A World Beyond the Veil: Pursuing Gender Equality in Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan has been prominently featured in the media usually with images of angry fundamentalists and submissive veiled women. Although women’s organizations have been functioning in Pakistan since the founding in 1947 and a small but vibrant women’s movement continues today, the voices of women and human rights activists are mostly unheard. This qualitative study explores the experiences of women’s rights activists who are involved with secular human rights-oriented organizations in Lahore, Pakistan. It examines the interface of gender, religion, education, and politics as they promote gender equality and women’s rights to freedom from violence. With a broad view of knowledge as empowerment and a human right framework for action, they have initiated a variety of programs that promote legal literacy, support women’s access to education, and challenge patriarchal ideologies through publication of educational materials that counter intolerance of difference on the basis of religion, gender, and nationality and seek to introduce young people to human rights concepts. This chapter will examine how secular human rights organizations navigate cultural barriers and function within Pakistan’s socio-religious-legal context.