Women's Participation In Politics

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Introduction: The term politics, when it is reflected upon gives an instant image of a male figure in our minds because primarily the conventional politics were related to problems and concerns regarding male figures. Later on, in the 19th and 20th century, women struggled to have basic rights that were affecting them such as right to property, equal pay, equal representation etc. But the term politics does not indicate that women were given a right to vote but what is meant by the role of women in politics is the participation done by the women on an active level in political activities whether it is being a part of a political party or being a part of public office. It is about women’s participation in the decision making process, political …show more content…

Historically, under different political systems, women's participation in politics and active decision making was different and the shares of the seats in national and provincial assemblies were also different. Women acquired only 3% of the total seats in the first legislative assembly but they had zero representation in the second legislative assembly. From 1956 to 1958, a change took place in the political organization once again. Since the post of governor general was abolished, Iskander Mirza, took the position as the president. After the Zia era, another transformation in the political structure took place which brought many changes in the representation of women in politics. Women’s representation in the legislative assembly gradually developed from being 3% to 10% and not only they were able to take seats in the National assembly but they were also able to represent themselves at the provincial level. But, yet again from the time period starting from 1990 to 1997, no seats were allotted for women at neither the provincial nor the national level. A major difference was seen in the representation of the women in the year 2002 which was a military time period. Women’s representation according to statistics rose to 33% in this year. This increase in the quota lead to an increase in the overall participation of women in politics which resulted in the largest ever number of women who opposed and won general seats. Observing the elections of 2008 and 2013 we can see some differences in the statistics. During the elections of 2013, it was observed that women attained a total of 20% in the legislative assembly. Comparing this to the 2008 election, we observe that a greater proportion of women participated in 2013. A significant number of women were given representation or came forward to represent a specific political party. Similarly, 108 women were fighting for National

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