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Little fair for the fairer sex
By Thalif Deen
December 16, 2000
UNITED NATIONS - South Asian women face discrimination at birth and even
before, according to report published by a Pakistani-based, United
Nations-linked think tank.
Female foeticide and infanticide are manifestations of patriarchal structures
where South Asian families traditionally prefer sons over daughters, according
to the study by the Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Center in Islamabad.
The late Mahbub ul Haq, a former finance minister of Pakistan and a senior
official of the UN Development Program (UNDP), was the architect of the annual
Human Development Report published by the New York-based UN agency.
The 219-page study entitled "Human Development in South Asia 2000" says that
South Asia has one of the most distorted sex ratios in the world - there are
only 94 women for every 100 men compared with the global ratio of 106 women for
every 100 men. "The disparity in the two ratios implies that some 79 million
women are missing in the region, through female infanticide, foeticide and
inequitable feeding practices," it adds.
In India, 18 percent more girls than boys die before their fifth birthday. In
the Maldives, female children are 51 percent more likely than males to die
before their fifth birthday.
Further, South Asian women also face ingrained discrimination because the value
of their labor is neither accounted for in official statistics nor appreciated
by policy-makers. Women's work, no matter how physically rigoros, mentally
taxing or emotionally draining, is considered to be a duty, undeserving of
compensation. And South Asian women work at least 10 to 12 hours a day, while
men on average work two to four hours less.
"Without active concern for these disparities and new efforts to empower women
in decision-making bodies, there is little chance that these issues will be
resolved," says Khadija Haq, head of the Human Development Center.
She says that the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing was widely
hailed as a turning point in the global struggle for women's rights. But while
there was some progress in terms of developing national plans of action, very
little as far as meaningful gains for women has been accomplished in South Asia
since the conference.
While women account for nearly half the population of South Asia, they remain
mostly invisible in all governing institutions.
Despite the fact that four out of seven South Asian countries (India,
Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) have had female heads of state and prime
ministers, women's representation in decision-making bodies remains low. In
1999, female participation in South Asian parliaments was among the lowest in
the world, with women comprising only two percent of Bhutan's parliament and
2.6 percent of Pakistan's parliament. The study says that patriarchal attitudes
and biases hamper women from voting or standing for election, and that many
women have to stand as independent candidates, which reduces their chances of
winning.
The majority of female civil servants are assigned to social sectors, such as
health and education. However, few women, including those in the social
sectors, are in policy and decision-making positions. In Pakistan's civil
service, for example, there are only 19 female joint secretaries, as opposed to
800 men at the same level. In Bangladesh, despite a 10 percent quota for women
in the civil services, less than 8 percent of the posts are currently occupied
by women.
The study also notes that only 6 percent of the judges in South Asia are women,
with most female judges concentrated in the lower courts. India and Sri Lanka
are the only South Asian countries to have women on their Supreme Court
benches. Even in the lower courts, where most crimes are tried, women judges
are few and far betweeen.
South Asia also has one of the world's lowest female literacy rate at 37
percent. Within the region, Pakistan and Nepal have female literacy rates of 25
and 21 percent respectively.
"During the last 20 years, significant progress has taken place in the state of
education in South Asia, but gaps remain between the educational achievements
of men and women, and of boys and girls," the study notes. For instance, more
than two-thirds of South Asian out-of-primary school children are girls. Nearly
two-fifths of girls enrolled in primary school drop out before grade 5.
Of the already low vocational education enrolment of less than 2 percent,
female students comprise only a quarter of 1 percent. The mean number of years
of schooling that most South Asian girls receive is less than 1.2, with girls
in Bhutan receiving a mere 0.2 years of schooling.
In South Asia, women's rights also continue to be violated despite
constitutional guarantees of equality. Throughout the region, the enforcement
of laws intended to protect or empower women is obstructed by cultural
traditions, ignorance of the law, legal loopholes and inconsistencies, and a
lack of will among enforcement agents and the judiciary.
The study also documents how the majority of South Asian women, regardless of
class, caste or religion, face unequal access to property, protection from harm
and decision-making powers.
The justice system itself is out of reach for most women, based on their low
social status, lack of education, and limited public mobility, as well as on
the discriminatory attitudes of police and the judiciary, according to the
study.
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