Pakistan – 2014 results

The law grants Pakistani women access to property other than land on the same grounds as men. However, while there are no legal restrictions to women’s ownership rights in Pakistan, discriminatory practices and norms prevail. Women in Pakistan are unable to exercise the rights to land granted to them by constitutional, statutory, and religious law, under pressure of customary law and traditional practice. Concerning access to land, women’s access to the natural resources they depend on for their livelihoods is inherently insecure and easily lost in times of scarcity. ^[75] The share of female land ownership is very low.^[76]A household survey, published in 2005 profiled by the International Centre for Research on Women found that women owned less than 3% of the land – even though people in 67 per cent of sampled villages agreed that women had a right to inherit land.^[77] Further, in cases where women do own land, they may not have actual control over it, as in reality, many women allow their husbands to manage such property on their behalf.^[78]

However, there are some promising initiatives: the Sindh Government has given land to landless women in Pakistan in the last few years, through its Land Distribution Programme.^[79] Another initiative supporting women is the Benazir Income Support Programme, which is the government’s social safety net programme aiming at helping the poorest in the context of the recent financial crisis.^[80]

Section 18 of the Constitution grants all citizens the right to conduct any lawful trade or business, and the government reported that all of the services of the formal banking sector are available to women.^[81] Pakistani women are entitled to obtain bank loans and other forms of credit, and a number of credit institutions now target women. However, their access is limited by their inability to provide the required collateral. Increasingly, rural women are forming co-operatives, often with the assistance of micro-credit lending institutions. However, recent studies have raised concerns that micro-credit programmes are not always targeted to the needs of rural women and tend to steer women towards traditional activities rather than promoting their technological and entrepreneurial capacities. ^[82] According to 2011 World Bank data, women were only slightly less likely than men to have obtained a loan in the past year. While they were more likely to obtain that loan from a financial institution (1.9%, compared with 1.2%); they were less likely to obtain it from a private lender (1.9 versus 2.6%); as well as from family or friends (22.3%, compared with 23.9%).^[83]Additionally, NGOs have noted that fewer women than men have the Computerized National Identity Cards required for voting, inheritance and accessing Government as well as most private schemes, benefits, and resources.^[84]

These financial restrictions may have their origins in social attitudes. According to Pew research 79% of Pakistanis share the view that a marriage where the husband bears the financial responsibility while the wife cares for the house and children is more satisfying; compared with just 18% of Pakistanis who favour a non-traditional approach.^[85]82% of those surveyed also felt that that men should have more of a right to a job than women during tough economic times is prevalent in nine of the countries surveyed.^[86] In Pakistan the value of a woman’s testimony in court is considered half that of a man’s in financial matters.^[87]