Seeking to explore the plight of female healthcare practitioners in the country, Sara Rizvi Jafree's Women, Healthcare, and Violence in Pakistan is an examination of the South Asian cultural approach towards the traditional and historical working woman, particularly the healthcare professional. The book describes the laws that protect or harm such women in the workplace, and the real perils of physical and verbal harassment that they face during their service. Imbued with deep insights into the role of women in Islam, their socialization and the threats to the healthcare professionals like nurses, doctors, and lady health workers, this book presents anecdotes based on ethnographic research and factual knowledge which makes it an impressive resource for understanding this social issue. Exploring the perpetration of brutality through victims' testimonies, the author successfully paints a panorama on the theme of workplace cruelty, an important factor in the current discourse in Pakistan on this issue.

Like other developing countries, in Pakistan, women are frequently victims of intimate partner violence. Studying violence in a conservative patriarchal set-up is a challenging task as the issue is denied and usually concealed under the cloak of "family privacy." Thus far, in Pakistan, intimate partner violence is not recognized as a public health and developmental issue. This study intends to fill this research gap and documents intimate partner violence as a public health issue by investigating its association with women's mental and reproductive health in Pakistan. This research is theoretically embedded in the "integrated ecological framework" introduced by Heise (1998) to explain and explicate the complexity of the phenomenon of intimate partner violence. In patriarchal societies, girls are usually socialized in such a way that they become submissive and dependent on men. In order to ensure women's docility and "obedience," women are subjected to control, discipline and, sometimes, violent punishment (Foucault 1977). The core assumption of this research is that violence or threat of violence damages women's physical, mental and reproductive health. Arguably, violence also constricts women's ability to develop essential capabilities to live an independent and dignified life (Nussbaum 2005). Data showed that the acts of violence rendered substantial damage to women's mental and reproductive health. It was found that sexual violence was significantly associated with non-use of contraceptives and unintended pregnancies which may lead to unsafe and high risk abortions. The qualitative data revealed that physicians and other stakeholders (e.g. religious leaders, community leaders) lacked competence, training and resources to provide comprehensive care to the victims. This study demonstrates that without protecting women from violence, Pakistan cannot achieve Millennium Development Goals especially reduction in infant and maternal mortality, gender equality, and wom

This book analyzes the different policy challenges that Pakistani women face and makes regionally relevant policy recommendations across different areas of private and public life, drawing on secondary data from nationally representative surveys and primary data from qualitative interviews. These areas include family safety, housing adequacy, food security and nutritional adequacy, environment and disaster protection, educational development, employment and formal sector inclusion, and health security. The author examines how the history, culture, and political climate of Pakistan have shaped social policy for women, interrogates gaps in social protections for women, and analyzes the limitations for past interventions. This text also looks at collaboration across South Asian countries, as well as using religion, social media, financing, and a new model of governance for comprehensive coverage and sustainable social policy for women. This book will be of interest to scholars, students, and policymakers with focus on women’s and gender studies and policy studies in South Asia.

WHO Pakistan commissioned a rapid assessment with the primary objective of assessing the capacity of the health sector in Pakistan to integrate the issues of gender-based violence. This rapid assessment was conducted under the WHO Gender and Health Programme as part of the One UN Gender Equality Interventions. A qualitative study involving a brief desk review and primary data collection, including interviews and focus group discussions with health service providers, was employed. The study reconfirms that the connection between gender and health is not only poorly understood but also that gender-based violence is not internalized as a public hearth issue by the majority of health service providers at different levels. The outcomes of this assessment will be of interest not only to policy-makers in the context of Pakistan but also to those in other countries developed and developing alike.

Women's disproportionate poverty, low social status, and reproductive role expose them to high health risks, resulting in needless suffering and many preventable diseases. This report describes the health problems of Pakistani women, whose health and general welfare are among the lowest in the world, and identifies steps to address these problems.

Role of the Police

This contributed volume is the first-known collection of essays that brings together scholarly review, critiques, and primary and secondary data to assess how sociocultural factors influence health behavior in South Asian women. The essays are authored by working scholars or healthcare practitioners from Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. In the chapters, the contributors acknowledge social, economic, and environmental factors to recommend improved interventions and health policy for women of the region. Studies on South Asian women’s health have targeted clinical evidence, with less attention on social and environmental factors driving health recovery and health outcomes. The South Asian region, more than any other part of the world, is driven by traditional and cultural forces that are possibly the most significant factors determining a woman’s health awareness and her rights to adopt healthy behavior or pursue health recovery. Women of the region share a common culture and political history, and there are benefits to understanding their problems collectively in order to design joint improvements in health policy for women. Salient, but neglected, socio-political areas that influence health behavior and health outcomes in women of the region are covered in the chapters including: Oral Narrations of Social Rejection Suffered by South Asian Women with Irreversible Health Conditions Women’s Role in Decision-Making for Health Care in South Asia Poverty, Health Coverage, and Credit Opportunities for South Asian Women Refugee, Displaced, and Climate-Affected Women of South Asia and Their Health Challenges The Political Sociology of South Asian Women’s Health The Sociology of South Asian Women’s Health is a useful resource for students, researchers, and academicians, especially those interested in public health, gender, social policy, and occupational management, as well as healthcare practitioners, administrators, health and public policy-makers, government officers, and scholars of South Asian studies.