Islamabad, Sep 6 (IANS) Only two per cent of women own land alone or jointly in Pakistan, showcasing the gender gap in land ownership and the economic environment, as per a recent study, local media reported on Sunday.
According to the study conducted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), 67 per cent of women are employed in Pakistan's agriculture sector. However, only 1.5 per cent of agricultural households are women-headed, the daily Dawn reported.
According to the study, only about two per cent of ever-married women aged between 15 and 49 years own land jointly or alone, while 97.2 per cent of women had not inherited a house or land, it said, citing the study
The study revealed that 99.1 per cent of women in Sindh do not own land alone or jointly. According to the study, 57 per cent of men have a financial account while only 14 per cent of women do so. The study revealed that 11 per cent of women own a mobile wallet, compared with 48 per cent of men.
Earlier in June, a report said that Pakistan secured the last spot in the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2025 and its overall gender parity score drop from 57 per cent in 2024 to 56.7 per cent in 2025, showcase the inequalities faced by women in the country regularly across economic participation and independence, social freedoms, political representation, education, health, and personal agency and autonomy.
"Statistics and lived experiences point toward inequalities, where violence against women is widespread. For women and young girls, navigating public spaces remains challenging even after decades of legislation, women’s rights activism, and work by several organisations, both domestic and international, like UN Women in Pakistan, Oxfam and so on. Yet, gender disparity, discussions of women’s rights and violence against women are among some of the most contentious subjects in Pakistan," Mariyam Suleman Anees, a Pakistan-based freelance writer, wrote in The Diplomat.
"Educational institutions, workplaces, markets, public transport, and even the home, which is often regarded as the safest place — none has spared women from violence. Earlier this month, a woman doctor on duty in a public hospital in Balochistan’s capital of Quetta was brutally attacked with acid by the hospital’s lift operator," she added.
Following the incident, protests erupted in several parts of Pakistan, demanding the safety of working women, a ban on the sale of acid, and the implementation of anti-acid attack legislation. According to The Diplomat report, Pakistan has no official statistics about acid attacks.
According to World Bank data, only 22 per cent of women comprise Pakistan's total labour force. Economic exclusion is a major hindrance, and cases like the recent acid attack on a female doctor inside the hospital further discourage women from pursuing professional careers and create fear among families who want to invest in the education of their daughters despite social and economic challenges.
--IANS
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