ratio, estimated to be 260 deaths per 100,000 births, with over 75 per cent of deliveries taking place at home and skilled personnel attending only about 20 per cent of them, is among the highest in South Asia.
As of 2008, of the 47 million employed people in Pakistan, only 9 million were women, and of those 9 million, 70 percent worked in the agricultural sector. The proportion of all female-headed households in Pakistan was estimated at 10.9 percent, with women heading 11.5 and 9.7 of rural and urban households respectively.
The Constitution of Pakistan, 1973 (Article 27) states that women would have an equal opportunity to enter the civil service as men. In 2007, the GoP adopted a policy that 10 percent positions in government were to be reserved for women and allocated according to the share of total civil service positions allocated to each province/region.
However lack of educational opportunity at the matriculation and above levels limits women’s ability to compete for high scores on tests used to rank candidates to be considered for a post. During 2008 to 2013, five women were made parliamentary secretaries out of a total of 26 (20 percent); they headed less than 20 percent of the standing committees in the National Assembly and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Punjab and Sindh Provincial Assemblies. Women representatives were able to move 20 out of 53 members’ bills during this period, data shows. All 17 judges of the Supreme Court are men. According to a national level survey conducted by Aurat Foundation 70 percent of women are not allowed to leave home to: i) visit a bank, ii) attend a meeting, iii) go to a job or iv) pursue education.
According to a multi-district study in Pakistan by Rutgers World Population Foundation, 66 % of interviewed women had experienced sexual violence and three fourth of the interviewed women reported having experienced physical violence. It is important to note that socio-cultural and structural barriers as well as victim shaming contribute to severe under-reporting of violence against women and girls.