Causes of Meager Participation of Women Parliamentarians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly; and way out

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the causes of meager participation of women in Khyber Pakhtukhwa (KP) assembly. The study was conducted on the obstacle that was faced by these women parliamentarians in the KP assembly during the last three governments (2002-2008, 2008-2013, and 2013-2018) in the light of expert opinion of female political representatives, political activists and experts. Women as a constituent candidate, their role in the parliament and the problems they faced have been discussed. The paper is based on qualitative method. Total 20 MPAs, MNAs, and female rights activists were interviewed for qualitative analysis. The interviews were unstructured, allowing flexibility, liberty of conversation and flow of information. It was found that there are still many difficulties faced by these women parliamentarian in the KP assembly. The study concludes that ideological, economic and patriarchal mind-set are the main factors that hinders women participation in the assembly’s business. The findings of the study can be used effectively to increase women participation by bringing awareness at local level and making appropriate policies at national level.