The Status of Women in Saudi Arabia

The Status of Women in Saudi Arabia



There is no doubt that the status of women in Saudi Arabia has been controversial for a long time. After Sept. 11, the controversy intensified since Saudi Arabia was the main focus of blame for the attacks. Saudi women were portrayed in the US media as being abused and disrespected by an extremist religious ideology.

While we Saudis admit that the status of women in our country has not been what we would have desired, we cannot agree with the idea that Saudi women are underprivileged and oppressed. The Saudi mother is a highly respected member of the family. According to a saying by the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), “Heaven is under the feet of mothers.”

Having said that, there are certainly instances of abused women in Saudi Arabia — just as there are all over the world. At the same time, our extended family values and our Muslim heritage protect women from many abuses such as homelessness, prostitution and drug addictions. Now I would like to concentrate on what is being currently done in the Kingdom to improve the status of women. The right of women to own and run their own businesses is guaranteed in Islam; our religion assures women sole control of their inheritance and grants them property rights. Today’s new revised business laws will allow women to obtain commercial licenses which is likely to encourage businesswomen to invest their money and assets in industrial and other projects.

A recent study showed that the majority of heirs to family-owned businesses in the country are women — a fact that calls for greater involvement by Saudi women in managing business, both directly and indirectly. Many family-owned firms are among the largest in the country in terms of assets, operation and manpower. There are at least 460 such businesses; moreover, there is mounting pressure among these businesses to allow Saudi women direct involvement in business rather than obliging them to keep their money in bank accounts.

At present, there are some 20,000 firms owned by Saudi women; these range from ordinary retail businesses to various types of industry. This figure accounts for some five percent of all registered businesses. The number of women registered in local chambers of commerce and industry is on the increase. The Jeddah chamber, for example, has more than 2000 women members out of a total membership of 50,000. In Riyadh, the figure is over 2,400 out of a total of 35,000 members and this represents a fourfold increase in just ten years. Businesswomen registered with the Eastern Province chamber number more than 1,000 out of a total of 14,000.

The Jeddah Chamber of Commerce has recently established the “Khadija bint Khwailid Center” to provide services for businesswomen, facilitate business opportunities and provide guidance to encourage women to run their own business. (The center was named after the Prophet Mohammad’s wife who was the first Muslim businesswoman.)

Saudi businesswomen acknowledge the efforts of the government as well as the local chambers of commerce for supporting them and providing them with service but more needs to be done. Due to an increase in the number of Saudi businesswomen, the government has had to revise its 30-year-old labor laws and business proceedings to include women. In addition, society’s attitude toward businesswomen has also changed.

According to economists, women have substantial assets in real estate, jewelry, precious stones and metals. The new opportunities offered to women will include media and marketing, IT, banking and investment. As foreign companies enter the market after Saudi Arabia joins the WTO, new jobs will be created for women. A businesswomen’s committee has been formed to discuss government policies and procedures that will help women participate in nation-building.

Women account for 55 percent of Saudi graduates but they constitute only 4.8 percent of the work force. At present only 5.5 percent of an estimated 4.7 million Saudi women of working age are employed.

With the support of private and public agencies, efforts are being made to establish women-only projects that will employ 70,000 qualified Saudi women. The new projects will help solve the problem of increasing unemployment among Saudi women. The government has also allocated land for industrial projects that will employ women. Plans are also under way to establish an Industrial Training Institute for Women in Jeddah; the institute plans to train Saudi women in the manufacture of readymade dresses.

Granting women a more significant role is essential for the nation’s progress and its economy. Saudi economists stress the need for employing women and both political analysts as well as economists believe that the Kingdom is on the right track with different types of structural reforms, both economic and social. Ultimately, women will participate in all major economic activities and will be a vital part of reform. The government recognizes that without these human resources that have been marginalized for too long, no serious economic growth can take place. Economists estimate that by the end of this year, women will comprise some eight percent of the public sector workforce. The main reason for the increase is the effort being made to replace expatriates with Saudis. There are plans to create more than 817,000 jobs by the year 2005. This is part of the Saudization drive that aims at reducing reliance on foreigners and forcing businesses to hire a minimum number of Saudis.

The idea of Saudi women’s limitations is starting to change. Women today are active in several civil institutions. One is the newly formed National Human Rights Association. It is a nongovernmental organization, which will promote women’s rights and contribute to social justice.

The government recognizes the association’s objectives and is prepared to support women and implement the committee’s recommendations. Members of the committee say that the association will be permitted to seek explanations on decisions related to women’s legal rights. Another important development is the participation of women in the National Dialogue. National debates were initially encouraged by the government in order to foster the idea of dialogue that has been missing from Saudi society. The Center for National Dialogue was formed to bring about constructive change and to take peaceful action supported by the state. Citizens’ civil rights in addition to the right of men and women to participate in public affairs were among the recommendations made by the First National Dialogue Forum held in Makkah in December 2003. At the second dialogue, participants adopted recommendations combating extremism, calling for public involvement in the decision-making process and establishing civic institutions. The third dialogue held in Madinah in June gathered 70 male and female thinkers and researchers to discuss women’s rights and duties in the Kingdom. The meeting lifted a virtual ban or taboo that has existed for years about discussing women’s issues. It initiated a social dialogue and triggered and renewed interest in women’s rights and women’s roles in the future of Saudi Arabia. Of course greater efforts are needed. The dialogue reflected the Saudi leadership’s opinion that women are an integral part of the reform process. It conveyed the message very clearly that both men and women are partners in reform.

