Lower Dir's Hameeda and Haleema Shahid are considered rebels in their community and have had their home pelted with stones — all because they often talk about a greater role for women in electoral politics.

The steep incline of the sisters' dangerously difficult terrain is reflected in the fact that a 2015 by-election in PK-95 Dir saw not even one of the constituency's 5,300 women voters come out to vote.

I recite kalima before going in to speak to them. — Hameeda Shahid

The "them" she refers to are not monsters or evil spirits but mere men made of flesh and blood.

The region's deeply conservative male mindset, however, hasn't deterred Haleema, who is a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf's candidate from PK-10 for the July 25 elections.

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