The numbers do not tell a happy story of women in Pakistan as the country struggles to find direction to achieve inclusive sustainable development that translates into dignified decent living for its people irrespective of their gender.
The current United Nation Development Report based on statistics of the year 2006 placed Pakistan at 148th position out of 157 countries surveyed to gauge the level of gender inequality. The criterion was the ratio of gender development index (GDI) to human development index (HDI) in a given year.

The country did not fare too well even on the scale that measured gender empowerment (GEM) as it scored low to be ranked 98th out of 108 countries surveyed. The GEM reveals the level of involvement of women in economic and political life in a country. Pakistan is said to be trailing on targets it set for itself to achieve the millennium development goals (MDGs). Especially the goals that directly or indirectly affect the health and education of deprived female population of the country have not been able to get the attention and resources they deserved.
Suppressed and exploited they might be, but the Pakistani woman is not defeated. The more the system tries to hold her back the more she struggles to better equip herself to fight back.

Despite all odds, Pakistani women have made their mark in all fields of human pursuits economic, social and political. They have not only entered factory floors as wage workers but also the chamber of commerce and industry as entrepreneurs. Majority of workers and women entrepreneurs are involved in low paid labour intensive trades but they are entering new fields as well. In technologically advanced fields such as media establishments and telecommunication sector women`s presence in Pakistan is strong and improving by the day.

The information explosion, better connectivity and mobility have improved the level of awareness of rural Pakistani women about themselves and their surroundings. There are indications to suggest that the recent rise in the cases of physical abuse of women in rural Pakistan, as reported in the press, could also be a reaction to the societal change in sub urban settings that challenges the total subjugation of women. She seems to be asserting herself to exercise freedom of choice in key decisions about marriage and property.

The presence of Pakistani women in politics is not just symbolic. Their role in party politics is more than proportionate to their numerical strength. The strong polished personality of late Benazir Bhutto is a source of inspiration and a symbol of resistance to tyranny for politically inclined women all over the world. Today there are women leaders in all political parties of Pakistan. Many women are today members of the federal and provincial legislative assemblies as well as the cabinet.

Take any discipline of learning — humanities, engineering, fashion designing, medicine, business studies, computers, marketing, finance, management etc. female students outshine male students in top rankings. It could be because they strive harder to prove their worth. It may also be to justify the family`s investment and make a strong case to pursue a career.

With remarkable resilience against multiple odds greater numbers of women are taking up professions and careers for economic empowerment and to share the responsibility of providing the family a better quality of life. Besides attitudinal barriers a working woman takes tremendous pressure to balance demands of family and profession. She has to put in more as affordable support structures such as day care facility for appropriate child care are lacking.
However, Pakistani society has remarkable diversity and is unique for multiple paradoxes. The greater female participation does not necessarily and automatically change societal attitudes to make it more liberal, scientific or progressive.

In certain cities like Karachi and Lahore while the temptation of economic relief afforded by two incomes might have broken down traditional resistance to allow women to work a profession, in other matters, the value system has not shown much progressive change.

A large number of people in these two biggest cities of Pakistan, for instance, prefer conservative dress code for women complete with head scarf or abaya. With the rise in the trend of religious fundamentalism generally pressure has increased on women to make social relationships work.
Especially the burden of raising children and making a marriage work is disproportionately on women. In case of achievement the credit goes to the head of the family — the male patriarch — but if anything goes wrong the mother or the wife is demonised.

Pakistanis, therefore, appear to be modern if measured on the basis of their inclination to consumerism but their other social mores have not necessarily transformed.
The more things change the more they remains the same. Pakistani society has remarkable diversity that lends a unique texture to it. For a variety of reasons that include prolonged periods of dictatorial rule, the society seems to be constantly at odds with itself.

The need for conscious continuous reflection on its paradoxes and well considered government interventions to make economic programme gender sensitive may help close gaps in the well-being of the female population. The pace of progress in this regard would to a great extent depend on the level of involvement of women in the movement to achieve freedom of choice not just in equal opportunity to work and right to equal pay for work done but to live life according to their aspirations in dignity and peace.