| Home > South-Asia >> Pakistan | |
Defiant Pakistani women vote in record numbers
Sydney Morning Herald - May 12, 2013
The women wait patiently, ID cards in hand, for their turn at the low desk that sits in the shade of the Dehdan schoolhouse verandah. They wait for their chance to vote.
Women have voted in record numbers in Pakistan's general election this year. In many parts of the country they have done so in defiance of familial tradition, political party orders, and the very real threat of Taliban violence.
In Pakistan, men and women vote separately. The women's voting centres are secluded by high gates or hung curtains, so those inside can vote while still observing purdah, separation from men.
Inside, the entire operation is run by women, who check names, distribute the green and white voting papers, and handle ballot boxes.
Literacy rates are low in this country - around 35 per cent among rural women – so voters check their names with a thumbprint before, one by one, they are given their ballot papers and instructions to place a stamp next to the symbol of the party they support.
37 million women, a record, were registered to cast ballots in Saturday's general election in Pakistan.
And while official figures aren't yet available, electoral officials here in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the country's restive, and deeply religiously conservative, northwest, say more women voted this time than ever before.
Five years ago, when elections were last held, 564 women's polling stations recorded zero votes. More than half of those were in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In some conservative electorates, total turnout for women was less than 10 per cent. This year, anecdotally at least, the situation is very different.
By lunchtime here in Dehdan, that figure is already above 20 per cent, and presiding officer Iram Naz says it will likely be above 40 per cent by the close of polls.
"The turnout is much greater than the last election in 2008. Turnout is very strong. People here feel safe casting their vote."
Pakistan's electorate is young too. Nearly 40 million of the 86 million registered voters have never cast a ballot before. Ms Naz says a rising literacy rate among the younger generation of Pakistani women has given them the confidence to voice their opinions.
"Many young girls are coming [to vote]. They understand about their country, and they want to vote to help Pakistan."
Saira, who only uses one name, declines to say for whom she voted, but hints, saying that iconoclastic former cricketer Imran Khan is popular with those who want change.
"You can see all the women here, they all want to vote. It is important for us to make our vote count, make our voice heard. They young girls especially, want to vote for a new government."
Still, despite the improved turnout, millions of women were disenfranchised this weekend in Pakistan, physically attacked, threatened, or bullied out of casting a vote.
In a country that has had a woman Prime Minister (twice) and reserves 60 seats in parliament for women, there is still widespread resistance to women participating in democracy.
In the Lower Dir area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, political parties made a secret deal with militants to prohibit women from voting.
In neighbouring North Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold, mosque loudspeakers broadcast a message that women would not be allowed to leave home to attend a polling station. Men in cars distributed pamphlets warning of retribution for anyone who allowed women in their family to vote.
"Take our words, this kind of disgraceful act will not be tolerated and anyone influencing women to cast a vote will be punished."
And in Peshawar, militants tried to kill female voters with a bomb planted on a motorcycle that was detonated outside a women's polling centre.
In the village of Panian, however, voting is peaceful, and the women here, wait too.
The girls' middle school has become a women's polling place for the day, and the women feel comfortable here.
Presiding officer Shakeela Begum is happy with the turnout. "It is much better than last time, people are much more enthusiastic," she says.
Long before lunchtime, her list shows 200 of 1009 registered voters here have cast a ballot.
The elections this year have coincided with the wheat harvest, Ms Begum says, so many women are still working in their fields. She expects a rush late in the day.
At the head of the queue is Rizwana, who says she has come to vote for a change in her country. "Education must be the first priority of the next government."
She stands in line with colleagues and with family members. All the women she knows, she says, are voting this election.
"It is important for women, because this is our duty to our nation and our right. There are many women in Pakistan and they should vote for the future of this country."
See also:
 |