Women Empowerment: Winds of Change

We are living in an era of women empowerment. Women from the entire world over are working shoulder to shoulder with men. All around, they are now empowered to take decision about different aspects of their life and profession. Women empowerment has become a significant topic of discussion in development. Women Empowerment helps to make the society and world a better place to live in and march forward on way to inclusive participation. To celebrate women empowerment, International Women’s Day is observed on 8 March globally. On this day, social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women are being celebrated and it is also a call for gender equality. This day has been observed since in the early 1900’s when the world was moving towards an industrialized economy and ideologies of people were also changing. International Women’s Day is an opportunity for the global community to come together and celebrate the many achievements by women in various fields, and reflect upon what more needs to be done. Due to long prevailing gender discrimination and dominance of men in the Pakistani society, women have been suppressed in their families and society at large. Even they have been prone to violence and various discriminations by the male members, even in their own families. In rural areas of Pakistan, the condition of women is far from satisfactory and their contribution to the economy is also negligible. Though women comprise almost 50% of the population of the country, they have not been empowered enough to get equal opportunities in realising their fullest potential. In such condition, we can say that our country cannot become a developed nation unless we empower women in the true sense of the term. It is very necessary to pay proper attention to their development by providing them equal opportunities in all areas of human activity. Although women have been given a special place in Islam, still many ill practices have been going on against women as a norm since ages. But positive changes are now visible. Women are now claiming the socio-political rights (right to work, right to education, right to decide, etc) for themselves. There is an increasing awareness about women’s rights which is evident in the emergence of several NGOs and self-help groups. At the individual level too, women are now breaking the barriers of suppression and making their voices heard for their rights. The Punjab Government have implemented various constitutional and legal rights to help women lead purposeful and meaningful lives. Laws have been enacted or amendments made in existing legislation to address acid attacks, honour killings and sexual harassment. Punjab Government has passed laws to protect women against domestic violence than can be physical or otherwise.
In order to safeguard rights of the women, the Punjab Assembly has passed the law titled “Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act” that is enforced in different areas and different times across the entire province of Punjab. This ‘Women Protect Act’ aims to meet needs of the existing legal system which had failed to effectively address the violence against women. The bill has been passed by the Punjab Government which envisages rehabilitation and justice to women if they become victim of domestic, emotional, psychological violence, verbal abuse, stalking and cyber crime. Under this law, District Women Protection Officers (WPO) has been appointed to take care of everything of the victim women in addition to getting them relieved from the court of law. The victim women also get help from Women Protection Committee, protection centre and shelter homes. Under the ‘Women Protect Law’, Punjab Government has taken some initiatives for women protection and rights. In previous times, women were not given the right in the property but Punjab Government has passed a bill, according to which women are now given equal right in the property as to men. Additionally, Punjab Government has also announced 15% quota for women in any public service employment. Such measures taken by Punjab Government may help address the major concerns most women have of reporting violence in the first place i.e. fear of police treatment and family pressures to silence the issue. These measures have also helped women to attain a respectable lace in the society and to achieve success in various fields of life.
There is no doubt that women have come a long way globally to gain equal rights as that to men in various aspects of society. Women still need to struggle a lot more to break glass ceilings and to push society as a whole out of their old ways of thinking to realize the crucial roles women can and do play in helping building democratic systems and sustainable economies. However, despite the growing participation of women in politics and various leadership roles in government, business, and society, gaps still exist in both developed and developing countries that need to be addressed. It is high time that we start respecting our women and let go of the double standards we have towards the two genders. Before becoming the moral police for others, let’s learn to correct our own imperfections first. If we want to bring about women empowerment in the true sense, there is a need for the elimination of the male superiority and patriarchal mindset. Also, women need to be given equal opportunities for education and employment without any sense of discrimination. Unless there is attitudinal change in society towards women, merely giving them legal and constitutional rights will be simply inadequate.