Pakistan, the state party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 1969 and other human rights treaties, has almost half of the population comprising of women. With such a large number of women it is expected by the human rights supporters that they will be well represented and participated in political decision making bodies like Parliament. Pakistani women are having dejure right to take part in political life on national and international levels. The highest ever number of women in Pakistani Parliament is 17% which though seems good in South Asian block but satisfactory in World rating. Besides presentation, women are lacking actual or defacto participation in Parliamentary politics which entails that they have formal equality but no substantive equality. It is suggested that substantive/defacto participation of women in Pakistani parliament can be fostered by CEDAW’s ‘Substantive Equality approach.
CEDAW, the first ever legal instrument for women on international level, advocates for substantive equality instead of centuries old concept of formal equality. This approach not only speaks for equal treatment but equality with actual impact of law. It deals with disadvantages faced by women instead of differences due to their gender. Its purpose is that law corrects the imbalance and impacts on the outcome by assuring equal ‘opportunities, access and benefits for women. Linked with the concept of equality is the notion of Non-discrimination. It calls for the elimination of direct and indirect discrimination that spring from laws and practices that have a discriminatory effect though no discrimination was intended. States on becoming party to CEDAW are ‘committed to fulfill these goals by all means as they are not only obliged by this convention but under the Maxim “Pacta Sunt Servanda” provided under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Provisions of this convention and notion of state obligation urged Pakistan to realize this goal in her parliamentary cultur.
Experiences show that countries where this approach is incorporated in political field, not only the number of women increased in parliaments but have made overall positive impact on their substantive participation there. It is also established that critical mass of women i.e. 30% and more not only made positive impact on the parliamentary culture in some countries but encourages women parliamentarians to bring issues of women’s interest in their political agendas besides their respective party politics. It is also shown that countries having this approach in their legal systems and especially in parliaments encourage women to show outcome of their political activism. Women parliamentarians ‘were expected to bring women friendly legislation and they made it but it is suggested that legislation is not a sufficient gauge of their substantive participation bist might be an ‘early indicator of their prospective achievements. These countries overcome obstacles in their way to substantive equality in parliament by a number of means like introduction of ‘quota system, women parliamentarians’ caucuses, inclusion of women organizations in important gender issues, direct electoral system and party list system etc.
Government of Pakistan has taken certain steps under Legal Framework Order (LFO), 2002 (constitutional amendment) to uplift the women representation in parliament introduction of 1/3″ reserved seats in the National and Provincial Assemblies, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 etc. But certain other steps are needed to be taken like establishment of women forum on parliamentary level, discouragement of indirect election on reserved seats and promotion of party list system with inclusion of active ‘women organizations in ensuring women’s political activism.
By keeping in view the importance of this area of study I have decided to probe into the concept of substantive equality approach of CEDAW. Though the approach is required to be pursued in every sphere of women’s life but to analyze the impact of this approach in political arena and especially in parliamentary life was important due to certain factors as ‘explained above. Firstly an over view of history of women’s political activism is given to show that how much freedom of expression and decision making was given to them in different spans of time.
Second part deals with some basic concepts like substantive equality, idea of non- discrimination, concept of gender and notion of state obligation and fiaison between them, CEDAW’s obligations are also discussed in order to see that how much Pakistan is obliged under this convention to bring substantive equality in women’s parliamentary performance. Then situation of women parliamentary participation in Pakistan is analysed along with these conceptual terms. The period of study chosen is two-pronged. First the quantitative participation of women parliamentarians covers the period from 1947-2007 while their qualitative participation covers the time period of 1999-2007 as it: witnessed the highest increased in the number of women in parliament. AS field visits ‘were difficult for me therefore, to measure their actual input, I have sought help from secondary resources like interviews and opinions of different women parliamentarians Published in newspapers and reports of government and independent organizations. It is shown that women though have dejure right to take part in political and public life but are hindered to take part fully in parliament.
Part Three deals with the limitations on the substantive participation of women in parliament. These are divided in to political, social and economic problems with certain other important factors. Part four deals with the experiences of Rwanda and South Aftica and action taken by their governments to overcome the problem of non-equality and past discrimination of ‘women in their parliaments by adoption of CEDAW’s substantive equality approach. In the light of their experiences some steps are suggested to be taken to foster defactosubstantive participation of women in parliament.
Hopefully this thesis would be an addition towards the effort of all Pakistani women to achieve true equality and it will prove that by adoption of CEDAW’s substantive ‘approach in parliamentary politics, Pakistani government will not only duly fulfill her ‘commitments under CEDAW and international law but would better respect, fulfill and protect women’s right. Thus ensures that adoption of this approach in its true sense will foster defacto equality.