This document discusses women's rights in Pakistan. It begins by outlining the constitutional protections for women's equality and non-discrimination. However, it notes that in practice women's rights are often violated through discriminatory laws like the Hudood Ordinances, harmful customs like honor killings, and various forms of violence. It also discusses the poor state of women's health, education, and political participation. Some positive developments are noted, like more women entering the workforce and political system. The document examines various commissions established to address women's issues, but notes their recommendations have often been ignored. It argues more must be done to ensure women's rights are upheld in Pakistan.

1. Women Rights
Kokab Jabeen
2012
University of Gujrat

3. Contents
1. Women right
2. Introduction
3. Pakistani history
4. Women protection bill
5. International history
6. International bill
7. Video
8. Conclusion
9. References

4. INTRODUCTION:
Issue of gender is as old as the human being is. The first female (Eve) was born
through a male (Adam) who is the origin of human race, then it went forth from these two
and hence, The Creator multiplied the males and females on the earth. (Al-Quran, 4:1).
The concern started with the spread of men and women, though its form and nature
changed time to time and it appeared in patriarchal or matriarchal societies during the
turning out of the human history.
Constitution of Pakistan guarantees the rights of women and do not discriminate in any sphere of
life. The basis of Pakistani constitution is Islam; a religion that has secured the rights of women
fourteen hundred years ago.
In Pakistan; Mukhtaran Mai, Dr. Shazia and various other women have been raised
internationally because of the corrupt character of our moth eaten justice, social and political
system. In order to avail political power, dictators like General Zia-ul-Haq tried to placate the
fundamentalist Mullahs by launching Hudood Ordinance. The society is silent over social
customs like Karo-Kari, Vaani, Swara and several other atrocities of the retrogressive people.
Finally, the last hope, the justice system, is itself a victim of political interference.
(I) What are women rights?
Let us see why women rights are being denied and exploited in Pakistan, but before that, make it
clear what are women's universal rights.
• In Article 25(1) of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan it is stated,
"All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law."
• Article 25(2) states
"There shall be no discrimination on the basis of sex alone."

5. According to Islam:
Islam guarantees an adult woman to marry according to her will. Even parents cannot force her
to marry against her choice. Moreover, no person including parents, husbands, in-laws have the
right to judge and decide the fate of women accused of being guilty of any crime. Courts are
there in a civilized society to decide what is right what is wrong.
In addition to constitutional guarantee, 98% percent Muslims of Pakistan are morally binding as
believer of Islam to fight evil and injustice, i.e., Amar Bil-Maroof Wanahi-o- Mankar. In this
regard, they are binding upon at least to voice their concern as a Muslim who cannot tolerate
evils of gross injustices going on women.
How are women rights violated?
Despite the universal protection of Islam and the rights given by the constitution of Pakistan,
women are the being abused by some atrocious elements of our society.
a. Discriminatory Laws
Politics in Pakistan is a game of holding power and doing everything whether right or wrong in
order to secure that power. Women have been a victim of such a political game. General Zia-ul-
Haq, after clinching power from Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, enacted "Hudood Ordinances". Zia gave
the impression to Islamize the country; however, the hidden truth was to prolong his tenure by
making the religious extremist happy. Still the women are being crushed under the barbarity of
Hudood Ordinances:
Hudood ordinance: In 1979, an ordinance, called the Hudood Ordinance was promulgated as a
part of the process of Islamization in Pakistan which banned adultery, fornication, rape and
prostitution (Zina), bearing false testimony (Qazf), theft and drinking alcoholic beverages.
Hudood Ordinance was enacted to fulfil a fundamental condition of Islamic state and
constitution of Pakistan, as „zina‟ (adultery) was not a crime according to Pakistani law up till
then. Subsequently the National Assembly ratified the ordinance and raised it to the status of
Hudood Laws.
Conditions:

6. If a woman is raped, one of the conditions of the law requires that woman must provide for four
pious Muslim witnesses for seeing the crime. Let for a moment condone that part of the law. But,
the worst cruelty of the law is that in case of failing to provide witnesses, the rape victim will be
charged of fornication; the punishment for which is stoning to death.
According to Quran:
The Holy Quran prescribes the punishment of
adultery in Surah Noor as under. The adulterer and the adulteress, scourge ye each one
of them (with) a hundred stripes. (24:2) In this injunction the word zina is absolute and includes
zina birraza (adultery) as well as zina bil jabar (rape).
Sayyidina Wail bin Hajr radiallahu anhu narrated that during the days of Allah's Messenger
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam a woman had gone out to offer the prayer. On the way a man
overcame and raped her. The woman cried for help and the man ran away. Thereafter the man
admitted that he had raped her. The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam then inflicted
the Hadd on the man only, and not on the woman.
Example:
One of the examples from innumerous cases is that of an incidence of stoning to death to a blind
girl in 1980s. Her only mistake was to report that she was raped. But, unable to provide for the
four pious Muslim cum male witnesses, she was charged of adultery. Consequently, in this
Islamic Republic of Pakistan, an innocent was stoned to death.
Does the above case conform to the right and protection given by the constitution of Pakistan?
Does Islam allow injustice of such an inhuman nature? The answer is no, but, such atrocities are
being done under the name of Islamic injunctions; however, the concealed fact is that of a
political nature. The society was silent when the Hudood Ordinance was enacted, and it is still
heedless of the barbarisms from some of its own sections of people.
(Sahih Bukhari, Kitabul Ikrah, Bab 6):
In the Sahih Bukhari is a tradition according to which a slave had raped a slave-girl. Sayyidina
Umar radiallahu anhu then imposed the Hadd on the slave, but not on the slave-girl.

