Facts about Pakistan

Gender Roles and Statuses:

 Division of Labor by Gender: 

 The majority of Pakistani women are homemakers, and men are generally referred to as the bread earners. The largest percentage of working women in Pakistan is nurses or teachers. Women are represented in government as ministers in Parliament and ambassadors. Miss Benazir Bhutto was the first female prime minister and served from 1988 to 1990.

 Relative Status of Women and Men; 

 The women of Pakistan are regular voters as are the men, and women also are regular attendees in colleges. Islam gives women rights to child custody, to alimony, and to inheritance, and they also have the right to conduct business and enter into any profession. Women are engaged in agriculture production and the services sector. Women judges have been appointed to four high courts as well as several lower courts and a 10 percent quota was established for women to become police officers. There are growing numbers of violent crimes against women and the government has introduced the concept of women police stations, which have been opened in Rawalpindi, Karachi, and Abbott-abad in the KPK province.Under the ministry of women development Crises Centers for women in distress are working free legal aid is given to those suffering from domestic violence. A number of computer training centers have been established for women and the government has opened "women development centers" that specialize in training community development workers in family planning, hygiene, sanitation, adult literacy, community organization, and legal rights.

Marriage, Family and Kinship

 Marriage;

 Muslim marriage involves a Nikah, a formal legal document signed by the bride and groom in front of several witnesses; this establishes that the couple is legally married. Walima a grand Party is offered after Nikah, with the delicious foods cooked according to customs of area. There are other Muslim marriage traditions as well. One includes the Maaiyun or lagan which takes place three or four days before the marriage and starts with the bride retiring to a secluded area of her home. On the day before the marriage there is a Menhdi ceremony, when the bride's hands and feet are painted with Henna. When the marriage ceremony takes place it is require that at least two witnesses must be there, and all the guests offer a short prayer for the success of the marriage. After the ceremony, dried dates or sweats are distributed to the guests. Wedding customs vary somewhat among provinces, but the Muslim marriage is seen as uniting and binding both families as well as the couple. Each tribe has certain ceremonies that are important part of the marriages within that group.

 Inheritance; 

Women enjoy inheritance rights in Pakistan, so that inheritance benefits can go to women and children after the death of the husband and father.

Kin Groups; 
  A Muslim marriage is seen as uniting the families of both the bride and groom, so the kin group is expanded after a marriage. In some tribes there can be neither a cross-cultural marriage nor a dual ethnic one, so therefore the kin groups are and basically remain identical in ethnic and cultural nature.