feminization of poverty in pakistan – report

7/23/2019 Feminization of Poverty in Pakistan – Report

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/feminization-of-poverty-in-pakistan-report 1/5

R

e p o r t

Feminization of Poverty

in Pakistan

THE INSTITUTE OF STRATEGIC STUDIES,

ISLAMABAD

January 12, 2012



ISSI Report

Feminization of Poverty in Pakistan

The Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI) organized a public talk

under its Distinguished Lecture Series titled, “Feminization of Poverty in

Pakistan” on January 12 2012.

The speaker, a prominent human rights activist and development worker,

Tahira Abdullah, gave an insightful and comprehensive overview of the

deteriorating social effects of poverty within Pakistan, especially on

women.

In his welcome address, the Director General of the Institute of Strategic

Studies, Islamabad, (ISSI) said that Ms Abdullah is a true fighter of human

rights in Pakistan, and the status quo holders abhor her efforts and that

societies live because of people like Ms Abdullah. He was of the view that

more and more people are recognizing the fact that poverty is a denial of

human rights, and that women are at the receiving end. Women are viewed

in terms of relationships and are not viewed in terms of their own identity

and in traditional societies, the situation is worse.

In her lecture, Ms. Tahira Abdullah began by saying that successive

governments in Pakistan have manoeuvred the poverty figures and a

census has not been carried out in Pakistan since 1998. In order to change

the poverty head counts, goal posts and definitions were changed, and also

the rupee-dollar exchange rate was changed. Ms. Abdullah was of the view

that the work done by Dr. Mehboob ul Haq’s centre has greatly contributed

in undertaking very credible studies regarding poverty and socio economic

development.

Ms Tahira Abdullah said that 75% of the population in Pakistan lives below

the poverty line and majority of this population comprises of women and

girls. She defined the term ‘Feminization of Poverty’ as the increase in




ISSI Report

proportion and severity of poverty in women-headed households (WHHs)

and the rise in women’s participation in low-paying, urban, informal sector

economic activities and agricultural non-remunerated work are indicators

of feminization of poverty. She was of the view that women experiencepoverty differently, and are “worse off” than men in poverty. Women’s

very real contribution to the national economy is still not counted in the

GDP of the country. The Federal Bureau of Statistics data on women’s

employment (through Labour Force Surveys) does not accurately capture

rural women’s work in agriculture, nor women’s work in non-formal,

unorganized sector of urban economy. According to the Government of

Pakistan, over 70% of rural women work in agriculture & livestock and over

3/4th

urban female labour force works in non-formal sector.

Ms Abdullah said that in Pakistan, hunger has a woman’s face. She stated

that women may be more impoverished due to societal biases and

incomprehensive governmental definitions of what constitutes “productive

work”. Societal biases include giving last portions to sons since they need

the energy for school work and, ultimately, breadwinning.

She criticized the government for ignoring women’s contributions to the

Gross Domestic Product, saying that cotton, Pakistan’s largest cash crop, is

picked entirely by women but the government records make no such

mention. She said that women face a triple burden, the first is the domestic

work they do free of charge, which if quantified comes out in billions of

dollars. The second involves the numerous years lost in childbearing and

rearing which leads to a loss in income. Lastly, productive work such as

picking crops goes unaccounted for. Using statistics to validate her point,

Ms. Abdullah stated that women are disproportionately impacted by the

WTO, globalisation, liberalisation and deregulation. She enumerated the

causes as being the lack of fledgling social protection mechanisms and

removal of agriculture subsidies.

She was of the view that women have traditionally been seen as the ‘seed

keepers’. However, with multinational corporations and their monopoly on

seeds, women are no longer able to transfer the extensive knowledge

reserves on agriculture to subsequent generations. The result is a foregone




ISSI Report

conclusion: a reduction in food security and kitchen gardens. According to

Ms. Abdullah these acts are seen by as criminal neglect by the agriculture

industry, especially with the knowledge that it is the backbone of the

nation’s economy.

She said that women continue to suffer from inadequate remuneration,

skills training, legal protection, social protection & security, health &

maternity benefits under labour laws, right of unionization etc. She

highlighted that home-based women workers (64% of entire female work

force) are not counted; rather they are exploited by both contractor and

middleman, and are deprived of labour rights. She said that there was a

continuation of gendered division of labour and ‘ghetto-ization’ of women’swork.

She was of the view that there is an urgent need to address this alarming

feminization of poverty through social security and protection measures

and by asserting ownership such as land, property, livestock (through

inheritance, gifts and joint title deeds).

Responding to a question about the suffering of women in the society, MsAbdullah said that although guarantees are ensured in the constitution of

Pakistan, such as Articles 25, 27, 34, 35, 37 of the 1973 Constitution,

provisions ensuring gender equality and affirmative action for women,

recognizing need to redress existing inequalities as women continue to

suffer from poverty and continue to be victims of the patriarchy and

feudalism in the country. She spoke about how the Jirgas and Panchayats

continue to sanction and legitimize VAW and honour killings, and how

women have lack of access to justice and decision-making – which leads to

the legislated inequality of women and minorities in the society.




ISSI Report

Responding to a question regarding the Benazir Income Support

Programme, Ms. Abdullah questioned the significance of this ‘Poverty

Reduction and Alleviation Programme’ that gives Rs. 1,000 per month to

eligible candidates. She was of the view that the programme fostersdependence, poverty, beggary and mostly serves as a vehicle to secure

votes for the next elections.

The public talk ended with final words by the Director General of the

ISSI who thanked the speaker and the audience for their participation in an

event focusing on an immensely important issue for Pakistan.

Prepared by: Amina Khan

Research Fellow

feminization of poverty in pakistan – report

Documents