Abstract
Sara Rizvi Jafree, Social Policy for Women in Pakistan (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), xxv + 382 pp.
This well-structured, insightful study of the emerging landscape of social policies for women’s empowerment in Pakistan provides in-depth analyses of the multiple challenges faced by women and the strategies used to address these issues. Jafree includes case-studies from three provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan, Punjab and Sindh, supplemented by pictures that depict the difficult living conditions of most women in Pakistan. She argues convincingly that a universal and more focused approach to social protection is needed in Pakistan to support different groups of women.
The book begins with a comprehensive overview of the historical context, highlighting gender disparities and the importance of social norms and expectations in shaping women’s status. The strength of this study lies particularly in its comprehensive review of policy interventions and programmes for women’s empowerment, as Jafree skilfully provides qualitative and quantitative analyses of their impacts. Combining statistical insights with real-life stories, she makes a compelling case for endorsing certain policies, while highlighting the flaws of others. Overall, social policy remains a neglected area in Pakistan, so this study attempts a paradigm shift, focusing on policy development specifically for the estimated 114 million women of Pakistan.
The introduction and also chapter 1 argue that social policy is now part of human rights, as we live in a world of welfare, where sustainable and inclusive development is impossible to achieve without evidence-based policy-making for women. In Pakistan, however, women’s protection schemes remain limited to small, inadequate cash transfer programmes. Jafree asserts that beneficiaries of such programmes are not gaining enough in the long run due to inadequate designs. Most women remain excluded from protection, especially informal sector workers, stay-at-home women and those suffering from illiteracy, disability and living in remote locations.
The eight existing state initiatives dedicated to women’s protection in Pakistan and fourteen programmes for the entire population, inclusive of women, are all discussed in detail in the second chapter. Jafree adduces more evidence that existing schemes suffer from errors in distribution, do not cover the diverse protection needs of different groups of women, and that the numbers of beneficiaries are almost negligible. She highlights a pension scheme for elderly women, which has three major problems. It is limited in outreach, restricted to only 110,000 women from Punjab, and the cash transfer of PKRs.2,000/$91.64 per month is a negligible amount, while there is no available evidence or survey to confirm whether such elderly women are using the cash transfer themselves or are being deprived of it by family members (p. 33).
Chapter 3 discusses the hidden problems facing women within the family and household unit. Jafree argues that family-level policies for equality could solve most problems for women in Pakistan, starting with policies for inheritance, house ownership and land supply, basic income, tax credits for families with girl child(ren), and child daycare subsidies. Issues of housing inadequacy in congested urban areas are explored in detail, leading to some constructive recommendations regarding housing loans and maintenance schemes for women. This pinpoints the need for family heads of households and community notables to co-operate with state and local governance bodies to promote equal ownership and well-being for women. To date, family and housing issues have been considered closed and private spaces, with policy-makers hesitant to intervene. Jafree argues that this situation requires urgent change (p. 73).
Chapters 4 and 8, respectively, cover policies for food security and nutrition, and related issues of health. Pakistan has many females suffering from stunting and malnourishment, indicating lack of dietary diversity and inequality of food distribution within the family. Jafree explains that Pakistan’s women are facing five different health issues, comprising maternal health, infectious diseases, chronic diseases, multi- morbidity and mental health issues. Aging women, girls under five and female adolescents are neglected groups. She produces strong arguments about how literacy, culture and traditions affect women’s health-seeking behaviours, physical exercise and self-care. Quality issues related to the health sector and dependence on unlicensed providers are considered as supply-side barriers to women’s sound health and well-being. Jafree argues for universal healthcare, health subsidies and cash transfers for food security of females, along with different policies to reduce time poverty, so that women are empowered to adopt healthier habits to pursue their own well-being.
Chapter 5 covers less-researched but highly relevant areas for policy protection related to the environment and disaster-risk reduction. Here, Jafree argues that women are more victimised by environmental change and disasters due to restricted mobility, combined with limited access to information and supplies, which translates into limited access to food and resources for recovery and relief efforts. She argues that protective policies cannot be restricted to reducing air/water pollution or lead exposure, no matter how important such initiatives are. Vulnerable females must be supported through separate registration and identity management and financial subsidies, relating back to the association of women with ill health and chronic disease, mental health issues, food shortages and malnourishment.
Chapters 6 and 7 cover policy areas related to literacy, skills development and employment for women. Though debated by most researchers in women’s studies, discussions of policy from a regional and cultural context have been missing. Jafree examines several policies for girl-child school enrolment and retention and considers initiatives for adult women’s literacy and upskilling, which will have the greatest impact on employability and inclusiveness of economic growth. Jafree argues that the private sector, family units and religious centres need to work in partnership to secure equality in education and income-earning. Most of her policy recommendations are culturally appropriate for women working in both the formal and informal sectors, without having to focus policy on trying to shift all women into the formal economy.
Chapters 9 and 10 offer concrete solutions for developing and upscaling social policies for women in Pakistan through pilot projects and wider collaboration within South Asia. Jafree advocates that South Asia must go beyond historic mistrust and conflict to collaborate on social protection, suggesting a gender statistics database, a women’s trade and economic association, a women’s social action research council and a cultural and educational development organisation.
It is one of the limitations of this book that its concluding chapter summarises much information which could have been presented earlier in different chapters. Another limitation may be that girl-child policies have not been given enough attention. Pakistan needs to design a universal system for all groups of women, based on a lifecycle approach and efforts should be made to develop a comprehensive social protection database. The role of religious leaders and social media in sponsoring and promoting a culture of social policy for women is also highlighted, though leveraging social media and engaging religious leaders could challenge societal norms. The second half of the concluding chapter discusses avenues for financial sustainability of social policies and the last part proposes constituting a federal Ministry for Social Policy, connected to local governance through community-based social protection offices and women social protection officers. This proposal needs revisiting, however, as numerous ministries and departments are already working on social policy issues within public policy.
This book succeeds in bridging the gap between academic discourse and practical application. It outlines key policy recommendations, grounded in the author’s analysis and findings, providing a roadmap for the future of women’s empowerment in Pakistan. Given the country’s unique challenges, Jafree recognizes the interconnectedness of women’s issues and does not seek to impose an alien framework. Overall, this is an admirable study, a valuable resource for policymakers, researchers, and anyone passionate about gender equality and social justice.