7. An American Scholar Charles Kennedy: got interested and visited Pakistan to conduct a
survey of the cases. He analyzed all the data related to Hudood Ordinance cases and presented
the results in the form of a report which has been published.
The results are very much in line with the above mentioned facts. He writes in his report:
Women fearing conviction under Section 10(2) frequently
bring charges of rape under 10(3) against their alleged partners. The FSC finding no
circumstantial evidence to support the latter charge, convict the male accused under section
10(2)Â….the women is exonerated of any wrongdoing due to reasonable doubt rule.
b. Heinous Customs
Karo-Kari is one of those customs related to fornication. A Kari is a woman who is alleged to
have extramarital relations with a man called Karo. In a typical Birdari and caste system of our
society, especially in rural areas, if a woman marries with her choice outside of her family
relation -- a crime of violating the Biradari unwritten rule – then she is alleged to have
committed adultery. The whole Biradari becomes willing to kill both of the husband and the wife
under the pretext of Karo-Kari.
Even the dead body of the innocent woman is not given her due right of burying. She is interred
in an isolated and far-flung place without religious rituals. In contrast, the Karo is given the right
to be buried with religious rituals.
Moreover, husbands, in-laws, and their relatives also victimize the woman with allegation of
fornication. In fact, the reason is their personal grievances and enmity for not bringing enough
dowry or not following the orders of in-laws. She could be killed any time by her husband or any
of his relatives under the pretext of Karo-Kari custom.
Not only the adult woman but also baby girls of even months old are not spared from the
clutches of retrogressive customs. Swara and Vaani are such kind of heinous crimes that are
deeply upheld by the stone-age minded people.
In both of the customs, the minor girls are given as compensation for the wrongdoings
perpetrated by one of the members of the culprit family on the aggrieved one. The village's cult
of goons called "Punchayat" leaded by elders of village, fundamentalist Mullahs, including any
of our graduate MPA participate in such Punchayats.
Many girls given under Vaani or Swara to the aggrieved family refused to marry there after

8. attaining adult age. CJ of the Supreme Court of Pakistan have taken suo motu action in this
regard. Furthermore, girls as young as ten years of age are married with 60 years old man under
such customs.
A woman is raped after every two hours and gang-raped after every eight hour. For honor killing,
commission's report says that in 2006, 565 women have been killed under Karo-Kari. Police do
not take seriously the crime of honor killings; as in 2005, there were 475 such cases, and police
was able to catch only 128 accused.
According to a reportMinistry,
There have been 4100 hon presented by the Interior or killings since 2001. The report also
criticizes that under 'Qisas and Diyat" law, the killer could easily be forgiven after paying
compensation for the blood of the dead.
c. Violence and Exploitations
The village Punchayat is so lowest in its scruples that sometimes it orders to rape the women of
the culprit family as revenge. Mukhtaran Mai is one of such victim who had been gang-raped
because her brother was guilty of some wrong for which she was punished to be gang-raped. The
law enforcement agencies denied her "right to register an FIR" because the criminals
influentials.
Sometimes women are stripped and forced to walk naked in the village for any crime of their
family members. If she denies marrying with a family relative or raising her voice against her in-
laws then she is subjected to mutilation of her body by acid-throwing. For whatever reasons, her
husbands could brutally beat her any time under any pretext. Most of the time, she was beaten
and even killed for not having a male baby child.

9. Women are also exploited for the only reason of being a woman. With a high workload from
dawn to dusk, she was paid far less than what males get doing less work. Moreover, in our male
dominant society, molestation and sometimes attack on her piety during job are frequent
incidents. If she reports such crimes then as a punishment, she is rusticated from her job.
Therefore, most of the crimes against her remain unreported.
The traders of human flesh exploit her misery. Taking advantage of her penury, they force some
of the women on prostitution. Trafficking of women is also a lucrative business for human
traffickers. Such women after going abroad work as domestic slaves under extremely inhuman
conditions or they are kept in brothels for the shameful business.
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS:
The issue of domestic violence has been a source of public concern for a number of years. Being
in the private domain, the gravity of violence in the domestic sphere is compounded. In
cognizance of the stress and unbearable suffering of the aggrieved person, it is necessary to
criminalize the act. Through this Bill, domestic violence is brought into the public domain and
responds to the National Policy for development and empowerment of women and Convention
for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women of adopting zero tolerance for
violence against women and “introducing positive legislation on domestic violence”.
Report by an NGO, the Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA) says:
In 2006, there were 7,564 cases of violence against women; 1,993 cases of torture; 1,271 women
were kidnapped; 822 women committed suicide; 259 were gang raped; 119 were trafficked; 144
booked under the Hudood Ordinances; and 792 were killed in the name of honor. The above data
are based on reported cases; and because of unreported abuses, the actual crime rate is far more
than what is reported.

10. d. Deplorable Level of Health and Education
Furthermore, most of the women have no choice of theirs in deciding the number of babies to
have. Family planning is seen in a typical conservative society as against Islam. In case of any
medical emergency, when no female doctor available for her help, the orthodox relatives allow
her to die rather than to be provided aid by a male doctor. Thousands of woman die per annum
for not having female doctors in medical facilities.
Being a female, cult of the fundamentalists mostly in tribal and rural areas does not allow her to
get education. They say it is a western intrigue to make their women liberal. With the advent of
Talibanization, the girls' schools are openly threatened to close their centers else,
Their educational premises would be blasted. Such news in North Western part of Pakistan has
become common today and several girls‟ schools have been devastated by such crimes
(III) Is there any positive side of Women rights in Pakistan?
With all such atrocities on majority of women, there is some ray of hope for having a section of
women fully utilizing constitutional and religious rights. Such women are participating in the
development and progress of Pakistan; while fully observing the Islamic behavior and conduct,
they are working along with men in almost all the spheres of life. They are in military, economy,
health, politics, police, foreign services, law, and parliament and in fact every place where it was
impossible to think of their presence few decades ago.
Recently, PAF (Pakistan Air Force) inducted in its services female pilots as commissioned
officers. For the first time in the history of Pakistan, a female, Shamshad Akhtar, has been
appointed as Governor State Bank of Pakistan. In foreign services, Tasneem Akhtar is carrying
out her duties diligently as foreign office spokesperson. Besides, her Excellence, Dr. Maliha
Lodhi, is working as an ambassador of Pakistan in UK.
Asma Jahangir, the chairperson of the Human Rights Commissions of Pakistan, is famous for her
brave efforts for relieving the victims of Human Rights abuses in Pakistan At lower level,
women are running their own business as entrepreneurs; working in petrol pumps, restaurants,
and coaches; participating in politics. In fact, there is a long list of women who are active and no
less than their male contemporaries are.
There are 234 women legislators sitting in our assemblies; 18 in Senate; 73 in National
Assembly; and 143 in Provincial assemblies. This is one of the first times in Pakistan's history

