The history of feminists’ struggle to end discrimination, oppression and marginalisation against women is divided into three waves. They are known as first, second, and third wave of feminism. These waves, although they had started in Europe, had global impact on the status of women, including women of Pakistan.
The first wave
of feminism officially started with the Seneca Falls Convention, 1848. It
continued till 1920 after women of New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the
United States gained voting rights. In between the first and the second wave of
feminism, which started in 1960s, Pakistan got independence.
Pakistani
women were granted the suffrage in 1947, with the provision of reserved seats
in parliament existing throughout the constitutional history of Pakistan from
1956 onwards.
Being a woman
of a newly born country, a Pakistani woman had to do way more to establish her
worth and gain some status quo in society.
Like western
women, Pakistani women, during the second wave, were also victim of sexism,
harassment at workplace, degradation and objectification. For example, Fatima
Jinnah also had to bear character assassination at the hands of a dictator,
along with other setbacks, including poor finances and an unfair and unequal
election campaign.
Inspired by
the second wave of feminism in 1960s, Pakistani women started to embark ona
journey of improving their social and economic conditions. They argued that
having voting rights did not guarantee the end of their oppression in the hands
of men. The initial influence of the feminist movement during the second wave
in Pakistan included issuance of the Muslim Family Law Ordinance, 1961. The new
law aimed to regulate family affairs by protecting women rights. In the
subsequent year, another law, the West Pakistan Muslim Personal Law Sharia Act,
1962 was introduced in the country. It allowed Pakistani women to inherent all
forms of property.
Rangeela was the first Pakistani to publicly express his concerns
regarding the treatment of women in Pakistan and support the liberation
movement of the 1970s
In an article
published in Express Tribune, Mehreen Ovais writes, “Western women’s liberation
movement also influenced Pakistani men.” She writes, “Rangeela was the first
Pakistani to publicly express his concerns regarding the treatment of women in
Pakistan and support the liberation movement of the 1970s. He did so via a film
called Aurat Raaj, which he directed, produced and even acted in. Released in
1979, the film depicted the story of a housewife who stands up against her
chauvinist husband and goes on to form a political party for women across the
country, eventually becoming the national leader.”
The third wave
of feminism started in 1990s. Its focus was to globalise the feminist movement
and help every woman around the world, regardless of race, colour, class, and
ethnicity. The Transnational Feminist Networks were established around the
world to achieve the objectives. In the second wave, Pakistan’s government
worked on country’s Women in Development profile to reduce gaps between
socially defined roles and responsibilities of women and men.
But realising
the need of the time during the third wave the focus shifted to gender
mainstreaming as a part of Gender and Development. Government of Pakistan aimed
at promoting gender equality by involving women in all spheres of life.
In the new
century, Pakistani women have enabled themselves in gaining higher
participation in socio-political and economic fields. They have secured their
quota in local government departments, bureaucracy, media houses and
parliament.
The same has published in Daily Times, Lahore
