The rural women of Pakistan are not given enough opportunities that allow them to grow to their full potential and achieve everything they are capable of. According to the population census done in 2017, 63% of the population of Pakistan lives in rural areas. All together in Pakistan, rural women make up about 31% of the population. We need to work towards providing a better quality of life for them.

 

In Pakistan, rural women have historically been economically and socially disempowered. Discriminatory social practices have also been internalized in policies, institutions and organizations. In the economic sphere, more women are employed in the informal agricultural sector in vulnerable jobs, they have lower access to opportunities, face wage discrimination, occupational segregation, and harassment in the workplace. In the social sphere, they have inadequate access to health, face restrictive social norms, underage marriage and child labor. Almost 39% of rural women are subjected to spousal violence and face severe family and community sanctions if perceived as breaking social norms.

 

Many rural women have simple dreams, or what may seem simple to us. Abida Imran, a rural Pakistani woman says, “I got married at a young age. Crossing one door to another my childhood soul quickly matured as I acquired new responsibilities and life companion. Children followed soon after. My children are my life. I shall keep working hard to provide them the best education I can and dream of their bright futures — where they can do and be whatever their tiny hearts desire.” This shows us that many rural women yearn to do more to better their own lives and those of their children. We can help them achieve their goals by providing them with more opportunities.

 

Many urban women may face such issues as well. However, because of cultural taboos, rural women are less likely to speak up and ask for more rights or opportunities for themselves. We feel as though it is our duty as Pakistanis to help these women advance and prosper. Moreover, we believe these women need to be provided with education that will benefit them in the future. Many rural Pakistani women do not have access to education or it is perceived as wrong by the society. Rather than standardized education such as the broader subject of mathematics and sciences, we feel as though they should be provided with skills that they will be able to use in their daily life such as vocational training and technical economic and financial training.

​

We encourage other organizations, whether private or public, to conduct similar practices. Not only do we aim to raise awareness and encourage others, we aim to help these women ourselves as well by providing them with education regarding leadership skills, vocational skills, financial skills and agricultural skills. We aim to provide them with an online platform on which they can upload their handicrafts and sell them to generate income for their families. By doing this, we can slowly start eradicating the taboo around economic and educational skills being provided to rural women and empower them at the same time.

 

In conclusion, empowering the rural women of Pakistan is important and can be extremely beneficial to the economy in the near future. We need to come together and provide for those less fortunate than us and those who do not have access to the opportunities and facilities we do. Helping others accomplish something substantial will not only benefit them, but give us a feeling of satisfaction as well.