11. that women are given greater role to play in legislation. Several women are working in cabinet as
ministers in various government divisions. In Local Government system, thousands of women
are elected as councilors, mayors, deputy mayors. Nasreen Jalil is Deputy Mayor of CDGK (City
District Government Karachi).
(IV) What efforts have been made for ensuring women rights?
The number of women enjoying some of their rights is below optimum. For the majority, it is a
distant dream to decide for their own choice of life partner; and it is a luxury for most of the
women to avail medical facilities for delivering a baby.
However, efforts are being made both from the government and non-government sides to make
better the plight of the persecuted women.
a. Different commissions on women and their reports:
After Independence, the first Commission on the Emancipation of Women was formed in
1955; the commission presented its report in 1961, but the government diluted several of
its recommendations. However, in the same year, president Ayub Khan promulgated
"Family Law Ordinance" that gave not much but little relief to the women.
In 1975, Pakistan Women Rights Committee was formed which presented its report in
1976 without having any effect upon the power holders. Similarly, in 1981, Pakistan
Commission on the Status of Women was founded that submitted its findings in 1985.
However, the report was thrown into the dustbin due to Zia's passion for implementing
his own version of Islamization.
After nine years, the "Commission of Inquiry for Women" was formed in 1994. The
commission presented its report in August 1997, but it has gone to the same fate as the
previous commissions' reports.
The National Commission on Status of Women formed (NCSW) came into being in
September 2000. The purpose was to advise the government for eradicating laws
discriminatory to women. The commission provided its detailed report in 2003. The
report presented a thorough and critical review of 1979 Hudood Ordinances and
concluded that these laws are being used to abuse women; thus, it asked for their
annulment.

12. The power of the NCSW is restricted to only for recommendations. Moreover, it has
been devoid of chairperson for several months. The effectiveness of the commission
cannot be enhanced unless it gets independent in its working. India has a commission of
similar nature but it is quite powerful in questioning and calling any senior government
official. Therefore, it should be made equal on such footing as that of Indian
commission.
b. Laws on protection of women rights
In 1996, Pakistan internationally ratified Convention on Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The law requires the government to take
strict measures against any abuse that hinders women rights for freedom, equality, and
justice. The law is good in its part for binding the country in protecting rights of the
women.
November 2006 is important in relieving women some of the atrocities of Hudood
Ordinances. Parliament passed "Protection of Women Rights Bill (Criminal Laws
Amendments)"; the bill is an attempt to secure the women from misuse of Zina and Qazf
laws under Hudood Ordiances enacted by Zia in 1979.
Religious fundamentalists as usual opposed the passage of the bill and leader of
opposition Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman said that the bill is "to turn Pakistan into a free-sex
zone". They criticized the Bill to be against Qur'an and Sunnah.
So much noise by religious bigots over rights of women is a norm in our society. The only
purpose of such billows is to gain political marks. In fact, the Bill do not require a woman to be
punished - as the case under Hudood Ordiance 1979 - if she fails to provide for 4 pious males
like our religious fundamentalists. Moreover, the bill requires the intervention of the session
court in case the families pardon the culprits of rape or killing by settling the dispute outside the
court under Qazf. Moreover, the bill made the offences under Hudood Ordinances to be taken
under Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) that gives the right to have bail which 1979 Hudood Ordinance
negated.

13. Women in Pakistan politics:
Mahatarma Fatima Jinnah became a leading icon of the Pakistan Movement. Dr. Dushka Syed, a
noted academic writes:
“The constant presence of Fatima Jinnah, the Quaid‟s sister, was not accidental, but a message
by this visionary leader that women should be equal partners in politics and that they should not
be confined to the traditional home-bound role of a wife and a mother. It is not surprising then
that he was constantly under attack of the orthodox religious parties. Once, so the story goes, he
was about to address a mammoth public meeting, and was requested not to have Fatima Jinnah
sitting on the dais by his side. He refused.”
Women protection bill 2006:
is also being claimed that the bill does not violate the injunctions of Quran and Sunnah. Let us
take a serious and realistic look at the basic points mentioned in this bill. How much they are in
line with the claims being made.
If we study the bill we would arrive at the conclusion that the bill contains only two substantive
points:
• Punishment for rape
• Crime
Punishment for rape (zina bil jabar) as ordained by the Quran and Sunnah
which is called 'hadd' has been completely abolished in this bill. As such a person who has
committed rape cannot be given the legal (sharai) punishment and instead he will receive a
ta'azeeri punishment (anything below 'hadd')
Crime which was declared a ta'azeeri punishment in the Hudood Ordinance has been
downgraded and declared 'lewdness', thereby reducing the severity of its punishment.
The government presented another bill on women rights "Prevention of anti-Women Practices
Bill 2006 (Criminal Law Amendment) in December 2006. The bill contains the proposal of nine-
member Ulema panel to relieve women from some of the malpractices. Under Section 310A, the
bill prohibits handover of women for settling a dispute between groups, either under marriage or

