DETERMINANTS OF WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: A CASE STUDY FROM DISTRICT RAWALPINDI, PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Women empowerment is one of the important issues of today world. Despite a major contribution in the development process, female population has low status as compared to men, specifically in the developing world. The situation in Pakistan is same. A vast majority of women in Pakistan are not authorized to make decision about their own life. The present study is designed to know the reasons of low women empowerment and suggest suitable policy measures to raise their status in the society. A sample of size 300 cases was selected using multistage random sampling technique from the District of Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. This study concluded that education, political participation and working for paid job of women are important determinants of women empowerment in the Punjab Province. Women also improve their empowerment status with increase in their conjugal age and cooperation of husbands.