Four years of Democratic Government

Women Empowerment

The People’s Government believes in women’s protection and empowerment and has taken several significant steps to ensure equal participation of the women folk in all walks of life in line with the PPP manifesto.

Pakistani women have long been subjected to discrimination, harassment and biased trial. It was the first women Prime Minister Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who courageously mainstreamed gender issues into Pakistan politics.

                     Above all, I want to be remembered for what I did for women. My identity comes ultimately from being a woman, and I felt that my life has to make a difference to the lives of other women. So in terms of population control or in term of exposing domestic violence or in terms of permitting women easy access to credit to start business of their own, I have always done my best to allow women to succeed”

Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto

                     During the last four years, the Parliament has passed 24 bills concerning women which include the establishment of autonomous and fully empowered epic bodies like:

·         National Commission on the status of women and

·         National Commission on Human Rights.

                     The women’s honour, security and rights have further been protected with the enactment of:-

·         Anti-Women Practice Bill and

·         The Criminal Code Amendment Bill, 2011 commonly called the Acid Crimes Bill.

                     Women representation in the decision making has been re-affirmed by the passage of the Delimitation of Constituencies.

                     Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University Act, NUML Act and the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission Act, 2011 have guaranteed women’s inclusion & promotion in key academic, research, and vocational institutions. The year 2011-12 will be truly remembered as the year of empowerment for Pakistani women.

                     Statistics reveal that nearly 80% of all agricultural work in our country is done by women. However, less than one fourth have any access to education, health, better living and equal wages despite working for an average of 16 hours a day.

                     The United Nations has set the theme of this year’s Women’s Day as “Empower Rural Woman—End Hunger and Poverty, this points towards some very basic and critical issues for an agro-based economy like Pakistan.

                     The government has focused on the empowerment of these rural women who have been subjected to continued violation of the basic rights. The Benazir Income Support Programe is one such key project, which has emerged as the world’s largest government cash transfer initiative amongst women. This scheme is also targeting women agriculturists by providing them soft loans and technical assistance to develop their farms on modern footing.

                     What is more, the worsening impact on the plight of rural women by the devastating floods of recent years have made it all the more important that, their concerns must be addressed on priority basis while devising any future crisis management policy.

                     The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act was moved in the Parliament in 2008 and enacted in 2010. The law adopted by the National Assembly on 04 Aug, 2009 provides a whole process to invite police cognizance and the legal processes to ultimately punish the offender.

                     The Protection against Harassment of Women at Work Place Act, 2009 was passed to ensure the dignity of working women by providing them legal protection.

                     The Government has facilitated working women through the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2009 adopted by the National Assembly on 04 Nov, 2009 to protect women at Public places.

                     Today, women are seen at the helm of affairs everywhere and contributing a lot to the progress and prosperity of the country. Dr. Fehmida Mirza has been elected as the first woman speaker of the National Assembly with the highest number of women Parliamentarians who tabled 84 Private Member Bills out of 145. Women have been allowed to join fields like Armed Forces, Police Service etc which were provisionally considered the exclusive domain of men only.

                     The Government has also initiated a land allotment policy whereby land will be allotted to women peasants. Ten percent quota has been fixed for female candidates in the Central Superior Services. The President has approved a scheme to give Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah Award and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto awards to outstanding women in different fields of life.

                     The President promised that by the end of the tenure of this Parliament, the women will have all those rights which are now exclusively enjoyed by men “The world needs the gentle touch of women. Let us mobilize the collective power of women to help make our country, the region and the world more tolerant and secure for all”.