Profile of the Rural Woman of Pakistan

Abstract

The majority of Pakistani womanhood belongs to the silent, invisible peasantry in the rural areas. Essentially belonging to an underdeveloped region, the rural female toils relentlessly from morning till night. Her status is highly complex. In certain roles she is exalted; on other counts her very being is negated, which, when translated to human development indicators, depicts the profile of a woman with a very disadvantaged status, in fact, one of the lowest in the world. This study collects and collates data to present the profile of the rural female of Pakistan. It clearly shows that without concrete moves to do so, the mere acceptance and recognition of her contribution to society would do much to elevate her status. In Pakistan the role of the woman is strongly defined by religious and cultural/social norms. Due to illiteracy and misinterpretation, the latter is vastly perpetuated (UNESCAP 1997 p 3) under the garb of the former. There is “widespread misconception about the place Islam accords to women...” (Report of the Commission of Inquiry for Women 1997 p ii). Pakistan is a classic case where steady economic growth has not been accompanied by concurrent growth in the social sector. Within the confines of this phenomenon, the rural population suffers from inequitable distribution of resource availability and human development services. The condition of rural women is not hard to conceptualise, given the above circumstances.