Once again the heated debate about gender equality or we can say gender equity has taken space everywhere possible in newspapers, social media platforms, TV screens, roads, seminars, educational institutes, NGOs, workplaces to celebrate Women’s International Day. If observed deeply, it can be seen that the notion of gender disparity has occupied more the urban side of the country than the rural cover. As more than 60% of the total population includes a big number of women, with minimum to no awareness about their rights and roles, they lack as being members of a developed society, live in rural areas. They do work on farms with men, manage house chores, bring up a bunch of kids, handle the ‘honor’ of extended families and still get abusive treatment if claim their rights against this labor.
More to their social miseries, the other question raises the concerns that why the struggle of women in Pakistan never contributed enough to make our society humane and civilized? What are the stagnant factors other than capitalist reasons? The main reason is engrained in the cultural values which clearly lack a humanistic approach towards women. This culture has shaped us to treat women as commodities who are supposed to serve even without being acknowledged and respected as a person. Its roots come from colonialism which not only produced this culture but equally contributed to marginalizing women in socio-economic spheres. Resultantly, the norms and customs from this inherited culture embedded in our air failed to produce liberated minds and we still are the product of colonial norms deeply rooted in the soil of the Indian Subcontinent.
Conclusively if we really want to make her struggle productive, which is the result of many compromises made against social, political, religious, and cultural norms, we need to internalize this humanistic approach in our air, homes, and social institutions by reversing the culture. It can be done by taking various initiatives that must be beneficial to common women and only by the support common women to each other. One of the measures can be initiated by reviving the tradition of ‘chupal’ where people in rural areas gather to share their views in order to make progress in society. One of the alike initiatives is Aman Chupal, an emerging place that provides prominent space to women to raise their social concerns and put collective effort through social interaction in Sanda Kalan near Kasur. The other initiative can be taken by setting up awareness centers at the tehsil level so the problems of women must be solved without delay. For instance, Awaz ii Program under Participatory Welfare Services (PWS) is working in tehsils of Jhang, the referral directory has been set up at the district level to facilitate citizens by adding the contact numbers of heads of all government agencies so the issue can be resolved over a phone call. Such other initiatives are direly needed to bring qualitative change in our culture to enhance the rights and duties of women in rural areas as they are the backbone in terms of civilizing society, boosting the economy, and cherishing the culture of our country.
