Globalization and gender has remained an important research theme at SDPI. “Weakest Link in the Textile Chain: Pakistan Cotton Pickers’ Bitter Harvest” is one of the research studies carried out to highlight the dynamics of employment in cotton-picking in Pakistan. Based on fieldwork carried in the cotton-growing belts of the Punjab and Sindh provinces, the study revealed that women and girls handpick a million tons of cotton every year. The study discusses economic and social position of the pickers and reveals that there is very little improvement in the lives of those pickers over time. A majority of them work as unpaid family helpers, with no control over land and cash income. The prevalent poverty, cultural restrictions and lack of education limit the options of women cotton pickers to engage in any alternative employment. The paper also discusses health concerns related to female cotton-pickers. Access to food is low and is also affected by gender. This leads to low immunity, which is particularly dangerous because of the exposure to poisonous pesticides. Precautions, when taken, are not enough to prevent chronic pesticide poisoning, which can have symptoms ranging from headaches to skin cancer.
After providing an insight into the system, the study argues for greater empowerment of female cotton pickers. It uses a market-based approach to explain how and why their role as economic stakeholders is important, and makes recommendations to bring sustainable change in the plight of this marginalized community.
Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency and the International Development Research Centre, this project aims to measure the extent of the gender digital divide in rural Pakistan, whereby there is a gap in access to, and use of, information and communication technologies between men and women. Furthermore, the project seeks to measure the impact of the liberalization of telecommunication services thereon and to raise awareness regarding the gender digital divide in rural Pakistan and its impact on women’s empowerment. This project represents the first assessment of gender-specific information-communication technology (ICT) use and its impact on development.
A survey was conducted in four of the most disadvantaged districts of Pakistan, Batagram, Bolan, Muzzafargarh and Tharparkar. While almost half of all surveyed households owns at least one mobile phone set, these are largely owned by men, whose permission is often required for women to make calls. This indicates that rather than network coverage and the presence of mobile phones alone, socio-cultural factors also determine whether ICTs reach female users in rural areas.
The hurdles women and girls face include negative perceptions of their technological skills and the bad image of ICTs themselves, as where mobile phones are considered a tool for dating in the case of girls. Cultural norms may also represent an obstacle, especially in regards to Government efforts to provide affordable access to ICTs to the rural population through telecommunication centers. Apart from the (il)literacy issues involved in making telecommunication, computers and internet useful for women and girls in rural areas, they usually cannot move freely outside home.
The findings from the study were disseminated through a panel in the Sustainable Development Conference, 2007, the 55th Meeting of the Study Group on Information Technology and Telecommunications in August 2009, the Stakeholder Workshop in August 2009 and the associated Press Briefing from the Workshop. A Policy Brief is on-going.
In Pakistan women are not aware of their legal rights, as well as those rights defined in Islam, which include inheritance rights, matrimonial/conjugal rights, the right of choice and freedom of speech. Prevailing illiteracy among women and less opportunities to acquire education leaves them in a state of ignorance and exploitation at the hands of men. In Pakistan, patriarchy dominates social structures and perpetuates the rule of men. There are, however, men who are pro-women’s rights and who do not believe in curbing the rights of women. Following this hypothesis UNDP has taken initiative to combat violence against women (VAW) through affirmative community action. Since 1992, SDPI has published research and conducted research based advocacy and training on the area of women’s empowerment and gender equality and continues in this work with the Gender Justice Protection project (GJP), under the sub-theme “Combating violence against women through community ownership techniques”. The project duration is two years (2009-2011), divided into eight quarters commencing from May 2009 and with the overall objective of investigating and mainstreaming community solutions and strategies for combating violence against women.
The project covers three districts in each of the four provinces and includes field work including surveys, community meetings and meetings with local politicians and law enforcement agencies, along with comprehensive literature review. Within the first quarter, literature review and a preliminary survey were conducted. The second quarter is ongoing and so far has included further field surveys comprising of documentations of five case studies, one stakeholders’ consultation at the federal level, and two individual meetings with policy makers. Four best practice case studies are also being prepared and various meetings with communities, politicians and law enforcement agencies have been scheduled to be included in the second quarter.
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