14. as Vaani, Swara. Any violation of the Bill carries three-year prison term and fine.
The second bill on women rights also protects the women from depriving of the inheritance in
property, violation of which carries seven-year imprisonment under Section 498A; force
marriage is regarded as punishable with three-year imprisonment and fine under Section 498B;
Section 498C prohibits marriage with the Quran, those involving such practice are punishable
with three-year imprisonment.
Parliament asked to adopt women protection bill
Members of the committee stressed for the need of proper mechanism and relevant clauses in the
draft bill to preclude the possibility of any misuse by either sex and it was suggested that women
organizations and NGOs might be asked to develop documentaries on how to seek redressal in
case of harassment/violence and to screen the same in rural areas of the country.
The participants emphasised that proper measures needed to be taken to ensure that police did
not side with the perpetrators of crimes against women. The meeting urged the government to
provide more funds and staff to the Ministry of Women Development for undertaking this
venture.
Minister for Information Sherry Rehman assured the Senate body of her ministry‟s full
cooperation with the women development ministry and other organizations working for the
rights of women, especially with regard to preparation of media campaign for sensitization.
She said it was desire of the government that bill should originate in the Senate. She hoped that
the vetting/amendments being made by the Law Division would not defeat the original purpose
of the bill, adding that the government would continue to accord priority to welfare of women.
The meeting was also attended by Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Raza Rabbani and
Senators Sardar Jamal Khan Leghari, Muhammad Ayaz Khan Jogezai, Ms Razina Alam Khan
and Ms Fauzia Fakhur-uz-Zaman.

15. The protection Punishment against harassment of women at workplace bill 2009:
In Karachi: president Asif Ali Zardari on Friday signed the bill. Providing increased punishment
over harassment of women at workplace
The Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill 2009” Criminal Law
(Amendment) Bill, 2009 amends both the Pakistan Penal Code and the Code of Criminal
Procedure, “increasing the punishment for the crime up to three years in prison and a fine of up
to Rs 500,000. The President signed the bill in the presence of a large number of women hailing
from different sections of the society. The gathering termed it a landmark decision by the
government, reflecting the desire of the government to ensure dignity and honour of the women.
According to the bill whosoever makes any sound or gesture, utters any word, exhibits any
object or demands sexual favour from woman at workplace would face the punishment. The bill
was unanimously passed by the National Assembly on Jan 21, a day after its passage from the
Senate. It also proposes penalties including demotion, compulsory retirement, removal from
service and dismissal from service.
Under the new law, amendments have been made in Criminal Act and if a person to be involved
in the physical or any harassment with woman on work places, would get three years sentence or
fine of Rs. 0.5 million or both.
The law said that if a workingwomen complaints to her in charge regarding the attitude of any
person then a three-member committee to be formed for inquiry. The committee after review the
matter would present its report to the authorities concerned. Under the new law, amendments

16. have been made in Criminal Act and if a person to be involved in the physical or any harassment
with woman on work places, would get three years sentence or fine of Rs. 0.5 million or both.
Under the law, the use of immoral language against women or teasing her would be tantamount
of violation of the law.
A woman can also lodge a complaint herself against any person to whom, she feels threat of
harassment. The law would provide sense of protection to women; however, a woman would
also face fine or punishment if she lodged a wrong complaint against any person.
c. NGOs working for Women Rights
Women Action Forum was formed in Karachi in September 1981 in order to voice
against brutalities of Hudood Ordinances. Behind its formation, there was a case in which
a fifteen year old woman was sentenced to flogging because of marrying of her choice.
Since then the forum took out many demonstrations and public awareness campaigns for
eliminating the abuse of women rights in Pakistan. The forum has expanded its activities
in major cities of Pakistan.
Aurat Foundation formed in 1986 is working enthusiastically for the rights of women.
The head office is located in Islamabad. The organization has its own information and
publication department that apprise the people the true realities women facing in
Pakistan.
APWA (All Pakistan women association) and UNFPA are working for the women‟s
right.

17. Current Situation
In 2011 Jan to June 2011 it has been seen more cases. 4448 women‟s victmed by the male
 22/4448=acid burn women
 81/4448= forced marriages
The rural women mostly victimed by males but they don‟t make action against them….
Current bill:
 Punishment for acid: 14 year, 10 lakh
 Varasat mey mehroomi: 7 year, 10 lakh
 Force marriages or the marriages with Quran e pak: 7 year, 5 lakh
WOMEN'S RIGHTS:
Throughout most of history women generally have had fewer legal rights and career
opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant
professions. In the 20th century, however, women in most nations won the right to vote and
increased their educational and job opportunities

18. Perhaps most important, they fought for and to a large degree accomplished a reevaluation of
traditional views of their role in society.
INTERNATIONAL HOSTORY
Early Attitudes Toward Women:
Since early times women have been uniquely viewed as a creative source of human life.
Historically, however, they have been considered not only intellectually inferior to men but also
a major source of temptation and evil. In Greek mythology, for example, it was a woman,
Pandora, who opened the forbidden box and brought plagues and unhappiness to mankind. Early
Roman law described women as children, forever inferior to men.
Early Christian theology perpetuated these views. St. Jerome, a 4th-century Latin father of the
Christian church, said: "Woman is the gate of the devil, the path of wickedness, the sting of the
serpent, in a word a perilous object.
“Thomas Aquinas, the 13th-century Christian theologian, said that woman was "created to be
man's helpmeet, but her unique role is in conception . . . since for other purposes men would be
better assisted by other men."
The attitude toward women in the East was at first more favorable. In ancient India, for example,
women were not deprived of property rights or individual freedoms by marriage. But Hinduism,
which evolved in India after about 500 BC, required obedience of women toward men. Women
had to walk behind their husbands. Women could not own property, and widows could not
remarry. In both East and West, male children were preferred over female children.
Nevertheless, when they were allowed personal and intellectual freedom, women made
significant achievements. During the Middle Ages nuns played a key role in the religious life of
Europe. Aristocratic women enjoyed power and prestige. Whole eras were influenced by women
rulers for instance, Queen Elizabeth of England in the 16th century, Catherine the Great of
Russia in the 18th century, and Queen Victoria of England in the 19th century.

