MARDAN
Speakers at a workshop said that ignoring women as half of Pakistan’s population and depriving them of the process of political and economic development is an injustice and a waste of their abilities.
The Trust for Democratic Education and Accountability (TFEA) organized the workshop for the local journalists. Imran Khan of IRSP, Training Officer Maryam, Nadiya and local journalists attended the workshop.
The speakers said that women make up 48.80% of the total population of Pakistan while there are 123.76 million less women registered than men in the electoral rolls. They added that the election Act 2017 ensures women’s participation in elections and in the democratic process. Speakers said that the journalists are the voice of the oppressed, neglected, backward and deprived sections of the society.
These sections include women, minorities, persons with different abilities, eunuchs and children. Therefore, it is need of time that local level journalists should be aware about gender sensitivity and class deprivation and use print, electronic and social media effectively in this regard. Speakers said that democracy is not possible without a free media and a vibrant population of men and women.
“Free media is essential for democracy and the people”, speakers said. Speakers said that the literacy rate of women is 46.5% while that of men is 71% which shows that more than half of women are illiterate.
They added that no woman has become a judge of the Supreme Court while only 6 out of 13 judges of the High Court are women. Besides, out of 198 members of 6 Bar Councils of the country, only 6 are women.
Speakers said that in Pakistan, 21% of girls get married before the age of 18 and 5% get married before the age of 15. Speakers added that from 2019 to 2021, 60 incidents of violence, harassment and intimidation against female journalists were reported in Pakistan.
They added that the role of women in the development and politics of our society is important and it is need of time that the media should highlight it.
