Perceptions and Challenges of Women as Mobilizers during Political Campaigns in Pakistan
Abstract
This study aimed to explore the role of women in the mobilization of voters during political campaigns. Moreover, the purpose was to study the experiences and challenges have been faced by women workers during the campaign process. Data were taken from 140 women workers from different political parties across the different constituencies in Lahore. A self-developed questionnaire was used to study the perceptions about the involvement of women in political campaigns. The analysis showed that women are more effective than men at mobilizing voters' particularly towards women voters. Furthermore, it concluded that women are considered helpful because of their convincing ability and style compared to men and perform the supportive role usually for the public gatherings and meetings during the campaign. Women highlighted many challenges during the campaign; lack of support from men co-workers, long working hours during elections, mobility issues, transportation facility, less daily wages, public stalking, importantly, lack of proper training as the majority of women highlighted that they even do not know the complete profile of a candidate for whom they do campaign. In the light of the above key findings, the study recommends that the party should promote the role of women regarding their challenging task in mobilizing the voters by ensuring their access to basic facilities and training before and during the campaign.
Authors
Nayab Javed
Lecturer, Department of Gender and Development Studies, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Subha Malik
Assistant Professor, Department of Gender and Development Studies, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Ghazanafar Hussain
Ph D Scholar, Department of Gender Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Keywords
Political Campaigns, Political Parties, Women Mobilizers