WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INDIA AND PAKISTAN

Abstract

Women's participation and representation in politics at the state level is considered important for gender equality and women's empowerment, but their participation in politics on equal footing with men, remains a distant dream. In this research, an effort has been made to combine gender and politics in terms of a cross-national study to explore the status of women in politics and explore the factors that led them to raise voice against patriarchal society. It is difficult for women to survive with equal rights in that society where religious, economic, and patriarchal mindsets are the main factors that hinder women from actively participating in politics. Women are facing violence and discrimination in politics because male-dominated societies have institutionalized and created a mechanism that is against women's rights such as structural, ideological, and functional in politics which have strengthened gender inequality. The descriptive method has been used in this paper to find out women’s low participation in the politics of India and Pakistan. The facilitator model is used to identify the patterns of societal as well as structural factors in politics, which prevent and restrict the full participation of women in politics. Findings suggest that the patriarchal and gender-stratified structures govern the society and the women of both countries face violence, but the nature of violence is different in each case. In India, there has been political discrimination against women based on the caste system, and in Pakistan, feudal structures are the main causes of women's low participation in politics.