It is well known that women’s level of political participation was non-existent in the earlier centuries. Even in the 21st century, women have very little and restricted access to politics. Their participation has always been controlled by the male counterparts of the society.
While women in Pakistan have had the right to vote ever since the partition, the turnout of women in elections has forever been severely low especially in the province of KPK and Baluchistan which are still considered very backward-minded or are heavily terror influenced.
Pakistan is an underdeveloped country with a large population of it being uneducated. The illiteracy of people results in a very common misconception of politics being “a very bad profession” or “a career for dirty people”. Thus, the concept of women politicians is frowned upon or outright protested against.
Major barrier, women in politics as well as generally in Pakistan have to face is the backward-minded attitude of the majority of the population. In many of the tribal areas, women are not even allowed to step out of their homes. They are very much treated like slaves and kept from reaching their potential in much of anything. They are withheld from getting an education or a career or even the very choice to live life in their own terms. Despite the numerous rights Islam has bestowed upon women, they are not awarded to them even in our modern age. This backward-minded attitude of people, especially men, forces them to talk bad about women in higher statuses resulting in extremely disgusting and dangerous outbursts from them. Women are treated as toys rather than actual human beings. Any women that steps forward to change this is immediately torn down by whatever means. This is a sad reality of Pakistan that exists in many facets of our country. This causes women who wish to be in politics to be terrified and expect the worst.
Another major problem is the perception men have of women. This is not just limited to politics but is still heavily present in political environments. From the dawn of mankind, men have perceived women as naïve, foolish and sensitive. They have looked at them as inferior creatures and refuse to let them be at higher seats of leadership. A very disgusting reality of Pakistan (as well as the entire world) and its people is their tendency to reduce a woman, especially in politics, to nothing more than beautiful and a display object. Political parties flaunt their inadequate number of female politicians but dismiss the idea of giving them any real power. Much of the population disregards a female politician’s intellect and prowess in favor of their beauty and charm. A simple search on google about female politicians in Pakistan will only link you to a ranking of them in regard to their beauty.
Lastly, sexism is the most common barrier faced by women in politics in Pakistan. The general prejudice of men against women is atrocious. It results in women having to do double the work and receiving half the reward. All the political parties in Pakistan decline to have a proper record of their female members and refuse to include them in the most serious of discussions.
Our national saying of “log kya kahein gey” (what will the people say) have held back women and in extension our country from truly prospering. Our old-fashioned cultural traditions forces people to judge a woman’s character and credibility on the way she dresses or acts in public. While the public has a certain right to judge and have opinions about their political leaders, it is wholly unfair for them to hold women on a different standard than men. A hideous habit of Pakistani public and the male Pakistani politicians is to point out or talk bad about a female politician’s character if she steps out of the norms or does something against their wishes.