Equal enjoyment of human rights by women and men is a universally accepted principle, reaffirmed by the Vienna Declaration, adopted by 171 states at the World Conference on Human Rights in June 1993. It has many dimensions:

• Equal access to basic social services, including education and health.
• Equal opportunities for participation in political and economic decision-making.
• Equal reward for equal work.
• Equal protection under the law.
• Elimination of discrimination by gender and violence against women.
• Equal rights of citizens in all areas of life, both public such as the workplace and private such as the home.

Pakistani women are no different than their fellow females all around the world in general. In fact being the citizen of a 3rd world country, they face double the hurdles and difficulties to give themselves a decent life. Women in Pakistan whether belong to upper class or hail from a remote ruler area face dilemmas every day just to survive with dignity in a male dominated society.

To give a picture of Pakistani male attitude over women specially on more cosmopolitan but less empowered women nothing could be more reflective than the famous writer Quratul Ain Haider’s terminology 3M i.e. “Male, Muslim and Middle Class”. The women living in between of high or low status suffer the most in this country as they can think for themselves more than the other two categories.

The way the principals and guidelines of Islam being high jacked and interpret as per the wishes of male chauvinism in the country that came into being in the name of Islam would be the phenomenon of one of its kind in modern history.

There is still no escape for the women in many parts of the country from this unspoken imprisonment they face, in which all decisions about them and their lives are made by their custodians, who may be their fathers, brothers or their husbands. No one cares to find out what they want in life, or about their ideas or thoughts.  Despite this the woman of Pakistan has come a long way in proving herself.