19. The Weaker Sex?
Women were long considered naturally weaker than men, squeamish, and unable to perform
work requiring muscular or intellectual development. In most preindustrial societies, for
example, domestic chores were relegated to women, leaving "heavier" labor such as hunting and
plowing to men. This ignored the fact that caring for children and doing such tasks as milking
cows and washing clothes also required heavy, sustained labor. But physiological tests now
suggest that women have a greater tolerance for pain, and statistics reveal that women live longer
and are more resistant to many diseases.
Maternity, the natural biological role of women, has traditionally been regarded as their major
social role as well. The resulting stereotype that "a woman's place is in the home" has largely
determined the ways in which women have expressed themselves. Today, contraception and, in
some areas, legalized abortion have given women greater control over the number of children
they will bear. Although these developments have freed women for roles other than motherhood,
the cultural pressure for women to become wives and mothers still prevents many talented
women from finishing college or pursuing careers.
Traditionally a middle-class girl in Western culture tended to learn from her mother's example
that cooking, cleaning, and caring for children was the behavior expected of her when she grew
up. Tests made in the 1960s showed that the scholastic achievement of girls was higher in the
early grades than in high school. The major reason given was that the girls' own expectations
declined because neither their families nor their teachers expected them to prepare for a future
other than that of marriage and motherhood. This trend has been changing in recent decades.

20. Formal education for girls historically has been secondary to that for boys. In colonial America
girls learned to read and write at dame schools. They could attend the master's schools for boys
when there was room, usually during the summer when most of the boys were working. By the
end of the 19th century, however, the number of women students had increased greatly. Higher
education particularly was broadened by the rise of women's colleges and the admission of
women to regular colleges and universities. In 1870 an estimated one fifth of resident college and
university students were women. By 1900 the proportion had increased to more than one third.
Women obtained 19 percent of all undergraduate college degrees around the beginning of the
20th century. By 1984 the figure had sharply increased to 49 percent. Women also increased
their numbers in graduate study. By the mid-1980s women were earning 49 percent of all
master's degrees and about 33 percent of all doctoral degrees. In 1985 about 53 percent of all
college students were women, more than one quarter of whom were above age 29.
The Legal Status of Women
The myth of the natural inferiority of women greatly influenced the status of women in law.
Under the common law of England, an unmarried woman could own property, make a contract,
or sue and be sued. But a married woman, defined as being one with her husband, gave up her
name, and virtually all her property came under her husband's control.
During the early history of the United States, a man virtually owned his wife and children as he
did his material possessions. If a poor man chose to send his children to the poorhouse, the
mother was legally defenseless to object. Some communities, however, modified the common
law to allow women to act as lawyers in the courts, to sue for property, and to own property in
their own names if their husbands agreed.
Equity law, which developed in England, emphasized the principle of equal rights rather than
tradition. Equity law had a liberalizing effect upon the legal rights of women in the United
States. For instance, a woman could sue her husband. Mississippi in 1839, followed by New
York in 1848 and Massachusetts in 1854, passed laws allowing married women to own property
separate from their husbands. In divorce law, however, generally the divorced husband kept legal
control of both children and property.
In the 19th century, women began working outside their homes in large numbers, notably in
textile mills and garment shops. In poorly ventilated, crowded rooms women (and children)

21. worked for as long as 12 hours a day. Great Britain passed a ten-hour-day law for women and
children in 1847, but in the United States it was not until the 1910s that the states began to pass
legislation limiting working hours and improving working conditions of women and children.
Eventually, however, some of these labor laws were seen as restricting the rights of working
women. For instance, laws prohibiting women from working more than an eight-hour day or
from working at night effectively prevented women from holding many jobs, particularly
supervisory positions that might require overtime work. Laws in some states prohibited women
from lifting weights above a certain amount varying from as little as 15 pounds (7 kilograms)
again barring women from many jobs.
During the 1960s several federal laws improving the economic status of women were passed.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 required equal wages for men and women doing equal work. The
Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination against women by any company with 25 or
more employees. A Presidential Executive Order in 1967 prohibited bias against women in
hiring by federal government contractors
But discrimination in other fields persisted. Many retail stores would not issue independent credit
cards to married women. Divorced or single women often found it difficult to obtain credit to
purchase a house or a car. Laws concerned with welfare, crime, prostitution, and abortion also
displayed a bias against women. In possible violation of a woman's right to privacy, for example,
a mother receiving government welfare payments was subject to frequent investigations in order
to verify her welfare claim. Sex discrimination in the definition of crimes existed in some areas
of the United States. A woman who shot and killed her husband would be accused of homicide,
but the shooting of a wife by her husband could be termed a "passion shooting." Only in 1968,
for another example, did the Pennsylvania courts void a state law which required that any woman
convicted of a felony be sentenced to the maximum punishment prescribed by law. Often women
prostitutes were prosecuted although their male customers were allowed to go free. In most states
abortion was legal only if the mother's life was judged to be physically endangered. In 1973,
however, the United States Supreme Court ruled that states could not restrict a woman's right to
an abortion in her first three months of pregnancy.
Until well into the 20th century, women in Western European countries lived under many of the
same legal disabilities as women in the United States. For example, until 1935, married women

