Barriers to Political Participation among Women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

Women's political participation is generally agreed to be a condition for democratic development and inclusive government but in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province of Pakistan, despite much legitimacy, women are still reeling from the constant stream of social, structural and institutional constraints on their effective participation in politics. This study deals critically with multidimensional barriers for and women's limited participation in the electoral process, political bodies and public decision-making structures and processes in KP. Based on insights from feminist political theory and socio-cultural frameworks the paper highlights the restrictive patriarchal norms, lack of mobility and a restricted access to education, male dominated party structures, economic dependence and the dominance of conservative tribal traditions as major stumbling blocks providing further grounds to reinforce gendered exclusion. Existing empirical work is reviewed to identify interaction between cultural expectations, religious interpretations and household responsibilities and deficits in existing governance system to reproduce political marginalization. The introduction also brings the matter in the wider context of the Pakistan's gender inequality scenario by bringing in the national statistics and policy commitments and gender equality indexes in the global context. As a result of constitutional guarantees and quota provisions relevant to this study argues that women in KP are yet grossly underrepresented by most of the issues, are underrepresented due to intersectional structural inequalities and socio-cultural hierarchies, leave women's agency constrained and political voice to lack of supposed T Michael, Gr A. Practices: Dealing with Violence During Armed Conflicts, In the Documents. Ds. B. Demonopolize Target MkII2016-17) Addressing these barriers requires a multi-layered strategy of legal reforms, capacity building initiatives, community sensitization and economic empowerment strategies. The insights provided are a conceptual background for empirical study into gendered political participation in regards to KP.