COVID-19 Pandamic and Impact on Women in Pakistan

Apart from the fallout of the consequences of the incidence of COVID-19 pandemic, the emergency period recorded rise in incidences of domestic and sexual violence, including the questions of gender inequality, cultural, and social practices of patriarchy and discrimination against women in Pakistan. The pandemic has resulted in exacerbating myriad issues and problems for women in Pakistan at various levels of Pakistani social order, therefore, a concrete sociological, anthropological, and economic survey is needed to address challenges at cross-sectional levels. There is little research that has addressed a direct relationship between the pandemic emergency and instances of gender violence, which has reinforced cultural patriarchy resulting in social and economic stratification of gender and exacerbated inequality which needs to be addressed urgently. A combination of factors  are needed to be assessed and analysed to mainstream policies and strategiesStrategies for addressing the greater challenges of COVID-19 and its impact on Pakistani women. Furthermore, women’s innumerable ordeals suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in worsening gaps of hierarchy of men and their traditional rolesTraditional/Tribal roles in Pakistani society. Not only have the cases of domestic violence and abuse increased but also an inequality in net income combined with sexual and physical assaults, have continued to be on the rise. These patterns need to be taken seriously and therefore a survey is necessary to identify the groups effected, along with the quantitative data that can help identify the target groups and propose policy solutions. Therefore, there is a dire need for the study of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and its co-relationship with problems of domestic and sexual violence, including the questions of gender inequality, cultural, and social practices of patriarchy and discrimination against women in Pakistan. This research, thus, attempts to trace the problems and effects of COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency on the cross-section of urban and rural women population groups in Pakistan. It is based on a fact-finding survey of urban areas of Karachi with women as the focus groups. The survey data will be used to analyse the cross-sections of quantitative and qualitative effects of the pandemic on high-income, middle-income, and low-income groups of women.