in order to apply for loan. It is also a known fact that female is more illiterate as compared to male in most countries all over the world. Another drawback faced by women is that they lack the collateral which is required by the formal lending institutions to give out the loans. As already mentioned most of these institutions require the male head of household to sign the contract which makes it difficult for the female headed households to apply for the loan at the first place. On the whole, women especially in developing countries are unaware of their rights to apply for financial services. In most developing countries, both men and women lack the confidence to engage in private enterprise and take loans from the banks for business purposes. The structure of the formal credit system is usually very hierarchical and it may appear less user friendly to small women entrepreneurs. Low-income women are mostly less educated and therefore are not used to dealing with formal procedures. Since banks are perceived to be powerful institutions therefore many women may not have the courage to approach them. Despite the above listed difficulties, gaining access to finances can facilitate women to enhance their skills and eventually develop their own independent businesses. Women can boost their skills by accessing technology, raw materials and market information, thereby improving their economic roles. Improving womens economic position contributes to building their confidence, and ultimately improving their social and political role as well. 2.3 Microfinance products and services for deprived and vulnerable As most of the formal sectors banking institutions are unable to reach rural populations, microfinance programs are seen as a potential solution for overcome the gap between the supply and demand for rural finance. These Microfinance institutions are committed to serving customers that have been excluded from the formal banking sector and claim to work with the poorest of the poor. Many MFIs permit people to access useful lump sums through loans. The currently most popular product (that offered by Grameen Bank and copied by many other MFIs) allows borrowers to repay the loan in small and frequent installments. The participation of the poor is thus made possible by the key feature of lending tiny, often weekly, repayments (Matin and Sinha, 1998; Todd, 1996). Such an organization system allows borrower to repay out of existing income thereby allowing the borrower to invest the loan and utilize it the way that best fulfills their needs of the moment. For some borrowers these loans are directly invested in productive enterprises where the returns on additional investment is sometimes enough to make the regular repayments. Microcredit is seen as a way to improve the income an employment opportunities of poor who can be self employed in many ways (Hulme and Mosley, 1996; Yunus, 1983; World Bank, 1994). The main aim is to provide the household with capital and encourage them to involve in income generating activities, thereby increasing their income and consumption. In Bangladesh, there are more than 750 organizations that are working in rural areas to provide credit and non-credit services to the target population, mainly women from landless households (World Bank, 1996). Grameen Bank and Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) are the two main programmes. Grameen Bank is known for its innovative group-based lending programme. BRAC is famous for providing informal primary education and innovative health programmes to the poor. It lays emphasis more on human capital development such as literacy, skill-promoting training and awareness programmes. Inspired by the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh there has been a rapidly increasing growth of microfinance institutions in Pakistan and as well as in other developing countries. Growth and diversity in its microfinance sector have been encouraged by the microfinance Ordinance 2001, which resulted in the establishment of the First Microfinance Bank in Pakistan. Table 1 below summarizes the nature of different microfinance institutions operating in the Punjab province of Pakistan, the year in which they were operationalized and the concentration of operations in rural or urban settings. It is clear from the table that most of the NGO based institutions have a gender specific solidarity group approach to microcredit, where they are catering mainly to female clients. Most of the microfinance institutions working in Punjab province, except for the rural support programs, are either specialized institutions or have a specialized window for microcredit. Except for ASASAH, most of the institutions have been in business for quite long to warrant an impact evaluation. For this study we are interested in specialized institutions using a group solidarity model with a women specific focus. Thus, the province of Punjab was an obvious choice with well recognized and established NGO-based microfinance institution (MFI). Given the time and resources available for the study, we have limited our attention to the Lahore district of Punjab, which is the hub of urban microfinance activity in Pakistan, accounting for more than half of the total borrowers in the province. 2.4 Community participation and group lending experience in microfinance Grameen Bank is famous for introducing and expanding its relationships with its customers in a unique relationship which is without utilizing legal contracts of requiring collateral, Grameen bank assigns borrowers to solidarity groups of five members. Each group is than responsible for the debts of the other four, and in case any group members defaults on her loan, the others must repay the defaulted loan or lose eligibility for further loans from Grameen Bank. This compulsory interdependence is seen to powerfully encourage trust and mutual aid within the solidarity group (Hung, 1997:15). The group-based lending is very attractive to women in low income societies. Very few women in Pakistan and Bangladesh work in the wage labor market. Therefore their productive inefficiency is associated with the lack of womens labor market participation which motivates them to become self employed by borrowing capital. Group lending schemes have an informal advantage over outside lenders. Often obtaining information about each member of a group by an outside lender is costly and subject to misinterpretation, therefore group members can monitor each other with relative ease as well as train and help the other low-productive members. In Pakistan, social custom restricts direct contact between potential female borrowers and male outside lenders. In the case of a credit program, it is easier for women, when in the company of larger group to interact with the male coordinator. Therefore, informational advantages of group lending are thus greater for the women as compared to men. Moreover, adverse shocks may have an effect on the ability to repay loans and decrease income and consumption. There is evidence that women are more prone to adverse shocks, related to pregnancy, illness associated with child bearing, and care giving to other household members who fall ill, making them riskier for poorly informe d outside lenders (Rashid and Townsend 1993). 2.5 Microfinance experience and gender empowerment Some aspects of poverty are owed to the inequality between women and men, therefore it is important to understand and interpret the meaning of the term gender. Women and men have different responsibilities in a given culture or location. Gender refers to the social roles of women and men, and is not to be confused with the biologically determined sexes of male and female. Gender is hence a relational concept that analyses womens social roles in relation to the roles of men and vice versa. Gender roles are subject to perceptions and expectations which arise from factors like class, ethnicity, age and religion. Research done by UNDP, U