Women should be given equal rights in society: JI's female leaders

ISLAMABAD: There is a lack of adequate facilities for working women in Pakistan, the Jamaat-i-Islami's (JI) female leaders said Sunday, demanding that the other half of the country's population should be given equal rights.

Addressing a press conference here in the federal capital, the party's women leaders noted that different events would be held throughout the country on the International Women's Day 2020 — March 8 — and said a women's rights campaign should be launched from March 1-20.

Cases of sexual assault and murder, such as those of a seven-year-old girl in Nowshera in 2020 and an eight-year-old girl in Kasur back in 2018 were "ugly stains on the Muslim society".

"We demand that sex offenders be punished immediately," they added.

On the other hand, the leader of the JI's women wing, Dr Samia Raheel Qazi, spoke on women's rights during a seminar ahead of the International Women's Day.

'Ignoring their responsibilities'

Women in Pakistan were being subjected to barbaric practices and traditions owing to an archaic mentality, Dr Qazi said, adding that the country and the society would progress if women were respected, encouraged, and felt safe.

Equal opportunities for education and development should be provided to women and that they should not be a target of prejudiced behaviour, the JI leader said. The honour given to women in religion cannot be seen in society, she added.

On the other hand, Punjab Minister for Women Development Ashifa Riaz Fatyana said the religion had made women strong and powerful, while the Constitution of Pakistan also gave them equal rights.

"Mothers these days do not focus on their children's upbringing and give mobile phones to their kids, ignoring their responsibilities," Fatyana added.