Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. In Pakistan, societal attitudes and norms, as well as cultural practices Karo Kari, exchange marriages, dowry, etc. The religious and ethnic conflicts, along with the dehumanizing attitudes towards women, the extended family system, role of in-laws in daily lives of women, represent major issues and stressors.
Such practices in Pakistan have created the extreme marginalisation of women in numerous spheres of life, which has had an adverse psychological impact. Violence against women has become one of the acceptable means whereby men exercise their culturally constructed right to control women. Still, compared to other South Asian countries, Pakistani women are relatively better off than their counterparts. Keywords: Pakistan, women's mental health, cultural practices, honor-killing, stove-burns, violence.
The women's movement in Pakistan in the last 50 years has been largely class bound. Its front line marchers voiced their concerns about issues mainly related to the urban-middle class woman.
It is only in the last few years that rural women's issues like 'Karo Kari' honour killing and rape have been brought to light. Still a vast majority of the women in the rural areas and urban slums are unaware of the development debates. The urban Pakistani women in many aspects are almost at par with the women of developed countries. In the rural scenario, the picture is entirely different. It is archaic, brutal and clearly oppressive. These trends often seep into the urban lives of women through migratory movements of rural population, which has yet to adjust to urban ways.
This adds to the already fewer educational facilities for women. Sexual harassment at home, at work and in the society has reached its peak.