22. in England did not have the full right to own property and to enter into contracts on a par with
unmarried women. Only after 1920 was legislation passed to provide working women with
employment opportunities and pay equal to men. Not until the early 1960s was a law passed that
equalized pay scales for men and women in the British civil service.
Women at Work
In colonial America, women who earned their own living usually became seamstresses or kept
boardinghouses. But some women worked in professions and jobs available mostly to men.
There were women doctors, lawyers, preachers, teachers, writers, and singers. By the early 19th
century, however, acceptable occupations for working women were limited to factory labor or
domestic work. Women were excluded from the professions, except for writing and teaching.
The medical profession is an example of changed attitudes in the 19th and 20th centuries about
what was regarded as suitable work for women. Prior to the 1800s there were almost no medical
schools, and virtually any enterprising person could practice medicine. Indeed, obstetrics was the
domain of women.
Beginning in the 19th century, the required educational preparation, particularly for the practice
of medicine, increased. This tended to prevent many young women, who married early and bore
many children, from entering professional careers. Although home nursing was considered a
proper female occupation, nursing in hospitals was done almost exclusively by men. Specific
discrimination against women also began to appear. For example, the American Medical
Association, founded in 1846, barred women from membership. Barred also from attending
"men's" medical colleges, women enrolled in their own for instance, the Female Medical College
of Pennsylvania, which was established in 1850. By the 1910s, however, women were attending

23. many leading medical schools, and in 1915 the American Medical Association began to admit
women members.
In 1890, women constituted about 5 percent of the total doctors in the United States. During the
1980s the proportion was about 17 percent. At the same time the percentage of women doctors
was about 19 percent in West Germany and 20 percent in France. In Israel, however, about 32
percent of the total number of doctors and dentists were women.
Women also had not greatly improved their status in other professions. In 1930 about 2 percent
of all American lawyers and judges were women in 1989, about 22 percent. In 1930 there were
almost no women engineers in the United States. In 1989 the proportion of women engineers was
only 7.5 percent.
In contrast, the teaching profession was a large field of employment for women. In the late 1980s
more than twice as many women as men taught in elementary and high schools. In higher
education, however, women held only about one third of the teaching positions, concentrated in
such fields as education, social service, home economics, nursing, and library science. A small
proportion of Women College and university teachers were in the physical sciences, engineering,
agriculture, and law.
The great majority of women who work are still employed in clerical positions, factory work,
retail sales, and service jobs. Secretaries, bookkeepers, and typists account for a large portion of
women clerical workers. Women in factories often work as machine operators, assemblers, and
inspectors. Many women in service jobs work as waitresses, cooks, hospital attendants, cleaning
women, and hairdressers.
During wartime women have served in the armed forces. In the United States during World War
II almost 300,000 women served in the Army and Navy, performing such noncombatant jobs as
secretaries, typists, and nurses. Many European women fought in the underground resistance
movements during World War II. In Israel women are drafted into the armed forces along with
men and receive combat training.
Women constituted more than 45 percent of employed persons in the United States in 1989, but
they had only a small share of the decision-making jobs. Although the number of women
working as managers, officials, and other administrators has been increasing, in 1989 they were
outnumbered about 1.5 to 1 by men. Despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women in 1970 were

24. paid about 45 percent less than men for the same jobs; in 1988, about 32 percent less.
Professional women did not get the important assignments and promotions given to their male
colleagues. Many cases before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1970 were
registered by women charging sex discrimination in jobs.
Working women often faced discrimination on the mistaken belief that, because they were
married or would most likely get married, they would not be permanent workers. But married
women generally continued on their jobs for many years and were not a transient, temporary, or
undependable work force. From 1960 to the early 1970s the influx of married women workers
accounted for almost half of the increase in the total labor force, and working wives were staying
on their jobs longer before starting families. The number of elderly working also increased
markedly.
Since 1960 more and more women with children have been in the work force. This change is
especially dramatic for married women with children under age 6: 12 percent worked in 1950, 45
percent in 1980, and 57 percent in 1987. Just over half the mothers with children under age 3
were in the labor force in 1987. Black women with children are more likely to work than are
white or Hispanic women who have children. Over half of all black families with children are
maintained by the mother only, compared with 18 percent of white families with children.
Despite their increased presence in the work force, most women still have primary responsibility
for housework and family care. In the late 1970s men with an employed wife spent only about
1.4 hours a week more on household tasks than those whose wife was a full-time homemaker.
A crucial issue for many women is maternity leave, or time off from their jobs after giving birth.
By federal law a full-time worker is entitled to time off and a job when she returns, but few states
by the early 1990s required that the leave be paid. Many countries, including Mexico, India,
Germany, Brazil, and Australia require companies to grant 12-week maternity leaves at full pay.
Women in Politics
American women have had the right to vote since 1920, but their political roles have been
minimal. Not until 1984 did a major party choose a woman Geraldine Ferraro of New York to
run for vice-president (see Ferraro). Jeanette Rankin of Montana, elected in 1917, was the first
woman member of the United States House of Representatives. In 1968 Shirley Chisholm of
New York was the first black woman elected to the House of Representatives (see Chisholm).

25. Hattie Caraway of Arkansas first appointed in 1932 was, in 1933, the first woman elected to the
United States Senate. Senator Margaret Chase Smith served Maine for 24 years (1949-73).
Others were Maurine Neuberger of Oregon, Nancy Landon Kassebaum of Kansas, Paula
Hawkins of Florida, and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.
Wives of former governors became the first women governors Miriam A. Ferguson of Texas
(1925-27 and 1933-35) and Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming (1925-27) (see Ross, Nellie
Tayloe). In 1974 Ella T. Grasso of Connecticut won a governorship on her own merits.
In 1971 Patience Sewell Latting was elected mayor of Oklahoma City, at that time the largest
city in the nation with a woman mayor. By 1979 two major cities were headed by women:
Chicago, by Jane Byrne, and San Francisco, by Dianne Feinstein. Sharon Pratt Dixon was
elected mayor of Washington, D.C., in 1990.
Frances Perkins was the first woman Cabinet member as secretary of labor under President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. Oveta Culp Hobby was secretary of health, education, and welfare in the
Dwight D. Eisenhower Cabinet. Carla A. Hills was secretary of housing and urban development
in Gerald R. Ford's Cabinet. Jimmy Carter chose two women for his original Cabinet Juanita M.
Kreps as secretary of commerce and Patricia Roberts Harris as secretary of housing and urban
development. Harris was the first African American woman in a presidential Cabinet. When the
separate Department of Education was created, Carter named Shirley Mount Hufstedler to head
it. Ronald Reagan's Cabinet included Margaret Heckler, secretary of health and human services,
and Elizabeth Dole, secretary of transportation. Under George Bush, Dole became secretary of
labor; she was succeeded by Representative Lynn Martin. Bush chose Antonia Novello, a
Hispanic, for surgeon general in 1990.
Reagan set a precedent with his appointment in 1981 of Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman
on the United States Supreme Court (see O'Connor). The next year Bertha Wilson was named to
the Canadian Supreme Court. In 1984 Jeanne Sauve became Canada's first female governor-
general (see Sauve).
In international affairs, Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed to the United Nations in 1945 and
served as chairman of its Commission on Human Rights (see Roosevelt, Eleanor). Eugenie
Anderson was sent to Denmark in 1949 as the first woman ambassador from the United States.
Jeane Kirkpatrick was named ambassador to the United Nations in 1981.

