Our persistent gender gap

#persistent #gender #gap

Lahore: Women in Pakistan face a systematic emission from the economic mainstream. The prejudices of the deep embedded legal and cultural genre have long been restricted to their movement, access to decent work and fair compensation.

This exit has prevented the country from opening its entire economic capabilities. Number one paints a serious picture. According to the World Economic Forum’s World Gender Difference Report 2024, Pakistan is the lowest global level in terms of gender equality – especially in economic participation. Participation in the women’s labor force is less than 25 %, which is in the lowest places in the world. But this is due to lack of capacity or consent. Rather, it reflects deep entering structural barriers.

Most Pakistani women are either completely excluded from the job market or pushed into low pay, informal sector roles-such as domestic aid, agricultural labor or domestic crafts. These jobs do not offer legal protection nor wages. Meanwhile, professional and technical training opportunities are widely developed by men, which further expand the difference between gender.

The dangerous thing is that there are no constitutional guarantees or labor laws in Pakistan that make equal salaries mandatory for equal work. This legal space allows the discrimination of wages to be maintained in non -scrutiny. In some textile factories and agricultural farms, a good number of women is paid significantly less than their male counterparts. The worse thing is that many employers openly offer marital or family status as job standards, often preferred unmarried women without more children than well -educated candidates.

In developed economies, asking for a female applicant during a job interview will be considered as both illegal and discriminatory and discrimination. In Pakistan, such questions are normal – and rarely challenged. Women whose marriage or mothers are kept often find themselves with limited flexibility. The absence of part -time work, maternity support or the absence of legal provisions for children’s care leaves many people unable to balance professional and domestic responsibilities.

Legal restrictions also affect work hours and access to industries. Women are prevented from night shifts in many fields and are limited by manufacturing, mining and energy roles. It not only reduces the ability to earn income, but also reinforces men’s bread winner and stereotypical concepts as women.

Even in corporate offices and public sector institutions, where more educated women appear, the number of leadership falls on the ladder. Board rooms live a lot of men, with the representation of token women only. Teachers, promotion and professional development opportunities are easily increased to men than women.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has described Pakistan’s gender one of the “inside/out” separation-where women are expected to remain in the private sector of the house and family, while men occupy the realm of public trade, leadership and decision-making. This theory, which is reflected in the traditions of veil and strict social principles, limits women’s sovereignty.

However, there are pockets of development. Stories of success of women businessmen, health workers, and social workers-important microfinance steps in Sindh, run a tech startup in Karachi, or enter the majority of the professions-offer some hope. Yet these are the exceptions rather than usual.

Pakistan will have to eliminate gender barriers to achieving comprehensive and sustainable development, which declare women economically hidden. This calls for immediate legal reforms – equal salary guarantees, banning methods of getting discriminatory services, and ensuring maternity and child care support – as well as a change in social attitudes that recognize women as equal partners in national development.

When half of its population is left behind, a country cannot develop. Both economic restoration and social justice require that Pakistan embrace the equity from its gender traditions, not as a desire, but an essential.