By: Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti
A news stunned me that Pakistan has been ranked fourth among worst countries for women: study.
The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, in its Women Peace and Security Index, has placed Pakistan on the 150th slot among 153 countries.
The study, conducted in partnership with the Peace Research Institute of Oslo, ranks Iceland as the best country for women with an average index rating of 0.886, followed by Norway and Switzerland with 0.879 and 0.871 rating respectively.
Syrian Arab Republic has been adjudicated as the worst country for women average index rating of 0.385, followed by Afghanistan with 0.385 and Yemen with 0.407. Pakistan skipped being among the top worst three with a rating of 0.441.
As per report, women’s average years of schooling in the country stands at only five years, while only 33 per cent of Pakistani women have been found to use cellphones. Only 24pc of Pakistani women are employed, while their share of seats in parliament stands at only 20pc.
The report 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.
the study claims that 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.
It also states that 73pc of Pakistani men do not find it perfectly acceptable for women in their family to work outside their homes.
The study estimates that 27 per cent women in the country suffer lifetime intimate partner violence or domestic violence and their perception of community safety stands at 51 per cent.
Now it is time to sit and ponder over matters regarding the issue and we must then mend our not only ways but also our mentality and attitude towards women and of course we cannot have any better manifesto than the real Islamic teachings regarding women.