In the media, Saudi women journalists and writers have been prominent in voicing their opinions concerning incorrect attitudes, traditions and ideas which are not based in Islam but which are responsible for many problems women face in Saudi Arabia. The media has also been instrumental in promoting and projecting a positive image of today’s professional women. Awareness campaigns are conducted in an effort to inform women of their legal rights and of matters concerning family and health. The government has approved a new educational strategy to steer the country’s educational system toward meeting the requirements of the local job market. In order to raise the standard of education for women and to improve the qualifications of all Saudis, the government has set up a body to oversee higher education in addition to a national center to review the educational system. In conclusion I stress the significance of the role of women in the Kingdom’s reforms, bearing in mind that Saudi Arabia’s population growth rate is among the highest in the world. It surpasses the national economic growth. Sixty percent of the population is below the age of twenty. More than fifty percent are women. These statistics are crucial and impose the need to improve the status of women and secure equal treatment for all citizens in accordance with Islamic principles of justice and nondiscrimination. In order to accelerate these reforms, however, both stability and national unity are required. Islamic scholars are actively advocating tolerance and moderation. Hard-liners have been removed in an effort to protect Saudi society from extremist ideologies, narrow-mindedness and discrimination against women.

Women in Japan

Women in Japan

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Gender has been an important principle of stratification throughout Japanese history[citation needed], but the cultural elaboration of gender differences has varied over time and among different social classes. In the twelfth century (Heian period), for example, women could inherit property in their own names and manage it by themselves[citation needed]. Later, under feudal governments (the Shogunate), the status of women declined. Peasant women continued to have de facto freedom of movement and decisionmaking power, but upper-class women's lives were subject to the patrilineal and patriarchal ideology supported by the government as part of its efforts at social control[citation needed]. With early industrialization, young women participated in factory work under exploitive and unhealthy working conditions without gaining personal autonomy[citation needed]. In the Meiji period, industrialization and urbanization lessened the authority of fathers and husbands, but at the same time the Meiji Civil Code denied women legal rights[citation needed] and subjugated them to the will of household heads[citation needed]. Peasant women were less affected by the institutionalization of this trend, but it gradually spread even to remote areas. In the 1930s and 1940s, the government encouraged the formation of women's associations, applauded high fertility, and regarded motherhood as a patriotic duty to the Japanese Empire[citation needed].

After World War II, the legal position of women was redefined by the occupation authorities, who included an equal rights clause in the 1947 Constitution and the revised Civil Code of 1948. Individual rights were given precedence over obligation to family. Women as well as men were guaranteed the right to choose spouses and occupations, to inherit and own property in their own names, and to retain custody of their children. Women were given the right to vote in 1946. Other postwar reforms opened education institutions to women and required that women receive equal pay for equal work. In 1986 the Equal Employment Opportunity Law took effect. Legally, few barriers to women's equal participation in the life of society remain.

Contents [hide]
1 Education and workforce participation
2 Working women in Japan
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Education and workforce participation
Gender inequality, however, continues in family life, the workplace, and popular values. The notion expressed in the proverbial phrase "good wife, wise mother," continues to influence beliefs about gender roles. Most women may not be able to realize that ideal, but many believe that it is in their own, their children's, and society's best interests that they stay home to devote themselves to their children, at least while the children were young. Many women find satisfaction in family life and in the accomplishments of their children, gaining a sense of fulfilment from doing good jobs as household managers and mothers. In most households, women are responsible for their family budgets and make independent decisions about the education, careers, and life-styles of their families. Women also take the social blame for problems of family members.

Women's educational opportunities have increased in the twentieth century. Among new workers in 1989, 37 % of women had received education beyond upper-secondary school, compared with 43 % of men, but most women had received their postsecondary education in junior colleges and technical schools rather than in universities and graduate schools (see Education in Japan).

[edit] Working women in Japan
After World War II, the fixed image of the Japanese woman has been that of the office lady, who becomes a housewife and a kyoiku mama after marriage. But a new generation of educated women is emerging, that is seeking a career as a working woman.

Japanese women are joining the labor force in unprecedented numbers. In 1987 there were 24.3 million working women (40% of the labor force), and they accounted for 59% of the increase in employment from 1975 to 1987. The participation rate for women in the labor force (the ratio of those working to all women aged fifteen and older) rose from 45.7% in 1975 to 50.6% in 1991 and was expected to reach 50% by 2000.

In 1990 approximately 50 % of all women over fifteen years of age participated in the paid labor force. At that time, two major changes in the female work force were under way. The first was a move away from household-based employment. Peasant women and those from merchant and artisan families had always worked. With self-employment becoming less common, though, the more usual pattern was separation of home and workplace, creating new problems of child care, care of the elderly, and housekeeping responsibilities. The second major change was the increased participation of married women in the labor force. In the 1950s, most women employees were young and single; 62 % of the female labor force in 1960 had never been married. In 1987 about 66 % of the female labor force was married, and only 23 % was made up women who had never married. Some women continued working after marriage, most often in professional and government jobs, but their numbers were small. Others started their own businesses or took over family businesses. More commonly, women left paid labor after marriage, then returned after their youngest children were in school. These middle-age recruits generally took low-paying, part-time service or factory jobs. They continued to have nearly total responsibility for home and children and often justified their employment as an extension of their responsibilities for the care of their families. Despite legal support for equality and some improvement in their status, married women understood that their husbands' jobs demanded long hours and extreme commitment. Because women earned an average of only 60 % as much as men, most did not find it advantageous to take full-time, responsible jobs after marriage, if doing so left no one to manage the household and care for children.

Yet women's status in the labor force was changing in the late 1980s, most likely as a result of changes brought about by the aging of the population (see Elderly people in Japan). Longer life expectancies, smaller families and bunched births, and lowered expectations of being cared for in old age by their children have all led women to participate more fully in the labor force. At the same time, service job opportunities in the postindustrial economy expanded, and there were fewer new male graduates to fill them.

Some of the same demographic factors—low birth rates and high life expectancies—also change workplace demands on husbands. For example, men recognize their need for a different kind of relationship with their wives in anticipation of long postretirement periods.

