2023 will be the year of the Pakistani woman

Look, Pakistani men: you no longer have a choice. This year, Pakistani women are taking over. And don’t we deserve it. Looking back at 2022, we had to bear the burden of abuse, rape and gruesome murders.

Pakistan faces a gender gap in ways and incidents unimaginable. The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2022 ranked Pakistan at 145 out of the 146 countries ranked on the index. Pakistan was just ahead of Afghanistan, where women can’t go to school and universities. The report gauges how immense the gender gap is in areas, including education, economic participation, health, and political empowerment. Pakistan’s second-last position came as no surprise, at least not for the women in the country.

Women in Pakistan are yearning for the day when our society will learn to provide the strength where it is required and stand with the survivors of sexual assaults, when no one will be afraid to talk about their horrific experiences and when no woman will be blamed for being a victim and celebrated for being a survivor. But until that day arrives, we can all try to bridge the gap and make it better for the women in our country. Our leaders and decision-makers can really try and make an effort to make Pakistan safe for women. It is time to stand up for the ones suffering and give women safe spaces.

We as a country were still dealing with the horrors of the murder of Noor Mukadam and we hadn’t healed, when we witnessed the bone-chilling gruesome murder of Sara Shahnawaz in September at the hands of a man who, too, was raised as a result of the patriarchy.

From glorifying abusers and then giving them awards, the Lux Style Awards (LSAs) became a sorry affair in 2022. The coveted LSAs rolled out nominations for its 21st edition and as soon as the names were dropped, viewers condemned what they felt was an injustice to other artists and women.

So listen up: we hope that 2023 is a year when better sense prevails, we learn from our mistakes as individuals and start to become a country where our women and men are given their due rights and respect.