ACMMM2017

cuatro. Women’s Connections And Organizations For the PAKISTAN

The importance of purdah in tribal societies explains, in part, the low female voter turnout in the elections (IPS 13 Oct. 1993; ibid. 11 Aug. 1993). In some places, the authorities try to discourage women from voting by not providing separate voting areas for women who adhere to the purdah. Some women refuse to unveil themselves in front of male employees at the voting station; hence, they cannot reveal their identity in order to vote (Country Profile 1992 1993, 1169). And yet, according to a member of the Women’s Action Forum (WAF), politicians often manipulate the women’s vote. Leaders who anticipate defeat may set aside their principles and tribal beliefs and call upon women to vote (IPS 11 Aug. 1993). This is the type of problem highlighted by Professor Weiss, who was an international observer stationed in Pishin, in Baluchistan, for the October 1993 elections. According to Weiss, in the entire Pishin region there was only one polling station with a separate voting area for women, and occasionally men cast votes for women (15 Nov. 1993).Read More »