Abstract

PIP: The myth in Pakistan is that women do not work outside the home but they do even though they tend not to be paid for it. They handle wheat and plant vegetables. They tend to and milk cattle. They handle manure used for fuel and fertilizer. They receive some money albeit small amounts for picking pesticide-laden cotton which puts them at risk. These work activities link them more closely with nature and natural resources than men. Yet modern harvest methods prevent women from gleaning fields for grain to sell to raise money for their family or for wheat stalks to use as fuel. This forces them to take wood from forests or shrubbery, thereby straining these limited resources. Other problems include population growth, male migration, landlessness, and insufficient health services. Society prefers sons. It considers women as childbearers and transitory persons. Females tend not to be educated, thus society does not value women. Social norms and infant mortality are associated with family size--the poorest women tend to have the highest fertility. More children serve as an economic safety valve. Many studies shatter the myth that women do not work. Policymakers and planners need to learn the results of these studies. The number of female-headed households rises. An increasing number of women must work to supplement their husband's income. To empower women, they need education and to acquire skills. Since they tend to be anemic, have an average of 9 births, and a life expectancy at birth for women of 55 years, they must also have access to health and family planning services. Nongovernmental organizations should help women to be more economically productive which allows them some economic independence. For example, in Gilgit, such an organization has trained women in tree planting, nursery rearing, vegetable growing, and caring for chickens.