Political Empowerment of Women: Participation, Barriers, and Governance Outcomes in Balochistan, Pakistan Rehana Barkat

Abstract

The political empowerment of women is a very important aspect of democratic governance and inclusive development, but the level of involvement of women in the political decision-making process is low in most conservative and underdeveloped nations. This paper explores the scope, the factors and the consequences of the women political participation in Balochistan in Pakistan. Using an exploratory mixed research method, primary data were gathered using structured questionnaires with women of different socio-economic status, educational levels, and ethnic orientations in the Quetta District. Statistical tools were applied to analyse quantitative data and thematic analysis to analyse qualitative data to provide the lived experiences and social-cultural limitations of women. The results indicate that deeply rooted patriarchal values, inhibiting cultural values and practices, economic dependency and inaccessibility to institutional services are some of the factors greatly affecting the successful involvement of women in governance especially in rural regions. Even though the policy interventions like gender quotas and reserved seats have seen women become increasingly represented in numbers, the interventions have not been translated into translating into real political power and leadership positions. One of the enabling factors that are identified is education; women have become more politically aware, confident, and ambitious to be a leader, but the problem is that not all women have equal access to education and economic opportunities, which limits the active empowerment. The research also shows that there is a close connection between the socio-economic status, education and participation of women in political affairs. The study comes to the conclusions that sustainable women political empowerment in Balochistan needs a combination of approaches that are based on both policy implementation and institutional change as well as educational investment, economic empowerment, and community-based cultural change. The results are evidence-based and can be used by policy makers, development practitioners and civil society organisations in their efforts to enhance gender inclusive governance in marginalised settings.

Keywords: Women political empowerment; gender equality; women in governance; political participation; Baluchistan.