ISLAMABAD: The level of education among women from the 'minorities' community is much lower compared to literacy rate among women at the national level, says a report launched on Tuesday.
Life on the Margins: A study on the minority women in Pakistan is based on interviews of over 1,000 Hindu and Christian women from eight districts of Punjab and 18 of Sindh, and has been prepared by National Commission on Justice and Peace (NCJP).
The research was led by international researcher Jennifer Jag Jivan and NCJP Executive Director Peter Jacobs on a baseline survey conducted in 26 districts of Punjab and Sindh where 95 per cent minorities of the country lived.
The report said only 47 per cent of the minority women interviewed were educated, much lower than the national average of 57 per cent and far behind the urban literacy rate of women which stood at 65 per cent.
Speakers termed the discrimination based on race and religion a blot on the face of the society and recommended institutional measures for the uplift of women belonging to various religious minorities.They said lack of education gave rise to social deprivations and undermined the ability to fight for their rights.
The report says 43 per cent of minority women faced religious discrimination at workplace, educational institutions and neighbourhood, and the data showed a higher infant mortality rate among minorities which was 10.3 per cent compared to the national ratio of 8.7 per cent.
It has been highlighted that 76 per cent of minority working women had faced sexual harassment.
According to the report, psychological stress among minority women was very high, with 62 per cent believing that in the wake of religious disturbances like those in Shatinagar, Gojra, Korian and Sialkot, the majority community would not stand with them.
MNA Asiya Nasir said ‘minority’ was a derogatory term as it discriminated between people on the basis of religion.
However, when a ‘minority’ is facing issues they need a definitive clause and categorisation to solve those problems.
MNA Nafisa Shah said minority women were a minority within a minority which was why they need to be categoricallybrought into the Parliament and Constitution to achieve representation and protection.
The study noted lack of official data on minorities that could have actually helped civil society and government to assess development and make interventions to improve condition of the minority women.