26. Three women held their countries' highest elective offices by 1970. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was
prime minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1960 to 1965 and from 1970 to 1977 (see
Bandaranaike). Indira Gandhi was prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980
until her assassination in 1984 (sees Gandhi, Indira). Golda Meir was prime minister of Israel
from 1969 to 1974 (see Meir). The first woman head of state in the Americas was Juan Peron's
widow, Isabel, president of Argentina in 1974-76 (see Peron). Elisabeth Domitien was premier of
the Central African Republic in 1975-76. Margaret Thatcher, who first became prime minister of
Great Britain in 1979, was the only person in the 20th century to be reelected to that office for a
third consecutive term (see Thatcher). Also in 1979, Simone Weil of France became the first
president of the European Parliament.
In the early 1980s Vigdis Finnbogadottir was elected president of Iceland; Gro Harlem
Brundtland, prime minister of Norway; and Milka Planinc, premier of Yugoslavia. In 1986
Corazon Aquino became president of the Philippines (see Aquino). From 1988 to 1990 Benazir
Bhutto was prime minister of Pakistan the first woman to head a Muslim nation (see Bhutto).
In 1990 Mary Robinson was elected president of Ireland and Violeta Chamorro, of Nicaragua.
Australia's first female premier was Carmen Lawrence of Western Australia (1990), and
Canada's was Rita Johnston of British Columbia (1991). In 1991 Khaleda Zia became the prime
minister of Bangladesh and Socialist Edith Cresson was named France's first female premier.
Poland's first female Prime Minister, Hanna Suchocka, was elected in 1992.
Women in Reform Movements
Women in the United States during the 19th century organized and participated in a great variety
of reform movements to improve education, to initiate prison reform, to ban alcoholic drinks,
and, during the pre-Civil War period, to free the slaves.
At a time when it was not considered respectable for women to speak before mixed audiences of
men and women, the abolitionist sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke of South Carolina boldly
spoke out against slavery at public meetings (see Grimke Sisters). Some male abolitionists
including William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Frederick Douglass supported the right
of women to speak and participate equally with men in antislavery activities. In one instance,
women delegates to the World's Anti-Slavery Convention held in London in 1840 were denied

27. their places. Garrison thereupon refused his own seat and joined the women in the balcony as a
spectator.
Some women saw parallels between the position of women and that of the slaves. In their view,
both were expected to be passive, cooperative, and obedient to their master-husbands. Women
such as Stanton, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth were feminists
and abolitionists, believing in both the rights of women and the rights of blacks. (See also
individual biographies.)
Many women supported the temperance movement in the belief that drunken husbands pulled
their families into poverty. In 1872 the Prohibition party became the first national political party
to recognize the right of suffrage for women in its platform. Frances Willard helped found the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union (see Willard, Frances).
During the mid-1800s Dorothea Dix was a leader in the movements for prison reform and for
providing mental-hospital care for the needy. The settlement-house movement was inspired by
Jane Addams, who founded Hull House in Chicago in 1889, and by Lillian Wald, who founded
the Henry Street Settlement House in New York City in 1895. Both women helped immigrants
adjust to city life. (See also Addams; Dix.)
Women were also active in movements for agrarian and labor reforms and for birth control.
Mary Elizabeth Lease, a leading Populist spokeswoman in the 1880s and 1890s in Kansas,
immortalized the cry, "What the farmers need to do is raise less corn and more hell." Margaret
Robins led the National Women's Trade Union League in the early 1900s. In the 1910s Margaret
Sanger crusaded to have birth-control information available for all women (see Sanger).
Fighting for the Vote
The first women's rights convention took place in Seneca Falls, N.Y., in July 1848. The
declaration that emerged was modeled after the Declaration of Independence. Written by
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, it claimed that "all men and women are created equal" and that "the
history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward
woman." Following a long list of grievances were resolutions for equitable laws, equal
educational and job opportunities, and the right to vote.

28. With the Union victory in the Civil War, women abolitionists hoped their hard work would result
in suffrage for women as well as for blacks. But the 14th and 15th Amendments to the
Constitution, adopted in 1868 and 1870 respectively, granted citizenship and suffrage to blacks
but not to women.
Disagreement over the next steps to take led to a split in the women's rights movement in 1869.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, a temperance and antislavery advocate, formed
the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in New York. Lucy Stone organized the
American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) in Boston. The NWSA agitated for a woman-
suffrage amendment to the Federal Constitution, while the AWSA worked for suffrage
amendments to each state constitution. Eventually, in 1890, the two groups united as the
National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Lucy Stone became chairman of
the executive committee and Elizabeth Cady Stanton served as the first president. Susan B.
Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw served as later presidents.
The struggle to win the vote was slow and frustrating. Wyoming Territory in 1869, Utah
Territory in 1870, and the states of Colorado in 1893 and Idaho in 1896 granted women the vote
but the Eastern states resisted. A woman-suffrage amendment to the Federal Constitution,
presented to every Congress since 1878, repeatedly failed to pass.

