Socio-cultural biases affect women’s health

LAHORE:Despite legislation at national and provincial levels to prevent child marriage, at least 4 per cent girls get married under the age of 15 years and 18 per cent under the age of 18 years.

“Poverty, food insecurity, health and economic expenditure of girls and lack of work opportunities in safe environment are the main drivers of child marriage,” observed anthropologists, medical and public health experts during a meeting organised by Population Council with the support of UNFPA to mark International Women’s Day 2022 under this year’s theme of “Break the Bias”. The Population Council has underlined that socio-cultural biases affect the reproductive health rights of women and aggravate practices like child marriage. Pakistan is among the countries with highest maternal mortality rate in the world and around 11,000 mothers die annually due to pregnancy related complications. Moreover, as many as 9 million girls have no access to education, for a high 37pc girls are out of school in the country as compared to 27pc boys. Similarly, only 25pc young women are part of the labour force as compared to 96pc of men in the age group of 25–29. Child marriage is prevalent in various areas of the country and 18pc girls get married before the age of 18. In addition to that, 8 million women face gender-based violence in one year in Pakistan, according to Population Council.

Researcher and social activist, Fauzia Yazdani, briefed the participants on determinants of child marriage and shed light on socio-economic factors of the practice. She said Pakistan is signatory of international conventions under which Pakistan is bound to stop underage marriages and protect the rights of children. Referring to International Women’s Day, Samia Ali Shah, Project Director, Population Council said, “Theme of International Women’s Day ‘Break the Bias’ calls for ending social discrimination, which badly affects women’s health, especially reproductive health. There is a need to empower women through education so that they can take informed decisions about their reproductive health”. According to the Pakistan Demographic Health Survey (2018-19), only 10pc women can take decisions about their health in Pakistan. Programme Specialist of UNFPA, Dr Jamil Ahmed, said mortality rate during pregnancy and childbirth in Pakistan is highest in the entire region and there is a dire need to reduce it through advocacy, implementation of legislations and positive change in social behaviour. “We have to expand our family planning programme by involving the private sector to eliminate maternal mortality and improve overall health indicators”, he added. Real life stories of women were shared by Dr Azra Ahsan, senior gynaecologist and obstetrician, as she highlighted the sufferings of women who could not seek healthcare due to low quality of service provision and frequent pregnancies.

Dr Ali Mir, Senior Director Programmes, Population Council said, “Media can be an effective tool to break the biases against women and to promote family planning as a socially and religiously acceptable practice. It can provide information on the issues like how child marriage compromises women’s health prosperity and empowerment. He encouraged representatives of leading national and provincial media outlets to work for ending biases and discrimination against women. Meanwhile, the media coalition members resolved to work on raising awareness to end discrimination and biases against women.