There is a new term for the female counterpart of the "salaryman" (サラリーマン), the "career woman" (キャリアウーマン).

Role of Women in Ancient Greece

The men of ancient Greece are well known, from Hercules to Alexander the Great. Greek women are rarely mentioned. So, what was the role of women in ancient Greece.

Role of Women in Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece was very much a patriarchal society. Sports were reserved for men. Literature, politics, philosophy and so on were as well. At least, this is what men wrote in the various publications we have from that time.


In truth, the role of women in ancient Greece was one best defined by the word separation. Women and men lived with very defined boundaries, boundaries controlled by the men. The home was the primary boundary. Greek women were married off at a young age to men much older than them. They were then moved into the household of their new husband. This new household was not their personal kingdom. Instead, the mother of their husband ruled the household, a frightening thought for most modern women. In this role, the wife was often given little education and had no real status other than being the property of her husband with all that implies. In general, women were viewed as inferior beings with their primary use being childbirth. As you can see, not all of ancient Greece was particularly enlightened.


The one exception to this rule are the women of Sparta. Sparta has an entirely different view of gender. Essentially, it ignored it. Women were on par with men. They were educated, could own land, have multiple husbands and participate in public life just as a man could. Alas, one has to imagine the women of Athens and Sparta must have looked at each other in shock given the different paths their lives took.

For all its amazing achievements, the role of women in ancient Greece is not one of them.

The Women of Athens

The Women of Athens

Compared to the women of Sparta, the status of an Athenian woman in Greek society was minimal. By comparison to present day standards, Athenian women were only a small step above slaves by the 5th century BC. From birth a girl was not expected to learn how to read or write, nor was she expected to earn an education. On reading and writing, Menander wrote, "Teaching a woman to read and write? What a terrible thing to do! Like feeding a vile snake on more poison." Other authors and philosophers had similar quips about women.



Most of what has been written about Athenian women comes from the 7th century BC onward, when education in Athens began to emerge. Prior to that date, it has been alluded to by some authors, that the status of women was not so glum. In particular, the rights of women in Athens and their decline may have been the direct result of political pressures brought about by Pericle's ruling on the legitimacy of marriage. Similarly there is evidence to suggest that Athenian women prior to the 7th century BC had been subject to similar rites of passage as boys. The scholar Jean-Pierre Vernant, wrote that the Arrephoroi, and many other religious celebrations of Athens, could have been reduced from perhaps an entire age grade's participation, to only a handful of girls who were chosen to participate. Even then, it was only the noble and upper class families which were considered for participation.

Typical Day of a Greek Housewife

Excerpt from: Lynn, Schnurnberger. Let There Be Clothes. Workman Publishing; New York, 1991.


7:05 Rises

7:08 Eats small piece of bread soaked in wine. Is still hungry, but must be careful about her figure


7:09 Pecks husband on cheek and sends him off to the agora. Sighs. Looks at the four bare (slightly tinted) walls. Rarely allowed out of the house, she prepares for another day at home.

7:15 Summon hand maiden to cool her with huge peacock feather.

8:30 All dressed up with no place to go, she wanders into the kitchen, eyes a piece of honey cake. Resists


9:27 Hears argument between two servants, rushes out to mediate.

11:15 Wanders into the courtyard near flowerbed where slave girls are spinning and giggling. Asks to join them. Is reminded this is improper behavior - they suggest she ready herself for lunch.


12:15 Husband arrives, chiding her about the foolishness of make-up. Pretends to agree. Husband leaves at 12:22
3:00 Instructs daughter on her duties of being a wife.


8:05 Husband and wife sit down at low table to dinner; bread, oil, wine, a few figs, small portion of fish (only 320 calories) and beans. She hears about his day. He tells her she should not bother about the affairs of men. Pretends to agree. She is too hungry to argue.

10:10 Falls asleep. Does not dream of tomorrow.


Athenian women can be classified into three general classes. The lowest class was the slave women, who carried out more of the menial domestic chores, and helped to raise the children of the wife. Male slaves held the task of working in the trade arts (pottery making, glass working, wood working, etc) or to educate the sons of a house. The second class was that of the Athenian citizen woman. The third class was known as the Hetaerae. The hetaerae unlike the slaves and the citizens, were much akin to the Geisha's of China. Hetaerae women were given an education in reading, writing, and music, and were allowed into the Agora and other structures which were off limits to citizen and slave women. Most sources about the Hetaerae indicate however, that their standing was at best at the level of prostitutes, and the level of power they attained was only slightly significant.

Marriage

Athenian citizen girls, since birth were raised differently than their male counterparts. Jean Vernant, likened the difference to the phrases of Xenophon, that "boys were meant to be made men in their early years, while girls were raised to be kept and protected (i.e. virgin)". In domestic life, a boy was taught reading and writing, while a girl was taught spinning and other domestic duties by the slaves her family had. In the ritual sphere, children of either sex were not excluded from the numerous rites of Athens until their later years, and women played an important role in the 120 festivals which took place in Athens every year. Children in Athens were constantly subject to numerous religious rites and festivals. Young girls and women often played a part in these festivals (as for some it was the only contact the women had with other women outside of their general locality), however, the most ritualistic and most important aspect of their life was marriage.

Marriages were arranged by the father and were accompanied by a great deal of fanfare. When the marriage was to take place the girl gave away all of her toys to the temple of Artemis, and her hair was cut (in some places her girdle was offered to Athena Apatouria). For the next several months the bride was taught the domestic duties she would perform for the rest of her life by her mother and by slaves. A series of rites then followed. On the night before the wedding day, the bride and groom took rituals baths, and sang hymns to Hymen. The father made sacrifices to Hera, Zeus, Artemis, Aphrodite, and Peitho. When the ceremony began there was a feast at the bride's father's home, and at the feast bread would be passed out by a child who would say, "They have escaped evil; they have found the good." During and after the feast, numerous wedding hymns, libations, and blessings occurred culminating in the grand procession, from the father's house to the groom's house. Once she arrived at the house, the bride held a sieve of barley (Vernant states that the sieve of barley represented her new role as "preparer of food". An alternate interpretation is that the sieve of barley, a sacred symbol to Demeter, was a fertility symbol among other things). Then she entered and was taken to the hearth where she was given offerings. The final act, after being received at the hearth, was the consummation of the marriage inside of the wedding chamber, which was closely guarded by a friend.

