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Political and social empowerment of the women of District Ghizer, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan

Author Affiliations

  • 1Department of Sociology & Anthropology, Karakoram International University, Gilgit, Pakistan

Int. Res. J. Social Sci., Volume 9, Issue (4), Pages 20-30, October,14 (2020)

Abstract

The present research highlights the womens political participation and their empowerment in the District Ghizer, Gilgit-Baltistan. The womens of Gilgit-Baltistan, especially of district Ghizer, are well-Enlighted or educated, comparatively less dependent on men in meeting their economic needs, own small scale business enterprises, say in household decision makings and support their families economically and emotionally, but their disengagement in the field of politics does questions the true sense of women empowerment in the area. in the political history of Gilgit-Baltistan, not even a single woman from the district Ghizer has got a chance to take part in the electoral process and serve the area and becoming the member of the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) through the direct contesting election process. Although, In the GBLA, there are only six (6) reserved seats for women, which are insufficient as compared to their population ratio. The theory of Social Capital, most applicable theory, stated that networking among women can enhance their political decision makings and their involvement in politics. The sample of the study was two hundred (200) female respondents belonged to the District Ghizer, Gilgit-Baltistan. The data were collected through structured self-complexion closed-ended questionnaires. Clusters were pre-defined through the systematic sampling technique. Both descriptive (percentages and frequencies) and inferential (correlation, Chi-Square, and Regression) statistical data analysis techniques were applied through the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22.0. The findings of the study showed that direct political participation (contest elections) of women is very less or nil in the region. However, the majority of women are indirectly active in political activities. Moreover, women were active in election campaigns, party rallies, corner gatherings, and party meetings, etc. Furthermore, most of the respondents were agreed that they have a political association with the mainstream political parties of federal, do cast a vote for their favourite candidate and also consider politics as one of the viable career opportunities for them in the near future. There is no active political party in Gilgit-Baltistan level. All the political parties have belonged to the federal level. This showed that, politically, Gilgit-Baltistan is deprived and alienated from mainstream politics. So, that is why the direct political engagement of the women is not as much encouraging as in the other parts of the country. In addition, the inferential statistics, i.e. Chi-Square and linear Regression Test were applied, which showed that political participation empowered women in society. Hence it can be concluded that the more the women are politically engaged the much authority they have pertaining to female empowerment.

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