Dismal Pakistan ranks 134 out of 135 countries in Gender Gap Index 2012

SOURCE:The Express Tribune/

Pakistan ranked a low 134 out of a total 135 countries in the Gender Gap Index 2012, according to The Global Gender Gap Report.

The Global Gender Gap Index, introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2006 is a measure to capture the scope and magnitude of gender disparities. The report bases itself on four major pillars to measure gender disparities within nations. These are: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment.

The work space

In the sphere of economic participation, Pakistan’s female labour participation rate is a dismal 22%. In terms of wage equality, Pakistan sits on 110 out of the 135 countries. Only seven per cent of women in Pakistan own businesses. Their access to land ownership on a scale of 0 to 1, with 0 best score and 1 worse best, is 0.5.

Education

In terms of educational attainment, Pakistan ranks at 129, with a 40 per cent female literacy rate. Enrollment in primary education is 67 per cent and drops down to 29 per cent in secondary education. One of the possible reasons for this could be that 16 per cent of the women get married between the ages of 15-19 years. The singulate mean age at marriage for women, however, is 23 years.

Health

In terms of health and survival, Pakistan stands at 123. Maternal mortality ratio, per 100,000 live births is 260 on a scale of 150 and 500. Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births at the age of one is 70 per cent.

Politics

Women in Pakistan were allowed to vote in 1956. Ten per cent of the women hold ministerial positions. Twenty three per cent women are members of the parliament. Furthermore, Pakistan scored 0.75 out of 1 in terms of the existence of legislations punishing acts of violence against women in terms of domestic violence. On the Global Gender Gap Index the top five countries are Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Ireland. The bottom five are the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Syria, Chad, Pakistan and Yemen. India sits on 105 out of the 135 countries, whereas Bangladesh takes the seat at 85, Sri Lanka ranks on 39 and China on 69. India ranks 123 in terms of economic participation, 121 in educational attainment, 134 in health and survival and 17 in political empowerment.