Wedding's were arranged through the father of the bride. The relationship between both families which ensued was between the father, groom, and the father's brother. The marital contract was between the groom and the father, while the bride's dowry was given to the father's brother. If a wife was widowed it was the duty of the father's brother to find her another husband. A woman could not own property, and was practically an object herself. If the husband died, she vacated the house and went to her father's brother. If the father's brother was killed then the woman became a virtual slave, with minimal rights; in comparison to modern women's lives and in particular to Spartan women, Athenian women were subject to a life of subservience. They were not supposed to leave the house save for the general locality (although some country women were allowed a bit more freedom), their domestic work was minimal depending on the number of slaves she had. In general, her main purpose as a wife was to produce healthy children.

Ironically the power of women, and the jokes often made about them or their intelligence have proven, that though house life was restricting, they did wield some power. Namely, in Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" the obvious power of women is through using or withholding their biological capabilities. Beyond the mundane scope however the question must be asked, if women were of so low status in Athens and across Greece, then why were the goddesses worshiped (strong female figures themselves) and so embedded into Greek lives? One theory holds that Greek women held much more power than once thought, in that if the husband did something the women didn't like "domestic retribution" could occur. Similarly women held extremely high posts in the ritual events of Athens, it is not beyond speculation that women were not totally subjugated based on their reproductive capabilities, but held an important ritual or sacred purpose, without which the religious life and perhaps the culture of Athens would suffer.

Religious leaders respond to domestic violence

Women who experience domestic violence have not always found compassion and help in their houses of worship. Some pastors, referring to a Bible verse, said women should submit to their husbands. Others likened women’s suffering to that of Jesus’ on the cross. Some counseled forgiveness or suggested that a marriage must be saved at any cost.


Now a growing number of faith leaders from a wide variety of traditions are trying to make sure those days are over. Clergy are joining longtime advocates in saying that religious institutions have a moral and religious responsibility to answer and eliminate domestic violence. The increasing number of statements by denominations and organizations reflects that. One of those statements, the National Declaration by Religious and Spiritual Leaders to Address Violence Against Women, has been signed by more than 2,000 clergy and religious leaders from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Baha’i traditions, among others.

What’s behind the new push to address domestic violence within the framework of faith? Nancy Nason-Clark, a professor of sociology at the University of New Brunswick who has written widely about religion and domestic violence, says the change is a result of a number of factors – the increased boldness of victims who are part of faith communities, more training opportunities for faith leaders and greater understanding among the public that religious leaders should be a part of a community’s response. The shift in attitude is important because Scripture and religious teachings have sometimes been used to justify, excuse or ignore the physical and emotional abuse of women.



Domestic violence cuts across economic, ethnic, racial and faith lines, and religious traditions. Advocates are creating organizations that offer training for clergy, resources for victims and campaigns to increase awareness of the problem.



Why it matters


Religious teachings have sometimes been used to justify the abuse of women and others. Now more leaders are stepping up to insist that religious groups must address domestic violence by offering victims safe haven, support and counseling and assuring them that religious teachings never justify abuse.

Status of Women in Pakistan

On March 8, 2009, the International Women's Day today, how are women faring in Pakistan? The status of women in Pakistan continues to vary considerably across different classes, regions, and the rural/urban divide due to uneven socioeconomic development and the impact of tribal, feudal, and urban social customs on women's lives. While some women are soaring in the skies as pilots of passenger jets and supersonic fighter planes, others are being buried alive for defying tribal traditions.

In terms of the women's political representation in the nation's parliament, there has clearly never been a better time. The discriminatory laws such as the Hudood ordnance have been repealed or diluted. In addition to dozens of women colleges and universities, some of the co-educational professional institutions of higher learning have 50% or higher enrollment of women. Girls account for 53% of all college students in Pakistan, according to the 2005 Education Census. There are other indicators such as women's growing numbers in the traditional male professions such as engineering, law, medicine, business, the police and the military. Women's ranks have also grown in the nation's entertainment, news and mass media and they are much freer than ever to express themselves in the choice of appearance, speech, clothing, arts, entertainment etc. There have even been performances of The Vagina Monologues in Pakistan. Localized with Urdu and Punjabi words, The Vagina Monologues was first staged in Islamabad in 2003 for an audience of 160, mostly women, followed by performances for mixed audiences in Karachi and Lahore. Organized with AMAL, an NGO working on gender rights in Pakistan, the actresses added information about local incidents of violence against women and honor killings.

Along with the signs of women's progress in Pakistan, there have also been high-profile incidents of violence against women, such as live burial of women in Baba Kot, a village 50 miles from Usta Mohammad town of Jafferabad district in Baluchistan, that rekindled an honest discussion and debate on the status of women in rural and tribal Pakistan. To add insult to injury, Pakistani Senator Mir Israrullah Zehri defended this crime by arguing on the Senate floor that "It is a Baluch tribal tradition and we have to respect it". The Senator was then rewarded by the PPP government with a promotion as a member of the federal cabinet.

While the speaker of Pakistan's parliament is a woman and the representation of women in the legislature has grown dramatically, most of the women representatives are from the same privileged, feudal/tribal class that is largely responsible for discrimination against women in Pakistan. These women in parliament have not been particularly vocal in raising the women's issues and they have not offered any serious legislation other than the Women's Protection Bill that was offered and passed because of President Musharraf's personal intervention in the last parliament. The word "feudal princess" often used to describe late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto applies well to the majority the women members of parliament in Pakistan. There is a continuing large literacy gap of as much as 45 percent between men and women and the opportunities for rural women's education remain elusive.

