THE World Economic Forum’s annual gender gap report is out and, like every year since its inception in 2006, it makes for very grim reading for Pakistan. In 2013, Pakistan has been ranked 135 out of 136 countries surveyed. If that is not bad enough, Pakistan’s best performance was being ranked 112 out of 115 countries in the inaugural report in 2006. Of course, when dealing with the results of any survey, let alone one dealing with the population of 136 countries, much depends on the methodology used, the accuracy of the data being studied and a clear understanding of what the report is trying to study and present. Having said that, even if there are legitimate questions about whether the overall position of women in Pakistan is really worse than every single one of the 135 countries surveyed barring one — Yemen — it is safe to say that the situation of women in Pakistan is deeply problematic and far from where it ought to be to achieve some semblance of equality with the male population in the crucial areas of health, education, economics and politics.

The straightforward, though important, reason for a society needing to close the gaps between men and women in the areas of health, education, economics and politics is explained in the very first line of the report: “Countries and companies can be competitive only if they develop, attract and retain the best talent, both male and female.” Let half of a country’s population lag behind — enormously behind, in Pakistan’s case — behind the other, male half and the simple fact of the matter is that everyone loses, because society as a whole is unable to achieve its potential. In Pakistan’s case, when it comes to systemic interventions by the state to improve the relative standing of women, the problem is less that as a group the country’s leadership does not acknowledge the need to improve women’s access, opportunities and core entitlements, but that the leadership is all too willing to defer to tradition and antediluvian cultural norms.

Consider the area of political empowerment, where Pakistan ranks a less terrifyingly poor 64th. Women in parliament, women in ministerial positions and a female head of state in less than 50 years — all of this Pakistan has managed to do. But how many parties make it a point to have more women candidates on directly elected seats or groom women for leadership positions? Barring one or two parties, none do. So even where Pakistan appears to be doing well, it isn’t really.