Women’s Perceptions of Factors Barring their Political Participation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: A Case Study of District Dir Upper

Muhammad Saeed,Mati Ullah,Hamid Alam

doi:10.46521/pjws.026.01.0018

Abstract

Sex-segregated structure and conservative attitudes impede women’s participation in public-space activities in the Pakhtun population of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly in the District Dir Upper. In this region, women’s political participation and voting are viewed as sinful, against the local traditions, and punitive. This paper aims to explore women’s perceptions of factors barring their political participation in district Dir Upper, Pakistan. Data for the study were collected from 200 registered women voters from various age groups and social background in different union councils of district Dir Upper in 2016. The results reveal that entrenched patriarchal norms, misogynist attitudes, gendered secluded norms, shame and stigma factor, fear of victimization, and lack of support and facilities from the government and political parties have significant association (P=0.000) with women’s political participation and voting. As a way forward, to ensure women’s maximum political participation and their uninterrupted voting turn out, this study makes several recommendations.

Highlights

There is growing evidence that women’s inclusion in decision-making processes improves their condition and benefits society (UN-Women, 2017)
The results show that an entrenched patriarchal system has a significant association with women’s political participation in the District Dir Upper (P=0.000), as shown in the Table
We aimed to examine the association among variables such as Pakhtun traditions and conservative attitudes towards women’s political participation

Summary

Introduction

There is growing evidence that women’s inclusion in decision-making processes improves their condition and benefits society (UN-Women, 2017). Despite existing progress in women’s development, a great gender divide still exists (Epstein 2007), obstructing women’s potential, their political participation and representation (Iwanaga, 2008).The axle of this gender divide is the patriarchal system and attitudes (Pape, 2008; Mies, 2014). This point is evident from the fact that women comprise half of the world’s population (Worldometer 2018), but they account for only 23 percent in parliaments and senates globally (Inter-Parlimentary UnitIPU 2017). A wide variation exists in the average percentages of women’s political representation. As of June 2017, Nordic countries have the highest percentage of women parliamentarians, 41 percent; the Americas 28.1 percent; Europe, including Nordic countries 26.5; Europe excluding Nordic countries 25.3; subSaharan Africa 23.6 percent; Arab States 17.4 percent; Pacific 17.4; and Asia 19.4 percent (UN-Women 2017)

Objectives

Methods

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Conclusion