Financial liability, burden, misfortune, tragedy and so on. These are the terms which people use when describing a woman in Pakistan. According to our society, a woman is merely born to do all the household chores and her aim is to be the best house wife. Don’t speak! You don’t have any right to question that why you are just restricted to do only these things.
A woman is a configuration of any society. She creates the formation of family life, converts an empty house into sweet home, brings up the children and tries to make them good citizens. Her role in totality provides to the building of an ideal family, ideal society and an ideal state. Although in countries like Pakistan, women are deprived from their basic human rights like Education, Health, Decision-making power, and so on. People think that era has changed now and women are having all their rights but that’s only their misperception. As keeping aside the rural areas where the women are not even having basic human rights, though the areas where women are allowed to health and education yet face inequality in every situation.
Pakistan ranks second lowest in the world for gender equality. Domestic violence is one of the examples of gender inequality. So many women are tolerating violence just because if they raise their voices, people will start pointing fingers on and accuse them. Their families even don’t support them and tell them to sacrifice, tolerate and adjust in every situation. Because of the fear that what people will think and say if a woman is divorced or separated. Family and relatives pressurize them that no matter whatever happens, you have to continue this marriage. Why? What if same thing happens to a man, will people still tell him to tolerate and kill his self-respect in order to continue their relationship. Nobody will ever say these things to a man as this is male dominating society. They treat women as meaningless creatures…
Another major reason is that when a woman wants to end that abusive marriage, she can’t. As she is so much financially dependent on her husband that she cannot be able to take her own expenses. Parents don’t think and focus about their daughter’s education or even if some of them make their daughters educated, they don’t allow them for higher studies or working outside. This makes women financially dependent on other family members (father, brother or husband).
If a woman is given her rights from her childhood, she shouldn’t have to tolerate any kind of violence, injustice, harassments etc. this society needs to provide every woman their right to Education, Health, and Employment, decision-making and so on. Parents need to educate and give every right to their daughter as they give to their son. Don’t discriminate women on the basis of gender because at first she is a human being. A woman can not only make a round tortilla but she can also make everyone proud too.
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Contributed by:
Um-ul-Banin