The irony lady Hillary Clinton once exclaimed with an ambitious tone, “Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world.” Today, no one can deny the fact that countries, where women have been empowered and hold the country’s executive positions, are progressing by leaps and bounds. Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina Wajid, Sanna Marrin, Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen, President of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Ex-Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel are glaring examples in this regard. One can observe the sound performance, development, culture of transparency, and accountability in these regions where women are holding higher positions. But the irony of fate is that we developing countries are still failed to realize the worth, value, power, and strength of women.
The phrase ‘missing women’ was first coined by the Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen who figured out that millions of women surprisingly got disappeared in India owing to the curse of patriarchy. The noted phrase ‘missing women’ refers to the sex ratio in which Sen tried to convince the rationale that day by day female population is proportionately shrinking. He postulated that from sex-selective abortion to infanticide, there are a patriarchal society and cultural practices in which son-preferences are considered a top cultural norm. The phenomenon of devaluation of the female population does not stand still here with sex-selective abortion. If a female child gets lucky to be born and survive the curse of patriarchy, then she would face challenges in accessibility and availability of health facilities, quality education, and political participation. For women, each sphere is full of predicaments. From killing a baby girl in the shape of sex-selective abortion to forcefully marrying a well-educated woman and throwing them into the marriage market, there is a vicious cycle of missing women. Pakistan, having a patriarchal culture, also practices these norms and values. From son- preference, sex-selective abortion, and devaluation of women’s sex to the marriage practices in the shape of dowry and Patrilocality, each and everything are revolved around the patriarchal structure.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics 2021, there is only 25 percent female labor force participation in the country. The rest of the female population is compelled to live under the four walls of patriarchy. Similarly, there is a 48 percent female population according to the census of 2017. Thus, this low involvement of females in economic activities portrays a bleak picture. Because, out of 48 percent female population, only 25 percent population is engaged in contribution towards country’s economy and rest of them remained slothful and become dependent upon country’s economy. However, there is also an assumption that, in the country’s rural areas, one can see females’ participation in agricultural activities. Thus, this little thing is insufficient to justify the gender disparity.
There is a 60 percent literacy rate in Pakistan in which there is 47 percent female literacy according to the Pakistan literacy rate report of 2021. Despite that, the bitter irony is that only 25% of females can be seen in job sectors. Girls with MBBS, Engineering, Computer science, and IT degrees along with distinction become disappeared from the job market. Each year, millions of girls do graduation, and obtain specialized credentials remained idle. Moreover, there is only 7 percent of women who hold a financial accounts; irked, it shows a gloomy picture. The question arises what are the responsible factors which push such a large population into the four walls. After marriage, the patriarchal social norms compel an educated female to sacrifice her dreams to help her in-laws with house chores. The problem is not with marriage institutions but its specific expected social roles and practices which are associated only with females. Owing to those roles, values, and norms, not only female suffers but also the country’s economy becomes fragile. But the irony of fate is that we have a culture of political mockery where the curse of patriarchy, and its implication, is taken for granted and is considered a parody. Consequently, the country suffers at each level, from the fragility of morality to the economic downturn.
According to the Global Gender Gap report 2020, Pakistan was ranked 143 out of 147. GGG measures the performances of a country on the indicators of economic participation, health facilities, and political empowerment of women. In all these given indicators, Pakistan is lagging behind. As a result, on the one side, the country’s soft image gets tarnished, and on the other, the country’s economic performance becomes downturn owing to an untapped half population. It goes without saying that socio-economic and political development is directly associated with women’s empowerment. Countries, where women get empowered, flourish at the socio-economic and political levels. Today, Pakistan’s economy is at the stake of fragility and recession due to various reasons but gender disparity is a major one.
To cut the long story short, it has been proven if a country wants development, improvement, and progression, the key principle for this purpose is to engage its women population as well. It demands cogent plans and reforms to eradicate the curse of patriarchy from the root. In this regard, media plays a groundbreaking role in changing the patriarchal attitude and mentality of the masses by highlighting the importance of women at the sphere of life.
