Young Female Entrepreneurs,  Future of Pakistan....

Brian Tracy said , " A society is prosperous only to the degree to which it rewards and encourages entrepreneurial activity because it is the entrepreneurs and their activities that are the critical determinant of the level of success, prosperity, growth and opportunity in any economy.

Unfortunately Pakistan has the lowest entrepreneurial activity in South Asia, and this about the whole, if we talk about women entrepreneurship in Pakistan the situation is worst. Women have strong economic rights in Islam and there is a tradition of women in business,women entrepreneurs face larger obstacles in accessing credit, training, networks and information, barriers in the legal and policy framework and as a result may not achieve. Women entrepreneurship is also considered very important for women empowerment. There are several reasons which stop young men and women of our country to start their own business and join the entrepreneurs ' community.


This week is being celebrated as Global Entrepreneurship Week around the globe to promote entrepreneurial activities in the region and to provide a platform to youngsters where they can share not only different ideas but their fears and their ambitions with each other. In Karachi GEW was organized by CIPE and celebrated at Marriott, where the lead speakers of the session were Hammad Siddiqui ( social media strategist and Deputy Country Director CIPE  ) , Talha Ansari (Director at Xenith PR & event) and Kamal Faridi (CEO at 22 four).


A thoughtful session where different thoughts were shared by mainly the students from IBA,  ZABIST, Indus Valley school of Art and different universities and institutions of Karachi. What I like most about the session is the presence and active participation of  young female students or I must say future entrepreneurs in a large number. The all young females took an active part in the discussion and share their brilliant ideas with others they also discussed about the problems they faced and the problems they could be face i.e

•  Law & enforcement situation
• Society hurdles
• lack of facilities
• legal problems
• financial issues
• family bounding.

etc etc etc.....   never ending problems. I am happy to know that all young women were well aware about the problems,  hurdles and boundaries but still they are ambitious to choose entrepreneurship as their career. I want to mention here the name of the person Mr. Moin M. Fudda (Country Director CIPE) who inspired almost all youngsters  including me by sharing his experiences of life and struggle on the way of entrepreneurship.

In the same country where young females would not be allowed to get education  I can see the young girls presenting their ideas about their future business, they are discussing about how they can solve the problems and clear their way to success. I left the room with a new hope of betterment of our society. Thank you CIPE for creating an opportunity for the young females in this male entrepreneurial  world. :)

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Women Empowerment in Pakistan

on its way...........

 

Women's situation in Pakistan

In Pakistan, the women have no contribution in most activities or decision making, and this can be seen as a major obstacle towards development. And women’s participation in civil and social activities, and their contribution on a national and international level, is necessary in order to  progress gender equality and reduce gender disparities, thus steering the country towards development. Furthermore, there is no doubt that without women’s participation, a country is unable to achieve success in matters relating to politics, sports, and the economy etc.

Women possess equal rights, as much as men do in progressing development –  be at home, or in formal or informal environments, women are taking their responsibilities seriously, and in a sincere and committed way.

Misconception about women empowerment

According to Quran and Hadith

So what should we do ? 

Women and Men Need to Pull Together and Unite Forces:

A famous  Pakistani saying :

“A man and a woman are like two wheels of a cart. The cart can move fast and safely when both of them are pulling the cart in the same direction, and with equal strength, but if one of the wheels is damage, nothing will be possible.”

Bottom Line

 No developing country or society can afford to ignore the role of a woman, if it desires progress.

Click here to watch a video about women empowerment in Pakistan.

Readers, need your feedback and your views about the issue.

 

 

Effects of sexual harassment:

According to Advocate for human Rights,  Sexual harassment at work can have very serious consequences both for the harassed individual as well as for other working women who experience it secondhand.
The consequences to the individual employee can be many and serious.  In some situations, a harassed woman risks losing her job or the chance for a promotion if she refuses to give in to the sexual demands of someone in authority.  In other situations, the unwelcome sexual conduct of co-workers makes the working conditions hostile and unpleasant- putting indirect pressure on her to leave the job.  Sometimes, the employee is so traumatized by the harassment that she suffers serious emotional and physical consequences—and very often, becomes unable to perform her job properly.

According to data complied by Equal Rights Advocates, a women’s law center in the U.S., 90 to 95% of sexually harassed women suffer from some debilitating stress reaction, including anxiety, depression, headaches, sleep disorders, weight loss or gain, nausea, lowered self-esteem. The effect on the morale of all employees can also be serious.  Both men and women in a workplace can find their work disrupted by sexual harassment even if they are not directly involved.  Sexual harassment can have a demoralizing effect on everyone within range of it, and it often negatively impacts company productivity on the whole. 