Media reports indicate that Pakistani Taliban have been enforcing a complete ban on female education in the Swat district. Some 400 private schools enrolling 40,000 girls have been shut down. At least 10 girls' schools that tried to open after the January 15, 2009 deadline by the Taliban were blown up by the militants in the town of Mingora, the headquarters of the Swat district. More than 170 schools have been bombed or burned, along with other government-owned buildings.



According to Dawn newspaper, the 2008 report of violence against women in Pakistan makes horrific reading. In that year alone, 7,733 cases of violence against women were reported in the media. What is shocking is the large number of women who lost their lives in this period — 1,516 were murdered while 472 were killed for reasons of ‘honor’.

Overall, the World Economic Forum ranks South Asia and several Arab nations among the lowest in terms of economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment and health and well-being. The WEF 2005 survey shows that India ranks at 53 is just above Korea, Jordan, Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt which occupy the last five positions in that order but below Bangladesh which gets the 39th slot. Seven predominantly Muslim nations covered by the study, Bangladesh (39) and Malaysia (40) outperform Indonesia (46), while Jordan (55), Pakistan (56), Turkey (57) and Egypt (58) occupy the bottom four ranks.

In summary, the Musharraf era saw some measurable progress in improving the status for women, in spite of the high-profile incidents such as the rape of Mukhtaran Mai. But the progress seems to have been halted and even rolled back under the feudal/tribal dominated PPP government. The appointment of the notorious tribal chiefs like Zehri and Bijarani as federal minister has clearly sent terribly wrong signals to the oppressors of women in Pakistan. What is really needed is a fundamental change in social attitudes toward women, particularly in rural and tribal Pakistan. A massive effort is required to make both men and women aware of the need and the benefits of women's empowerment for a better future of Pakistan. Healthy, educated and empowered women can help raise better children to build Pakistan as a modern society that cares for its people.

A number of non-governmental organizations such as AMAL, Aurat, HDF ,Edhi and other similar organizations deserve our support if we care for the enhancement of women's status in Pakistan.

Women in Pakistan

The status of women in Pakistan varies considerably across classes, regions, and the rural/urban divide due to uneven socioeconomic development and the impact of tribal, feudal, and capitalist social formations on women's lives. The Pakistani women of today enjoy a better status than most Muslim and Middle Eastern women. However, on an average, the women's situation vis-à-vis men is one of systemic subordination[1], although there have been attempts by the government and enlightened groups to elevate the status of women in Pakistani society.

Women's History in America

WOMEN'S RIGHTS. Throughout most of history women generally have had fewer legal rights and career opportunities than men. Wifehood and motherhood were regarded as women's most significant professions. In the 20th century, however, women in most nations won the right to vote and increased their educational and job opportunities. Perhaps most important, they fought for and to a large degree accomplished a reevaluation of traditional views of their role in society.


Early Attitudes Toward Women
Since early times women have been uniquely viewed as a creative source of human life. Historically, however, they have been considered not only intellectually inferior to men but also a major source of temptation and evil. In Greek mythology, for example, it was a woman, Pandora, who opened the forbidden box and brought plagues and unhappiness to mankind. Early Roman law described women as children, forever inferior to men.

Early Christian theology perpetuated these views. St. Jerome, a 4th-century Latin father of the Christian church, said: "Woman is the gate of the devil, the path of wickedness, the sting of the serpent, in a word a perilous object." Thomas Aquinas, the 13th-century Christian theologian, said that woman was "created to be man's helpmeet, but her unique role is in conception . . . since for other purposes men would be better assisted by other men."

The attitude toward women in the East was at first more favorable. In ancient India, for example, women were not deprived of property rights or individual freedoms by marriage. But Hinduism, which evolved in India after about 500 BC, required obedience of women toward men. Women had to walk behind their husbands. Women could not own property, and widows could not remarry. In both East and West, male children were preferred over female children.

Nevertheless, when they were allowed personal and intellectual freedom, women made significant achievements. During the Middle Ages nuns played a key role in the religious life of Europe. Aristocratic women enjoyed power and prestige. Whole eras were influenced by women rulers for instance, Queen Elizabeth of England in the 16th century, Catherine the Great of Russia in the 18th century, and Queen Victoria of England in the 19th century.


The Weaker Sex?
Women were long considered naturally weaker than men, squeamish, and unable to perform work requiring muscular or intellectual development. In most preindustrial societies, for example, domestic chores were relegated to women, leaving "heavier" labor such as hunting and plowing to men. This ignored the fact that caring for children and doing such tasks as milking cows and washing clothes also required heavy, sustained labor. But physiological tests now suggest that women have a greater tolerance for pain, and statistics reveal that women live longer and are more resistant to many diseases.

Maternity, the natural biological role of women, has traditionally been regarded as their major social role as well. The resulting stereotype that "a woman's place is in the home" has largely determined the ways in which women have expressed themselves. Today, contraception and, in some areas, legalized abortion have given women greater control over the number of children they will bear. Although these developments have freed women for roles other than motherhood, the cultural pressure for women to become wives and mothers still prevents many talented women from finishing college or pursuing careers.

Traditionally a middle-class girl in Western culture tended to learn from her mother's example that cooking, cleaning, and caring for children was the behavior expected of her when she grew up. Tests made in the 1960s showed that the scholastic achievement of girls was higher in the early grades than in high school. The major reason given was that the girls' own expectations declined because neither their families nor their teachers expected them to prepare for a future other than that of marriage and motherhood. This trend has been changing in recent decades.