29. International rights for women
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women New York,
18 December 1979
INTRODUCTION
On 18 December 1979, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. It entered into force as an
international treaty on 3 September 1981 after the twentieth country had ratified it. By the tenth
anniversary of the Convention in 1989, almost one hundred nations have agreed to be bound by
its provisions.
The Convention was the culmination of more than thirty years of work by the United Nations
Commission on the Status of Women, a body established in 1946 to monitor the situation of
women and to promote women's rights. The Commission's work has been instrumental in
bringing to light all the areas in which women are denied equality with men. These efforts for the
advancement of women have resulted in several declarations and conventions, of which the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is the central and
most comprehensive document.
• It present Convention, the term "discrimination against women" shall mean any
distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of sex which has the effect or
purpose of impairing or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women,
irrespective of their marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human
rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or any
other field.
• Discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue by all appropriate means
and without delay a policy of eliminating discrimination against women and, to this end,
undertake:

30. (a) To embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions or
other appropriate legislation if not yet incorporated therein and to ensure, through law and other
appropriate means, the practical realization of this principle;
(b) To adopt appropriate legislative and other measures, including sanctions
Where appropriate, prohibiting all discrimination against women;
(c) To establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal basis with men and to ensure
through competent national tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection of
women against any act of discrimination;
(d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and to
ensure that public authorities and institutions shall act in conformity with this obligation;
(e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by any person,
organization or enterprise;
(f) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws,
regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women;
(g) To repeal all national penal provisions which constitute discrimination against women.
3. To eliminate discrimination against women in the political and public life of the country and,
in particular, shall ensure to women, on equal terms with men, the right:
(a) To vote in all elections and public referenda and to be eligible for election to all publicly
elected bodies;
(b) To participate in the formulation of government policy and the implementation thereof and to
hold public office and perform all public
Functions at all levels of government
(c) To participate in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public
and political life of the country.
• To eliminate discrimination against women in order to ensure to them equal rights with
men in the field of education and in particular to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and
women:

31. (a) the same conditions for career and vocational guidance, for access to studies and for the
achievement of diplomas in educational establishments of all categories in rural as well as in
urban areas; this equality shall be ensured in pre-school, general, technical, professional and
higher technical education, as well as in all types of vocational training;
(b) Access to the same curricula, the same examinations, teaching staff with qualifications of the
same standard and school premises and equipment of the same quality;
(c) The elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and
women at all levels and in all forms of education by encouraging coeducation and other types of
education which will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the revision of textbooks and
school programmes and the adaptation of teaching methods;
(d ) The same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and other study grants;
(e) The same opportunities for access to programmes of continuing education, including adult
and functional literacy programmes, particulary those aimed at reducing, at the earliest possible
time, any gap in education existing between men and women;
(f) The reduction of female student drop-out rates and the organization of programmes for girls
and women who have left school prematurely;
(g) The same opportunities to participate actively in sports and physical education;
(h) Access to specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of
families, including information and advice on family planning.
• to eliminate discrimination against women in all matters relating to marriage and family
relations and in particular shall ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women:
(a) The same right to enter into marriage;
(b) The same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and
full consent;
(c) The same rights and responsibilities during marriage and at its dissolution;
(d) The same rights and responsibilities as parents, irrespective of their marital status, in matters
relating to their children; in all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;

32. (e) The same rights to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children
and to have access to the information, education and means to enable them to exercise these
rights;
(f) The same rights and responsibilities with regard to guardianship, ward ship, trusteeship and
adoption of children, or similar institutions where these concepts exist in national legislation; in
all cases the interests of the children shall be paramount;
(g) The same personal rights as husband and wife, including the right to choose a family name, a
profession and an occupation;
(h) The same rights for both spouses in respect of the ownership, acquisition, management,
administration, enjoyment and disposition of property, whether free of charge or for a valuable
consideration.
Proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 48/104 of 20 December 1993
The term "violence against women" means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is
likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including
threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in
private life.
Violence against women shall be understood to encompass, but not be limited to, the following:
• Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering,
sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape,
female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal
violence and violence related to exploitation;
• Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring within the general community,
including rape, sexual abuse, sexual harassment and intimidation at work, in educational
institutions and elsewhere, trafficking in women and forced prostitution;
• Physical, sexual and psychological violence perpetrated or condoned by the State,
wherever it occurs.Women are entitled to the equal enjoyment and protection of all
human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil
or any other field. These rights include, inter alia :

33. The right to life;
(b) The right to equality;
(c) The right to liberty and security of person;
(d) The right to equal protection under the law;
(e) The right to be free from all forms of discrimination;
(f) The right to the highest standard attainable of physical and mental health;
(g) The right to just and favourable conditions of work;
(h) The right not to be subjected to torture, or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
CONCLUSION:
Given these facts, the Women in Pakistan do not possess their due rights guaranteed by the
Constitution and Laws. The state is unable to protect the women from inhuman social customs
prevalent in our society. The general population is mum over wicked practices being carried out
on women; there is a great need of their voice against anti-women practices rather than forming
laws over laws. The only need is to wake people of Pakistan for the Protection of Women Rights.

34. References:
 Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reveals,
 (Charles Kennedy: The Status of Women in Pakistan in Islamization of Laws page 74
 Saeed Anwar-194 THE REALITY OF WOMEN PROTECTION BILL 2006
by Justice (Retd) Muhammad Taqi Usman,11th December 2006.20:54
(http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/showthread.php?t=32301http://www.pakpassion.net
/ppforum/showthread.php?t=32031)
 ARY News (reported on 29th jan,2010)
 Women history in America, presented by women international center
 http://www.nation.com.
 Women parliamentary caucus
 Quran e pak & hadis
• Dawn Date:12/19/2008 (pk press foundation)
.