Despite the fact that due to great Red tape we are not able a get a  right time for having a law for the said issue we still hope and looking forward to an  Anti Harassment bill and of course  the implementation of the bill, which  is the most important part. 

Your views will be welcome openly about the issue,  do write.....

 

Violence against women rise in Pakistan.

violence against women raise in Pakistan

 In 2011 Violence against women in Pakistan has been increased 6.74 per cent as compared to 2010. 

A women cast her vote in a polling station

Who stops Pakistani women to Vote ?

 

Women's suffrage  ( is the right of women to vote and to run for office) has been achieved at various times in various countries throughout the world. In many countries women's suffrage was granted before universal suffrage, so women (and men) from certain classes or races were still unable to vote, while some granted it to both sexes at the same time. According to a timeline lists years when women's suffrage was enacted in various places.

Pakistan declared independence on the 14th of August 1947. In 1956 right to vote extended to national level, previously only literate women could vote,  yes according to Constitution of Pakistan women can vote,  they have equal rights - but in certain areas men do not allow them to go outside of the house to cast their vote. Women may face two distinct barriers to exercising their right to vote. First, costs of participation may be too high. Traditions or cultural stereotypes may discourage the exercise. Second, women may have fewer or poorer sources of information about the significance of political participation or the balloting process.  women are often not registered as voters because they face opposition from male household heads and that female turnout is low because women lack knowledge about the electoral system and about voting. wish to read more, click here.

Women constitute for more than fifty percent of the population of Pakistan. Their participation in the elections is vital to ensure election of right candidate. However if one looks at the women participation in the past elections a sad reality comes to light that their participation has been less than expected. The women in urban areas have to some extent participated in the elections and casted their votes however the percentage has been quite low. Even the highly educated women often stay away from casting their vote. In the rural areas the situation is even worse. Either the women do not cast their votes at all or they act on the advice of the male members of the family. This way often not so deserving candidates get elected and deserving ones lose. The low voter turnaround among women voters is further highlighted by the fact that in 2008 elections average male voter turnaround in the country was almost 49.8% while in women voters it was almost 39.7%.

Women really want to go outside but they're not allowed to. They are dependent on men. In big cities it is different but in some areas, traditions are very strong so they can't.

There are two very different realities. There are women who have become prominent figures in every field of life. They are ministers, members of national and provincial assemblies and political leaders, but on the other hand, there are other women who are the most oppressed class of society. There are many areas in the country where women are deprived from their right of casting votes including Mardan, Shangla and other area like Mianwali.  A modern history states that elders and religious leaders attempted to prevent female participation by threatening punishment against tribesmen whose women registered, leading to under-registration in the female population. In 2008, the Taliban ordered women in the FATA regions of Bajaur, Kurram and Mohmand not to vote under threat of "serious punishment," while Mangal Bagh, chief of the Lashkar-e-Islam, forbade women to vote in the Jamrud and Bara subdivisions of the Khyber Agency. Not only in KPK or tribal areas wherever we have feudal system or have a low or no literacy rate women not allowed to poll.

watch the video

 

Women's Portrayal in Media

 

• The female models in Deal or No Deal, whose function in the show is to look pretty and to remain passive until the moment the host allows them to "open the case"
• Sexualized images of women in music videos
• Pinup posters of sexualized models
• College girls in Girls Gone Wild videos
• Women in pornography
• Waitresses at Hooters.

The consequences of objectification are not easy to measure. There is no way to link dangerous behaviors such as eating disorders or crimes such as rape directly to media objectification-- and it would be irresponsible and inaccurate to do so. However, we live in a world filled with the objectification of women, and this objectification contributes to social problems.

Its not too late, we can handle the problem with sincere efforts and result oriented measures as I read about a workshop about women's portrayal in Media.

In this workshop which is held by Uks Research Centre, on 17the July 2012 in Islamabad, a group of nearly 25 journalists belonging to print and electronic media a consensus was made at the conclusion of the workshop that;


Media has played a positive role in highlighting the plight of women. However, in many cases, it has been irresponsible and fostered negativity, suggesting that there is a need to sensitise reporters, editors, program directors and media owners. for more click here.

The participants agreed that the media should respect the right to privacy and maintain professional standards while reporting on women issues.

Media is the best thing that has happened to our country, however it should be ethically responsible considering the social consequences,”   

said Sachet Executive President Dr. Rakhshanda Perveen.