Customary Practices and the Issues of Women Property Rights: Case Study of South Punjab (2007-2014)

Abstract

The world is facing gender related problems in which women’s are discriminated against in almost all walks of life. The present research is focusing on the issues of women. i.e, exchange marriages, women property rights and their maintenance after divorce in South Punjab. The objective of this study is to unveil the structural constraints in the society which have hamperedthe freedom and the autonomy of women. These constraints are operational in the domain of legal-judicial and administration-policing social system of the state that has made the access of women difficult to get the redress and relief against the violation of their rights. In this research, an interpretative mode of research is being used to unfold the relationship of different variables. Some of the variables have their connections on the bases of their influence on the nature of the women’s right in the social setup of South Punjab. Among these variables, independent ones are customary practices prevailing religious doctrines and the sources of materials means. The particular nature of the study and scientific approach of the research, it seemed appropriate to apply quota sampling technique for the selection of court cases. The especially court cases has been segregated to project women image of this region. In this study categories of the cases on the basis of different variables collected from targeted three districts as judgments pronounced and established under family and session court under districts Multan, Muzaffargarh and Dera Ghazi Khan during the period from (2007 to 2014).This study includes ten cases, all related to the rights of women and customary practises. This study had also tried to show the how far judicial decisions were in favor of women to make them capable to empower in the emerging challenges of the time. The study in its analysis tried to show the effectiveness of prevailing family laws to enhance status of women.