Gender pay disparity is the general difference in pay between men and women. According to ILO’s Global Wage Report 2019, Pakistan displayed a staggering 34% gender pay gap. This is more than double the global average wage disparities in the world. Shamefully, we are considered the country with one of the highest wage disparities.

To add to this, according to multiple researches from the US, their wage gap could be due to other factors such as different interests, and differences in working hours. Some argue that only a marginal percentage of their wage gap is because of gender discrimination. However, for Pakistan, the case is entirely different. Gender discrimination and lack of education are the main constituents of the wage disparity in our country. No doubt, this issue requires urgent attention. So the question arises, Where does this predicament stem from, and how do we deal with it?

 Well, the root of the problem is some Pakistani’s despicable attitude towards the education of females. Half of the women in Pakistan have not even attended school in their lives and 90% of women don’t have a post-secondary education. Most of these women are from rural and tribal areas where the education of females is considered unnecessary and even taboo. This not only goes against Islam’s teachings regarding education but is also a human rights violation.

 Moreover, less than 18% of STEM professionals are made up of women which is one of the highest-paying professions. This can be linked to the exorbitant illiteracy rate of women, which is 47%. This under-representation of women and the family and societal pressure to only pursue female-dominated professions further widens the pay gap.

Another prominent reason for the abysmal literacy rate of females is the poor financial condition of people, which regrettably disables them to send their daughters to school.

To me, one of the reasonable solutions to this pressing issue is raising awareness of the general public, specifically the rural public. This not only includes religious awareness regarding the education of women but also the societal requirement for the empowerment of women.

To add more, besides awareness, it is integral to build more government schools and to exponentially increase the quality of education for such schools. Most of all, to ensure post-secondary education for women, the government has to construct more government universities with a high standard of education with little to no costs.

It is the responsibility of the government to provide education and their inability to do so is a direct human rights violation. Still, it is partly our responsibility to raise awareness and pressure the government into taking decisive action. So I implore the VoiceBox community to aid me in eliminating this blatant injustice.

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