For the last two years, I have been living in my native village close to Lodhran where I have taken up welfare projects related to local women, promoting their talents in a variety of areas, like hand embroidery and pottery. The idea is to work towards their economic empowerment. Part of my efforts has been to introduce the women I come into contact with to the world of online stores so that they may have access to platforms from where they may directly sell their wares.
During the two years I have spent in my current surroundings, I have been able to observe closely what our women in rural areas have to go through. They earn much lower wages as seasonal hands than their male counterparts even though they carry greater workloads, have additional domestic responsibilities, and despite being more dependable in their work environment. Also, their right to property is often challenged, and even when they own some property, they do not always control it.
In such an environment, education is a luxury for young girls about which they do not even think themselves. Along with the social norms, it is the failure of the state that is behind the lack of girls’ enrolment in schools.
The government should initiate livelihood-oriented courses for rural women who do not continue education beyond primary or even matriculation levels. There has to be a mechanism to ensure that as small producers, women have fair access to and control over productive resources.
Furthermore, harassment of and violence against women, at home, in workplaces and even in public spaces, need to be addressed beyond the passage of laws. Away from any kind of social protection, women continue to experience gender-based violence as an everyday norm.
Women in rural Pakistan are just as talented and hardworking as their counterparts in urban areas. As society, we need to make concerted efforts to help and support them if we want to prosper as a successful nation.
AMINA AMIN KANJU
LODHRAN