Formal education for girls historically has been secondary to that for boys. In colonial America girls learned to read and write at dame schools. They could attend the master's schools for boys when there was room, usually during the summer when most of the boys were working. By the end of the 19th century, however, the number of women students had increased greatly. Higher education particularly was broadened by the rise of women's colleges and the admission of women to regular colleges and universities. In 1870 an estimated one fifth of resident college and university students were women. By 1900 the proportion had increased to more than one third.

Women obtained 19 percent of all undergraduate college degrees around the beginning of the 20th century. By 1984 the figure had sharply increased to 49 percent. Women also increased their numbers in graduate study. By the mid-1980s women were earning 49 percent of all master's degrees and about 33 percent of all doctoral degrees. In 1985 about 53 percent of all college students were women, more than one quarter of whom were above age 29.


The Legal Status of Women
The myth of the natural inferiority of women greatly influenced the status of women in law. Under the common law of England, an unmarried woman could own property, make a contract, or sue and be sued. But a married woman, defined as being one with her husband, gave up her name, and virtually all her property came under her husband's control.

During the early history of the United States, a man virtually owned his wife and children as he did his material possessions. If a poor man chose to send his children to the poorhouse, the mother was legally defenseless to object. Some communities, however, modified the common law to allow women to act as lawyers in the courts, to sue for property, and to own property in their own names if their husbands agreed.

Equity law, which developed in England, emphasized the principle of equal rights rather than tradition. Equity law had a liberalizing effect upon the legal rights of women in the United States. For instance, a woman could sue her husband. Mississippi in 1839, followed by New York in 1848 and Massachusetts in 1854, passed laws allowing married women to own property separate from their husbands. In divorce law, however, generally the divorced husband kept legal control of both children and property.

In the 19th century, women began working outside their homes in large numbers, notably in textile mills and garment shops. In poorly ventilated, crowded rooms women (and children) worked for as long as 12 hours a day. Great Britain passed a ten-hour-day law for women and children in 1847, but in the United States it was not until the 1910s that the states began to pass legislation limiting working hours and improving working conditions of women and children.

Eventually, however, some of these labor laws were seen as restricting the rights of working women. For instance, laws prohibiting women from working more than an eight-hour day or from working at night effectively prevented women from holding many jobs, particularly supervisory positions, that might require overtime work. Laws in some states prohibited women from lifting weights above a certain amount varying from as little as 15 pounds (7 kilograms) again barring women from many jobs.

During the 1960s several federal laws improving the economic status of women were passed. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 required equal wages for men and women doing equal work. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination against women by any company with 25 or more employees. A Presidential Executive Order in 1967 prohibited bias against women in hiring by federal government contractors.

But discrimination in other fields persisted. Many retail stores would not issue independent credit cards to married women. Divorced or single women often found it difficult to obtain credit to purchase a house or a car. Laws concerned with welfare, crime, prostitution, and abortion also displayed a bias against women. In possible violation of a woman's right to privacy, for example, a mother receiving government welfare payments was subject to frequent investigations in order to verify her welfare claim. Sex discrimination in the definition of crimes existed in some areas of the United States. A woman who shot and killed her husband would be accused of homicide, but the shooting of a wife by her husband could be termed a "passion shooting." Only in 1968, for another example, did the Pennsylvania courts void a state law which required that any woman convicted of a felony be sentenced to the maximum punishment prescribed by law. Often women prostitutes were prosecuted although their male customers were allowed to go free. In most states abortion was legal only if the mother's life was judged to be physically endangered. In 1973, however, the United States Supreme Court ruled that states could not restrict a woman's right to an abortion in her first three months of pregnancy.

Until well into the 20th century, women in Western European countries lived under many of the same legal disabilities as women in the United States. For example, until 1935, married women in England did not have the full right to own property and to enter into contracts on a par with unmarried women. Only after 1920 was legislation passed to provide working women with employment opportunities and pay equal to men. Not until the early 1960s was a law passed that equalized pay scales for men and women in the British civil service.


Women at Work
In colonial America, women who earned their own living usually became seamstresses or kept boardinghouses. But some women worked in professions and jobs available mostly to men. There were women doctors, lawyers, preachers, teachers, writers, and singers. By the early 19th century, however, acceptable occupations for working women were limited to factory labor or domestic work. Women were excluded from the professions, except for writing and teaching.

The medical profession is an example of changed attitudes in the 19th and 20th centuries about what was regarded as suitable work for women. Prior to the 1800s there were almost no medical schools, and virtually any enterprising person could practice medicine. Indeed, obstetrics was the domain of women.

Beginning in the 19th century, the required educational preparation, particularly for the practice of medicine, increased. This tended to prevent many young women, who married early and bore many children, from entering professional careers. Although home nursing was considered a proper female occupation, nursing in hospitals was done almost exclusively by men. Specific discrimination against women also began to appear. For example, the American Medical Association, founded in 1846, barred women from membership. Barred also from attending "men's" medical colleges, women enrolled in their own for instance, the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, which was established in 1850. By the 1910s, however, women were attending many leading medical schools, and in 1915 the American Medical Association began to admit women members.

In 1890, women constituted about 5 percent of the total doctors in the United States. During the 1980s the proportion was about 17 percent. At the same time the percentage of women doctors was about 19 percent in West Germany and 20 percent in France. In Israel, however, about 32 percent of the total number of doctors and dentists were women.

Women also had not greatly improved their status in other professions. In 1930 about 2 percent of all American lawyers and judges were women in 1989, about 22 percent. In 1930 there were almost no women engineers in the United States. In 1989 the proportion of women engineers was only 7.5 percent.

In contrast, the teaching profession was a large field of employment for women. In the late 1980s more than twice as many women as men taught in elementary and high schools. In higher education, however, women held only about one third of the teaching positions, concentrated in such fields as education, social service, home economics, nursing, and library science. A small proportion of women college and university teachers were in the physical sciences, engineering, agriculture, and law.

