Gender Equality and the Role of Women Legislators in Sindh

Abstract

Empowerment of women has taken the stage of public policy in Pakistan, especially in Sindh, where several progressive laws have been brought forward to protect the rights of women and tackle gender-based violence. Regardless of these legislative changes, the daily realities of a significant number of women in Sindh are still perceived through the prism of socio-cultural restrictions, ineffective implementation systems, and institutional oppressions. This thesis focuses on the role of women legislators in making, advancing, and encouraging gender-sensitive legislation in the Sindh Assembly and assessing how the said legislation has empowered women in practice. A qualitative research design was used in conducting the study because it relies on documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews with women legislators and stakeholders. Results show that women parliamentarians make a great contribution to bringing out issues of women, promoting laws to protect them, and developing the legislative agenda. The problem is, though, that the efficiency of such laws is compromised by loopholes in the enforcement, lack of awareness, available resources, and an ingrained culture of patriarchy at the community level. The research ends by concluding that although legislation is a significant milestone towards empowerment, substantial change is only realized through increased mechanisms of implementation, institutional backing, and transformation in society. Some of the proposals put forward are to strengthen the capacity to enforce, working towards better coordination of the state institutions, and extending the awareness campaigns to make sure that the legal protections are translated into reality for women. 

Keywords: women's empowerment, Sindh Assembly, women legislators, gender-based legislation, policy implementation, and Pakistan.