Is Pakistan really the worst place to be a woman?

Express Tribune

5 days ago

The writer is an academic and researcher. He is also the author of Development, Poverty, and Power in Pakistan, available from Routledge
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Pakistan has reached rock bottom on the Global Gender Gap Index. This year's index ranked 148 countries using a combination of economic, educational, health, and political empowerment indicators and it found Pakistan's overall score to be the worst.
Since its launching at the World Economic Forum in 2006, the Gender Gap Index has become the longest-standing measure to track the progress of a large proportion of countries in closing gender gaps over time. Unfortunately, the situation in Pakistan has become worse with regard to gender disparity. After being ranked 142 in 2023, Pakistan's position declined last year, and again this year.
In 2025, Bangladesh did the best in terms of striving to achieve gender parity within the South Asian region. It was ranked 24th on the index, despite the ongoing political turmoil in the country. India performed much for more dismally, despite its growing affluence, and was ranked 131st. Pakistan may not technically be the worst place to be a woman in the world, because many countries are excluded from this ranking due to data availability constraints. For example, Afghanistan is not listed on the Gender Gap Index, and it would have certainly been ranked below Pakistan, but that is hardly a cause for complacency.
The status of women in Pakistan does vary considerably across class, regions, and across the rural and urban divide. Thus, not all women in the country are as disempowered as this gender related index suggests. Moreover, not everyone is a fan of oversimplified indices created by forums set up by entities representing the interests of the global elite. Conceptual critiques of the Gender Gap Index point out how this measure focuses on the gap between men and women, rather than absolute levels of well-being. A country with lower levels of education for both men and women can thus score better on such an index than a country with high overall education levels but a larger gender gap in education.
In the case of Pakistan, however, while there is a modest rise in female literacy over time, less than 30% of females aged 15 and above are literate. Pakistan's performance in addressing gender gaps in healthcare remains pathetic too. While men face major difficulties availing quality healthcare, women's unmet healthcare needs are compounded by their lower status in society, due to early marriages, and because of unaddressed reproductive healthcare needs.
Women in Pakistan are also subjected to alarming amounts of violence, which undermines their psychological health and sense of personal safety. Almost 90% of women have reported experiencing domestic violence in their lifetime, as per a 2020 estimate. Despite highlighting Pakistan's dismal record concerning these important issues, the Gender Gap Index unfortunately pays no heed to the invisible labour performed by women, including for childcare, or care for the elderly.
The Gender Gap Index also does not take note of the hard work women put into the production of agricultural goods which provide vital raw materials for global supply chains. Only 23% or so of the workforce in the formal economy within Pakistan is comprised of women. But even in the formal sector, women earn 10-30% less than men for doing the same work. If women participated in the labor force at the same rate as men, and were remunerated equally, Pakistan's GDP could surge significantly. Yet, mobility restrictions, safety concerns, and other social constraints deter the increased economic participation of women.
Despite earlier attempts to boost women's involvement in the political process, women continue to remain politically marginalised. Although women's parliamentary representation has risen slightly, women's ministerial representation has fallen to zero. Unless women are provided greater space in governance structures, their ability to create a more enabling environment for female economic participation and to ensure that more resources are allocated to female healthcare and educational needs will also remain constrained.