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Begin New Search Topic Women Political Geography Pakistan Content Type Commentary and Analysis Publication Year within 25 Years

1. Using technology to improve women’s safety in Pakistan’s urban transit systems

Author:
Ammar A. Malik, Yasemin Irvin-Erickson, and Faisal Kamiran
Publication Date:
12-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
As cities around the world invest billions in new mass transit systems, people’s experiences and fears of victimization in public spaces cause gender disparities in accessibility. Gendered social norms regarding women’s traditional role in society and control over income further limits women’s access to mass transit systems. Although fear of crime affects all transit users, sexual harassment and victimization is a larger concern for women and girls, and it restricts their mobility and hampers access to economic opportunity. As we learn more about this problem, we are looking for solutions, including technology, that can lower the risk of victimization and help women feel more safe on public transit.
Topic:
Crime, Science and Technology, Women, Gender Based Violence, and Urban
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

2. A tale of two cities: Why there is no “one solution” to combating spousal abuse

Author:
Ammar A. Malik and Jared Stolove
Publication Date:
08-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
The World Health Organization has identified Southeast Asia as the region of the world with the highest rates of domestic violence, with 37.7 percent of women experiencing spousal abuse. This troubling statistic deserves the attention of policymakers and nongovernmental organizations looking to reduce domestic abuse. But those designing interventions should not treat this region as a monolith. Recent research has highlighted that domestic violence is the result of community- and individual-level factors. Although certain socioeconomic groups, such as the impoverished and the poorly educated, are generally more likely to be the victims of domestic violence, the factors that put individual women at risk of abuse vary across communities. Policymakers aiming to reduce spousal violence must be conscious of local context when designing interventions. Otherwise, policymakers risk using valuable resources on ineffective projects that do not address the root causes of domestic violence. Recent fieldwork by the Urban Institute profiles how different the causes of domestic violence can be, even among similar socioeconomic groups.
Topic:
Women, Gender Based Violence, Cities, and Domestic Violence
Political Geography:
Pakistan, South Asia, and India

3. Three strategies for empowering women in informal economies

Author:
Ammar A. Malik and Hadia Majid
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Pakistan is the sixth most populated country in the world, and at least two in five Pakistanis will live in urban areas by 2020. But, as in the rest of South Asia, rapid urbanization in Pakistan is “messy” and hidden. A large-scale informal economy and poor public service delivery is dampening the potential productivity benefits of agglomeration. Seventy-eight percent of nationwide nonagricultural jobs are in the informal economy, and some 22 million people are in such roles, most of them women. Most of an estimated 8.5 million mostly unregulated domestic workers are also women. Underdeveloped and unenforced work regulations make women disproportionately more susceptible to exploitive working conditions. They are poorly compensated and forced to work in hazardous circumstances without proper social or legal protections. Beyond the ambit of taxation, they are seldom considered productive economic agents and are relegated as secondary contributors to the economy. These issues with urbanization and informal economies are not unique to Pakistan. All South Asian countries have similar problems. But overall gender disparities in Pakistan are considerably higher than the regional average, and the fact that more women are poor than men poses a particular challenge for women in Pakistan’s urban informal sector.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Urbanization, Women, Economy, and Informal Economy
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia

4. Without improved public service delivery, women in developing countries can’t take advantage of economic opportunity

Author:
Ammar A. Malik and Jasmina Pless
Publication Date:
02-2016
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
An estimated 1.5 billion people live on less than $1 per day—the majority of whom are women. The “the feminization of poverty,” the worldwide gap between women and men trapped in poverty, has grown during the past decade. As developing countries continue to urbanize, uneven access to public services prevents women from taking full advantage of the newly available economic opportunities. Despite women’s improved overall labor force participation, they often end up with lower paying, precarious jobs—often in the informal economy. In Pakistan for instance, three-quarters of women engaged in non-agriculture jobs work in the informal economy without laws or public policies to protect them. That’s an estimated 8.5 million domestic workers. Governments typically clamp down on informal establishments by shutting them down or simply ignore their existence. The lack of appropriate legal or regulatory systems further increases women’s vulnerability to exploitation through low wages or lack of employment protections. Women are seldom viewed as productive economic agents as they are outside the tax net.
Topic:
Development, Women, Economic Growth, and Informal Economy
Political Geography:
Pakistan and South Asia