The great majority of women who work are still employed in clerical positions, factory work, retail sales, and service jobs. Secretaries, bookkeepers, and typists account for a large portion of women clerical workers. Women in factories often work as machine operators, assemblers, and inspectors. Many women in service jobs work as waitresses, cooks, hospital attendants, cleaning women, and hairdressers.

During wartime women have served in the armed forces. In the United States during World War II almost 300,000 women served in the Army and Navy, performing such noncombatant jobs as secretaries, typists, and nurses. Many European women fought in the underground resistance movements during World War II. In Israel women are drafted into the armed forces along with men and receive combat training.

Women constituted more than 45 percent of employed persons in the United States in 1989, but they had only a small share of the decision-making jobs. Although the number of women working as managers, officials, and other administrators has been increasing, in 1989 they were outnumbered about 1.5 to 1 by men. Despite the Equal Pay Act of 1963, women in 1970 were paid about 45 percent less than men for the same jobs; in 1988, about 32 percent less. Professional women did not get the important assignments and promotions given to their male colleagues. Many cases before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1970 were registered by women charging sex discrimination in jobs.

Working women often faced discrimination on the mistaken belief that, because they were married or would most likely get married, they would not be permanent workers. But married women generally continued on their jobs for many years and were not a transient, temporary, or undependable work force. From 1960 to the early 1970s the influx of married women workers accounted for almost half of the increase in the total labor force, and working wives were staying on their jobs longer before starting families. The number of elderly working also increased markedly.

Since 1960 more and more women with children have been in the work force. This change is especially dramatic for married women with children under age 6: 12 percent worked in 1950, 45 percent in 1980, and 57 percent in 1987. Just over half the mothers with children under age 3 were in the labor force in 1987. Black women with children are more likely to work than are white or Hispanic women who have children. Over half of all black families with children are maintained by the mother only, compared with 18 percent of white families with children.

Despite their increased presence in the work force, most women still have primary responsibility for housework and family care. In the late 1970s men with an employed wife spent only about 1.4 hours a week more on household tasks than those whose wife was a full-time homemaker.

A crucial issue for many women is maternity leave, or time off from their jobs after giving birth. By federal law a full-time worker is entitled to time off and a job when she returns, but few states by the early 1990s required that the leave be paid. Many countries, including Mexico, India, Germany, Brazil, and Australia require companies to grant 12-week maternity leaves at full pay.


Women in Politics
American women have had the right to vote since 1920, but their political roles have been minimal. Not until 1984 did a major party choose a woman Geraldine Ferraro of New York to run for vice-president (see Ferraro).

Jeanette Rankin of Montana, elected in 1917, was the first woman member of the United States House of Representatives. In 1968 Shirley Chisholm of New York was the first black woman elected to the House of Representatives (see Chisholm). Hattie Caraway of Arkansas first appointed in 1932 was, in 1933, the first woman elected to the United States Senate. Senator Margaret Chase Smith served Maine for 24 years (1949-73). Others were Maurine Neuberger of Oregon, Nancy Landon Kassebaum of Kansas, Paula Hawkins of Florida, and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.

Wives of former governors became the first women governors Miriam A. Ferguson of Texas (1925-27 and 1933-35) and Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming (1925-27) (see Ross, Nellie Tayloe). In 1974 Ella T. Grasso of Connecticut won a governorship on her own merits.

In 1971 Patience Sewell Latting was elected mayor of Oklahoma City, at that time the largest city in the nation with a woman mayor. By 1979 two major cities were headed by women: Chicago, by Jane Byrne, and San Francisco, by Dianne Feinstein. Sharon Pratt Dixon was elected mayor of Washington, D.C., in 1990.

Frances Perkins was the first woman Cabinet member as secretary of labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Oveta Culp Hobby was secretary of health, education, and welfare in the Dwight D. Eisenhower Cabinet. Carla A. Hills was secretary of housing and urban development in Gerald R. Ford's Cabinet. Jimmy Carter chose two women for his original Cabinet Juanita M. Kreps as secretary of commerce and Patricia Roberts Harris as secretary of housing and urban development. Harris was the first African American woman in a presidential Cabinet. When the separate Department of Education was created, Carter named Shirley Mount Hufstedler to head it. Ronald Reagan's Cabinet included Margaret Heckler, secretary of health and human services, and Elizabeth Dole, secretary of transportation. Under George Bush, Dole became secretary of labor; she was succeeded by Representative Lynn Martin. Bush chose Antonia Novello, a Hispanic, for surgeon general in 1990.

Reagan set a precedent with his appointment in 1981 of Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman on the United States Supreme Court (see O'Connor). The next year Bertha Wilson was named to the Canadian Supreme Court. In 1984 Jeanne Sauve became Canada's first female governor-general (see Sauve).

In international affairs, Eleanor Roosevelt was appointed to the United Nations in 1945 and served as chairman of its Commission on Human Rights (see Roosevelt, Eleanor). Eugenie Anderson was sent to Denmark in 1949 as the first woman ambassador from the United States. Jeane Kirkpatrick was named ambassador to the United Nations in 1981.

Three women held their countries' highest elective offices by 1970. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was prime minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1960 to 1965 and from 1970 to 1977 (see Bandaranaike). Indira Gandhi was prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 until her assassination in 1984 (see Gandhi, Indira). Golda Meir was prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974 (see Meir). The first woman head of state in the Americas was Juan Peron's widow, Isabel, president of Argentina in 1974-76 (see Peron). Elisabeth Domitien was premier of the Central African Republic in 1975-76. Margaret Thatcher, who first became prime minister of Great Britain in 1979, was the only person in the 20th century to be reelected to that office for a third consecutive term (see Thatcher). Also in 1979, Simone Weil of France became the first president of the European Parliament.

