The Holy prophet (S.A.

W) said:
“Among you the most
respectable is the one who
respects the women and the
most disrespectable is the one
who disrespect the women.”
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 GENDER INEQUALITY
AND
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

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 GENDER INEQUALITY
Gender inequality refers to unequal treatment
and disparity between individuals due to
gender.
Gender inequality is the difference between
women and men in regard to social, political,
economic or other attainments or attitudes or
the problem perceived to exist because of such
difference.

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 FORMS OF GENDER INEQUALITIES

Amartya Sen narrates sum forms of gender inequalities

1 Basic facility inequality 4 Special opportunity inequality

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Professional inequality 5 Ownership inequality

3 Household inequality 6 Mortality inequality

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GENDER INEQUALITY IN PAKISTAN

Gender equality is a major issue in Pakistan.

Global Gender Gap Index :
Measures proximity to gender equality. World
Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report
2013 Pakistan had the second lowest ranking in
the report.

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 GENDER INEQUALITIES EXIST:

• Gender inequalities exist because of

discrimination in the family and social
institutions which include cultural and
religious norms that perpetuate stereotypes,
practices and beliefs that are detrimental to
women

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• In poor countries of South Asia, there is a huge
gender gap in the existing facilities of health,
nutrition, education and employment. Female
literacy rates are almost half of male literacy
rates in most of the developing South Asian
countries including Pakistan (Qureshi 2003).
• Labour force Participation Rates of women in
South Asia as well as in Pakistan are very low
as compared to men.
• Life expectancy differentials exist between
men and women. Given the fact that maximum
potential life expectancy for women is greater
than men under uniform treatment in nutrition,
health, care and other conditions of living, this
biological advantage is negated when we
observe that in developing countries, e.g.
Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, female life 8
 CAUSES OF GENDER INQUALITY
• Low literacy Rate . 56 %
(Economic survey of Pakistan 2013)
• Ancient Conservative society
• Inaccurate interpretation of religion
• male dominated society
• Absence of rule of law and fundamental rights
• Historical and culture factors

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 EFFECTS OF GENDER INEQUALITY
 Social progress can be measured by the social
position of the female in a society. (Karl Marx)

 High Illiteracy rate

 Poor economic growth
 Conservative society
 Increase in unemployment
 Religious fundamentalism and extremism

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 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
 Empowerment means access to optimist, education,
information and resources, decision making power
and authority and content over one’s own life.
 The concept of women’s empowerment appears to be
the outcome of several important critiques and
debates generated by the women’s movement
throughout the world and particularly to the third
world countries. its source can be traced to the
interaction between feminism and the concept of
popular education developed in Latin America in the
1970’s. 11
 INTRODUCTION

The concept of women empowerment emerged

in 1980’
The promotion of women’s empowerment as a
development goal is based on a dual argument,
that social justice is an important aspect of
human welfare and is worth pursuing and
that’s women empowerment is a means to
other ends.
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 The concept of empowerment can be explored
through three closely interrelated dimensions;
agency, resources, and achievements. Agency
represents the process by which choices are made
and put into effect. It is, hence, central to the
concept of empowerment. Resources are a
medium through which agency is exercised and
achievements refer to the outcomes of agency.
( Kabeer 2005)

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 PROCESS OF WOMEN
EMPOWERMENT
It is manifested in redistribution of power
between nations, classes and genders. Women
empowerment also liberates and empowers
men in material as well as psychological terms.
Women empowerment provides new energy,
insights, leadership and knowledge benefiting
men and children of their families, thus
improving their quality of life.
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This process means a new understanding of
power that is democratizing and sharing
power-building new mechanisms for collective
responsibility, decision making and
accountability. It also implies that women
address global concerns, for example violence,
environments, poverty, illiteracy, and rapid
population growth.
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• Women empowerment is very essential for the
development of society. Empowerment means
individuals acquiring the power to think and
act freely, exercises choice and fulfill their
potential as full and equal members of society.

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 STATUS OF WOMEN IN
PAKISTAN
• Primary school enrolment rates for girls are
among the ten lowest in the world.
• Only 29% of labor force is constituted by
women, below the 33% average for south
Asian countries.
• Life expectancy at birth for women is lower
than for men in Pakistan, making it one of only
four countries on the world where men live
longer than women.

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ESSENTIAL MEASURES TO UPLIT
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
 Enhanced reserved seats in legislative assemblies
 Advancements of women in all fields
 More appointments of women as judges
 Vocational training workshops for women
 Propagation of true religious views about women
 Concrete efforts for better jobs for women
 Legislations for women protection

(the national commission on the status of women bill 2012)

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 CONCLUSION
Gender Inequality is a risk which is prevalent not only
in Pakistan but also across the world .A number of
steps are needed to cure it because no nation can
prosper without women empowerment.

 No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your

women are side by side with you.
M.A Jinnah
 No struggle can ever succeed without women
participating side by side the men.
M.A Jinnah

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Presented By :
FATIMA PERVEZ

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