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The document discusses the evolving landscape of women's sports in Pakistan, highlighting the lack of female role models and the challenges faced by women athletes, including gender pay gaps and limited support. Despite some progress, such as increased recognition and sponsorship, significant barriers remain, including cultural attitudes and inadequate facilities. The author calls for government support and awareness campaigns to promote women's participation in sports as a means of empowerment and gender equality.

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4 views4 pages

Articles

The document discusses the evolving landscape of women's sports in Pakistan, highlighting the lack of female role models and the challenges faced by women athletes, including gender pay gaps and limited support. Despite some progress, such as increased recognition and sponsorship, significant barriers remain, including cultural attitudes and inadequate facilities. The author calls for government support and awareness campaigns to promote women's participation in sports as a means of empowerment and gender equality.

Uploaded by

Minhal-Kukda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ARTICLE #1

MY generation of women in Pakistan grew up with a relative


lack of visible female sports role models. Though equally
struck by the cultural cricket frenzy of the 1990s, many of us
unquestionably accepted that our place was in the stands
and not on the field; that we would cheer on heroes, not
heroines.

It felt surreal to sit at the cricket pavilion at Aitchison College with


my two daughters, recently, watching the Pakistan women’s cricket
team on the field. The ‘girls in green’, as referred to by my five-
year-old daughter, scored a sure win against the Aitchison boys; the
teams tied the series 2-2. I drove out of the gates of the College,
that day, feeling optimistic that my daughters would grow up in a
different sociocultural paradigm.

Public space for and perception of women in competitive sports in


Pakistan has changed with time. Victories of female athletes are
being recognized and celebrated by the state and media, though
not with the fervor or prominence they deserve. Corporate entities
have taken on female athletes in their ad campaigns in a clear
(though possibly not principled) show of support for their sport.
The intelligent voices of female sports commentators are now a
norm on TV. Female role models in sports are not hard to find:
Maria Toorpakai Wazir, the squash legend from Waziristan, who
was awarded the Salam award for her contribution to the sport;
Sana Mir, the former captain of the women’s cricket team who
topped ICC rankings for international women bowlers; footballer
Abiha Haider who was recently listed amongst the ‘30 Most
Powerful Muslim Women in Sport’.

While several women athletes have won international accolades for


the nation, the institutional and financial support required to help
them realise their potential is lacking. The huge gendered
differentials in pay, prize money and corporate sponsorships,
limited access to training/ practice spaces and opportunities for
competitive events, and inadequate provision of equipment show
the low priority accorded by sports boards and federations to
women in sports in Pakistan.
The perception of women in competitive sport in Pakistan has
changed with time.

The women’s football team has, for instance, remained inactive for
seven years. It is reported that the women’s cricket team is given
limited training facilities with no home ground; they are now reliant
on offers to practise their game on school grounds of Aitchison
College — with its current principal and director of cricket taking
the lead. Pay differentials in male and female sport are shocking.
Reportedly, till 2017 male cricketers in Pakistan earned nearly
$77,000 a year, while women made around $12,000. More recently,
match fee and prize money for women cricketers have been
increased by 100pc and daily allowance by 50pc, which is
commendable. However, the differential in pay remains.

It is also important to note the high attrition rate in sport amongst


girls in Pakistan. The phenomenon, though global in nature, is
possibly more marked in Pakistan. A study conducted in Sindh in
2019, reported that a significant proportion of young girls do not
participate in sport on account of financial constraints, lack of
adequate and gender-segregated facilities, family opposition, and
cultural attitudes regarding acceptable gender roles and gendered
spaces. One student reported that she was told to stop playing
cricket because it was an inappropriate sport for women and that
she was mixing too much with boys.

In a country where ‘standards of appropriateness’ are often


imposed on women through fear and force, it is no surprise that
many female athletes have faced security threats. The first public
women’s cricket match was played in Karachi in the late 1980s in
the presence of 8,000 police personnel; no spectators were
reportedly allowed. Former Pakistani track and field Olympian
Shazia Hidayat from Chichawatni, had to relocate to Canada for
safety reasons. Maria Toorpakai disguised herself as a boy to train
for squash. National footballer Karishma Ali from Chitral received
death threats on social media. It is obvious that we have a long way
to go.

Women’s access to sport must be framed within the human rights


discourse. The IOC’s Olympic Charter recognises the “practice of
sport as a human right”. The right to rest, leisure and recreational
activity are recognised under the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and Convention on the Rights of the Child as basic human
rights that are essential for a holistic education and full
development of the human personality. Articles 10 and 13 of the
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
mandates all state signatories to ensure equal opportunities for
women to participate in sports and physical education. Pakistan has
ratified these international conventions.

The connection between physical activity and health — physical and


mental — is well-established. Engagement in sports helps foster
self-esteem and confidence, resilience, leadership and interpersonal
networks. Such engagement becomes particularly important for
young girls, who in general face more limited avenues for social
interaction outside their home. In cultural settings such as ours,
women’s involvement in sport takes on an important symbolic value
as well. Their presence on the playing fields challenges gendered
stereotypes and can help build an alternative narrative with regard
to culturally acceptable conduct for women and the idea of
permissible public spaces. Competitive sport, if properly funded, is
income-generating and a means of financial independence and
empowerment. To state that women’s presence in sports may be a
driver for gender equality would not be incorrect.

The government must engage in awareness campaigns to


encourage women’s participation in sports generally, highlighting
the benefits of such engagement. It should also accord full support
to women’s sporting federations and boards through meaningful
resource allocation and opportunities for training and competition,
as well as make efforts to close the pay gap. There is no dearth of
women’s sporting talent in Pakistan. We need to encourage it. It is
heartening to know that in the male domain of Aitchison College
our women cricketers have found an unlikely supporter.

The writer is a lawyer.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2020


ARTICLE #2

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