In the early 1980s Vigdis Finnbogadottir was elected president of Iceland; Gro Harlem Brundtland, prime minister of Norway; and Milka Planinc, premier of Yugoslavia. In 1986 Corazon Aquino became president of the Philippines (see Aquino). From 1988 to 1990 Benazir Bhutto was prime minister of Pakistan the first woman to head a Muslim nation (see Bhutto).

In 1990 Mary Robinson was elected president of Ireland and Violeta Chamorro, of Nicaragua. Australia's first female premier was Carmen Lawrence of Western Australia (1990), and Canada's was Rita Johnston of British Columbia (1991). In 1991 Khaleda Zia became the prime minister of Bangladesh and Socialist Edith Cresson was named France's first female premier. Poland's first female prime minister, Hanna Suchocka, was elected in 1992.


Feminist Philosophies
At the end of the 18th century, individual liberty was being hotly debated. In 1789, during the French Revolution, Olympe de Gouges published a 'Declaration of the Rights of Woman' to protest the revolutionists' failure to mention women in their 'Declaration of the Rights of Man'. In 'A Vindication of the Rights of Women' (1792) Mary Wollstonecraft called for enlightenment of the female mind.

Margaret Fuller, one of the earliest female reporters, wrote 'Woman in the Nineteenth Century' in 1845. She argued that individuals had unlimited capacities and that when people's roles were defined according to their sex, human development was severely limited.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a leading theoretician of the women's rights movement. Her 'Woman's Bible', published in parts in 1895 and 1898, attacked what she called the male bias of the Bible. Contrary to most of her religious female colleagues, she believed further that organized religion would have to be abolished before true emancipation for women could be achieved. (See also Stanton, Elizabeth Cady.)

Charlotte Perkins Gilman characterized the home as inefficient compared with the mass-production techniques of the modern factory. She contended, in books like 'Women and Economics' (1898), that women should share the tasks of homemaking, with the women best suited to cook, to clean, and to care for young children doing each respective task.

Politically, many feminists believed that a cooperative society based on socialist economic principles would respect the rights of women. The Socialist Labor party, in 1892, was one of the first national political parties in the United States to include woman suffrage as a plank in its platform.

During the early 20th century the term new woman came to be used in the popular press. More young women than ever were going to school, working both in blue- and white-collar jobs, and living by themselves in city apartments. Some social critics feared that feminism, which they interpreted to mean the end of the home and family, was triumphing. Actually, the customary habits of American women were changing little. Although young people dated more than their parents did and used the automobile to escape parental supervision, most young women still married and became the traditional housewives and mothers.


Women in Reform Movements
Women in the United States during the 19th century organized and participated in a great variety of reform movements to improve education, to initiate prison reform, to ban alcoholic drinks, and, during the pre-Civil War period, to free the slaves.

At a time when it was not considered respectable for women to speak before mixed audiences of men and women, the abolitionist sisters Sarah and Angelina Grimke of South Carolina boldly spoke out against slavery at public meetings (see Grimke Sisters). Some male abolitionists including William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, and Frederick Douglass supported the right of women to speak and participate equally with men in antislavery activities. In one instance, women delegates to the World's Anti-Slavery Convention held in London in 1840 were denied their places. Garrison thereupon refused his own seat and joined the women in the balcony as a spectator.

Some women saw parallels between the position of women and that of the slaves. In their view, both were expected to be passive, cooperative, and obedient to their master-husbands. Women such as Stanton, Lucy Stone, Lucretia Mott, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth were feminists and abolitionists, believing in both the rights of women and the rights of blacks. (See also individual biographies.)

Many women supported the temperance movement in the belief that drunken husbands pulled their families into poverty. In 1872 the Prohibition party became the first national political party to recognize the right of suffrage for women in its platform. Frances Willard helped found the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (see Willard, Frances).

During the mid-1800s Dorothea Dix was a leader in the movements for prison reform and for providing mental-hospital care for the needy. The settlement-house movement was inspired by Jane Addams, who founded Hull House in Chicago in 1889, and by Lillian Wald, who founded the Henry Street Settlement House in New York City in 1895. Both women helped immigrants adjust to city life. (See also Addams; Dix.)

Women were also active in movements for agrarian and labor reforms and for birth control. Mary Elizabeth Lease, a leading Populist spokeswoman in the 1880s and 1890s in Kansas, immortalized the cry, "What the farmers need to do is raise less corn and more hell." Margaret Robins led the National Women's Trade Union League in the early 1900s. In the 1910s Margaret Sanger crusaded to have birth-control information available for all women (see Sanger).


Fighting for the Vote
The first women's rights convention took place in Seneca Falls, N.Y., in July 1848. The declaration that emerged was modeled after the Declaration of Independence. Written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, it claimed that "all men and women are created equal" and that "the history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman." Following a long list of grievances were resolutions for equitable laws, equal educational and job opportunities, and the right to vote.

With the Union victory in the Civil War, women abolitionists hoped their hard work would result in suffrage for women as well as for blacks. But the 14th and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, adopted in 1868 and 1870 respectively, granted citizenship and suffrage to blacks but not to women.

Disagreement over the next steps to take led to a split in the women's rights movement in 1869. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, a temperance and antislavery advocate, formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) in New York. Lucy Stone organized the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) in Boston. The NWSA agitated for a woman-suffrage amendment to the Federal Constitution, while the AWSA worked for suffrage amendments to each state constitution. Eventually, in 1890, the two groups united as the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Lucy Stone became chairman of the executive committee and Elizabeth Cady Stanton served as the first president. Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw served as later presidents.

The struggle to win the vote was slow and frustrating. Wyoming Territory in 1869, Utah Territory in 1870, and the states of Colorado in 1893 and Idaho in 1896 granted women the vote but the Eastern states resisted. A woman-suffrage amendment to the Federal Constitution, presented to every Congress since 1878, repeatedly failed to pass.