Socio Economic Barriers Restricting Women Participation in Local Government System in District Bahawalpur
Abstract
The current study sets out for investigating socio-economic barriers restricting women participation in local government system in District Bahawalpur. Women are actively participating in all fields of life in developed nations which is source of motivation for women in developing countries. Bahawalpur is a former princely state which has its distinctive socio-cultural values and demographic conditions. A quantitative study was undertaken to achieve study objectives. A structured questionnaire was employed as tool for data collection from respondents who were elected as councilor on women quota. Total 124 respondents were recruited as sample through simple random sampling technique. The findings show that 61% of the respondents were unaware about local government system. Likewise, 65% of the respondents met opposition from political opponents. In addition, 36% of respondents reported economic problems due to huge expenditures on elections. The study concludes that women are facing numerous socio-economic hindrances and structural barriers for participation in local government system
Authors
Muhammad Asghar Shaheen
Ph. D Scholar, Department of Social Work, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Aisha Shoukat
Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Muhammad Jafar
Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Keywords
Bahawalpur, Local Government System, Restricting Factors, Union Council, Women Councilor