Gender Equality & Women Empowerment

The dream of making this world an ideal place for everyone to live has not yet come true. It only means we have to continue to work in the right direction to make it so. Be it a developed country or a developing one, Gender Inequality has been one of the main obstacles in our way. It is indeed not possible to even think of 'an educated and healthier community' without true and just participation from women. Thus upholding gender equality and facilitating women empowerment is the key solution in the right direction.

It is pity to see women suffering and begging for equal rights even in this 21st century. There are a number of men who even today do not realize the issue of gender inequality - simply believing it is just a rhetoric and sheer exaggeration. Here are some harsh facts and figures (2018) for such people to review and change their stance:

Currently there are just 20 female Heads of States in the world (6.3% representation).
A child marriage takes place every minute (15 million every year).
Almost one in three females undergo and suffer from sexual abuse or physical violence (35% victims).
Women earn 60 to 75% of men's wages for the same work (25 to 40% less).
Two-thirds of 781 million illiterate adults are women.
63 million girls still need to go to school.

Since gender inequality is the root-cause of all this, it is high time for the men to break free to realize the menace of gender inequality with a view to curb it by facilitating women empowerment.

Efforts are underway the world over to uphold gender equality. In Pakistan however there is not much activity being seen in this direction. Having realized this grave scenario, Wonder Women Association has come forward to rescue Pakistani women by offering them its platform with a view to play a pivotal role in tackling the issue of gender inequality and facilitating women empowerment.

At Wonder Women Association we are pretty convinced that gender inequality can only be tackled by redressing the grievances that have culminated in its becoming one of the most tragic social evils of current times. The set of most immediate measures to be taken is as follows:

Talking to grassroots women to get firsthand information on the subject
Stopping sexual harassment and violence against women in every realm of society
Prohibiting and forcefully stopping child marriages forthwith
Increasing access to education to ensure all girls to be able to go to schools
Empowering women through increased participation in local and national legislation
Giving proper value to women's work thereby ensuring equal pay for equal work

By highlighting and making public the outstanding contributions of Pakistani women and by commemorating their accomplishments, we have been paving a way for all other women to follow in their pursuits. This way we have been working on empowering them to come forward and raise their voice on issues sensitive to them like gender inequality.

We have also decided to launch several campaigns for the Economic Empowerment of Women. Corporate executives, celebrities, volunteers of the WWA in conjunction with members of the community will show their support for this cause under the slogan of "I am with her". This slogan seems to be very simple but means a lot as it is a promise to do something tangible for the cause of economic empowerment of women.

The entrepreneurs and top-notch corporate executives who will participate in such campaigns will be convinced to work for women empowerment by increasing the number of women workers in their organizations. In the same way celebrities and WWA volunteers will show their support for women by facilitating them in whatever role and way they can. Media portrayal of all this will enhance its effects manifold. WWA will thus be a beacon of light for economic empowerment of women in Pakistan.