Women’s votes matter
"I know that women, once convinced that they are doing what is right, that their rebellion is just, will go on, no matter what the difficulties, no matter what the dangers, so long as there is a woman alive to hold up the flag of rebellion" - Emmeline Pankhurst
In Pakistan, just as in many other emerging democracies, women are less likely to vote than men. As it is a patriarchal society, in rural and semi-urban areas cultural wisdom dictates them to follow the wishes of the male heads of the family. In addition, women face security risks going to the polls.
During the 2013 elections, certain militant groups declared it unislamic for women to vote. Sixteen thousand women in Nowshehra were deprived of their voting rights and similarly in Mardan as well as in Lakki Marwat, the local elders imposed a ban on women voters declaring that such practices were against their cultural norms. Lack of awareness, illiteracy, and labor force participation among women has also resulted in weak motivation to engage in the political process. In July 2013, The Nation reported that out of 90,000 polling stations, nearly 500 polling stations had no female votes.
Recent trends from many parts of the country have shown how female participation in the electoral process has benefited some parties. In a few cities of Punjab, PML-N owes much of its victory in the 2015 as well as the 2017 by-elections to female voters.
Men and women, it so happens, vote differently. According to the Political Attitude Survey conducted by IDEAS, this stems mainly from the differences in what they expect from the candidate. While men place a great emphasis on corruption, commodity purchasing power, education and health, women consider electricity, water, gas, security and infrastructure to be of the utmost importance.
The same survey also concludes that women are more undecided and disengaged from the political system and political parties, and hence can be converted through issue-based campaigns and awareness programs.
While men place great emphasis on corruption, commodity purchasing power, education and health, women consider electricity, gas, security and infrastructure to be very important.
Dr. Mehreen Mujtaba
July is the election month, and it is pertinent for all the political parties to note that women are a political constituency. By developing a deeper understanding of their concerns they can capitalize on this opportunity. For motivating women to head out of their houses to the polling booths, they need to offer something that resonates well with female voters.
If we take a cursory look at the five-year performance markers of the three mainstream parties, PTI emerges the weakest link in terms of addressing women issues. In 2015 PTI leader Imran Khan opposed the Bill for the Protection of Women Against Violence. During the reign of the PTI-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, no concrete policy and plans regarding women development, inclusion and mainstream participation were observed.
Contrary to this, the PML-N government in Punjab led by Shehbaz Sharif enhanced women's participation for inclusive sustainable growth. The Women-on-Wheels initiative of the Punjab government to increase women's mobility and access to public spaces is laudable. In addition, the Punjab Fair Representation of Women Act ensures 33 percent representation of women in all public-sector organizations and committees. The Pakistan People’s Party took the all-inclusive minority and women's representation a notch higher by nominating Krishna Kumari from Thar to contest the Senate election in order to encourage and motivate women to gain grounds in public spaces.
In Pakistan women account for almost half (49.2 percent) of the population. They are lagging behind in their political rights, hence the basic premise of democracy which states that those who are subject to policy should have a voice in its making is not being fulfilled. A World Values Survey showed that Pakistan had the worst gender-voting gap within 58 countries. In 2015 the gender gap in electoral participation was 12 percent.
This is a difficult challenge to overcome, given the societal and cultural barriers, but persistent efforts can lead to a paradigm shift for the political party that understands these dynamics and starts focusing on the large female voter base. It is high time the political parties in Pakistan came up with high-powered incentives to mobilise women voters and be responsive to their preferences, especially when the female voters can give them a definite advantage in a closely contested electoral race.
– The writer is a freelance consultant working in the area of environment and health. She has a keen interest in climate change and its impact on population health and human security.
