Pakistan is the fourth worst country for women according to recently released rankings of the Women, Peace and Security Index. Of the 153 countries ranked for women’s inclusion, justice and security, Pakistan was ranked at number 150, with the highest discrimination against women in the world and the lowest financial inclusion.
Women’s average years of schooling in the country stands at only five years, while only 33 percent of Pakistani women have been found to use cell phones. Only 24pc of Pakistani women are employed, while their share of seats in parliament stands at only 20pc. The report, published by the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security in partnership with the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, claims that 1.09 males are born for every female born in Pakistan, which is higher than the 1.05 natural demographic rate, meaning that Pakistanis have a son bias.
It also identifies around 500,000 “missing girls” in Pakistan between 2010-15, which indicates that half a million more female children should have been born in the country during the period were it not for the son-bias.
Published in Daily Times, November 30th 2017.
