Militarized Masculinities, Female Bodies, and ‘Security Discourse’ in Post-9/11 Pakistan

Gender Inequality in the Public Sector in Pakistan

“…There is a need for aid donors involved in Pakistan to encourage the government to adopt pro-women policies, rather than focusing on training. This is particularly important given the inability of training to shape practices and the recognition that the state of Pakistan has "disenfranchised women" (Rashid 2009). …”

“…In Pakistan, there is little research on how gender sensitivity training relates to change in patriarchal practices in public sector institutions, with state policies generally believed to produce and reproduce the gendered identities of citizens (Naseem 2006;Durrani 2008;GOP 2009;Rashid 2009;Halai 2010). What is known is the dark side of the state, which in the past has enacted laws to disenfranchise women and made them half citizens (Mumtaz and Shaheed 1987;Weiss 2003;Mullally 2005;Rashid 2009;Shaheed 2010).…”

“…Powerful positions in institutions are held by men (Johnson 2005;Shankar and Northcott 2009), with women's subordination resulting from the adoption of exclusionary strategies in modes of production, paid work, the state, and cultural institutions (Walby 1990: 20). Women in Pakistan have been victims of the patriarchal bias of the state for some time now (Mumtaz and Shaheed 1987;Weiss 2003;Mullally 2005;Shaheed 2010), with the disenfranchising of women in many ways (Mumtaz and Shaheed 1987;Weiss 2003;Mullally 2005;Rashid 2009;Shaheed 2010). State policies have resulted in the divisive gendered identities of its people (Naseem 2006;Durrani 2008;GOP 2009;Rashid 2009;Halai 2010) and the patriarchal arrangements have disadvantaged women (Laslett and Brenner 1989;Moser 1989;Østergaard 1992;Vijayamohanan, Asalatha, and Ponnuswamy 2009).…”

“…What is known is the dark side of the state, which in the past has enacted laws to disenfranchise women and made them half citizens (Mumtaz and Shaheed 1987;Weiss 2003;Mullally 2005;Rashid 2009;Shaheed 2010). The question that emerges is how, if at all, gender equality policies and practices of the public sector of Pakistan relate to the broader gender policies of the state (GOP 1973c: 72).…”

“…State social policies have a history of orthodoxy and political expediency, the continued practice of which has had grave social consequences for Pakistani women (Rashid 2009). It has not only lowered the status of women as citizens of the state but has also resulted in social violence against them in the form of rape, battering, and the denial of access to economic opportunities.…”