# **Detailed SUMMARY of the Article "Women and Markets," by Amber Darr, Dawn, January 26th, 2025**: This article highlights the underrepresentation of women in Pakistan's economic landscape despite their critical role as consumers. Although women constitute nearly half of the population and working-age individuals, only 19% of the female working-age population participates in the workforce. Multiple factors, including cultural, social, and economic barriers, prevent women from contributing directly to economic growth. However, the article underscores women's substantial indirect contribution as consumers, whose purchasing decisions influence key sectors of the economy. Unfortunately, women often lack autonomy in making these decisions due to patriarchal family structures, societal norms, and restrictive market conditions. Many women rely on male family members to navigate the marketplace, which reflects the gender stratification embedded in Pakistan's society. The article critiques the gender-neutral legal frameworks governing markets, such as contract law and consumer protection laws, for failing to account for the specific challenges faced by female consumers. It advocates for gender-sensitive policies that address the power imbalance between male and female consumers, simplify dispute resolution for women, and promote transparency in product information. Additionally, it highlights how existing competition laws overlook sectors disproportionately affecting female consumers, such as beauty, clothing, and jewelry, thereby perpetuating unequal access and exploitation. The article calls for tailored reforms, like those proposed by the OECD, to create a safer and more equitable marketplace. While acknowledging that policy changes alone may not dismantle patriarchal mindsets, the author emphasizes their potential to empower female consumers and gradually challenge gender norms. --- # **Easy/Short SUMMARY**: Women in Pakistan face significant barriers to participating in the economy, despite making up half of the population. Only a small percentage work, but their role as consumers is vital. However, many women lack independence in spending decisions due to societal norms and dependence on male family members. Current market laws treat men and women as equals, ignoring the unique challenges women face. The article suggests creating women-friendly market rules, focusing on transparency, dispute resolution, and sectors like clothing and beauty, which affect women more. Such changes could empower women and slowly challenge gender biases in society. --- # **SOLUTIONS of The Problem**: ## **Gender-Sensitive Market Reforms** Create policies that address the unique needs of women, such as simplifying complaint mechanisms for female consumers and ensuring transparency in product information. ## **Empowering Women through Education** Educate women about their consumer rights and provide financial literacy programs to enable informed purchasing decisions. ## **Targeted Competition Policies** Encourage the Competition Commission of Pakistan to monitor sectors like beauty, clothing, and home goods for anti-competitive practices that disproportionately affect women. ## **Women-Only Marketplaces** Develop safe, women-only marketplaces where women can shop and sell products without facing societal restrictions. ## **Facilitating Access to Credit** Establish microfinance programs aimed at empowering women to start businesses, giving them economic independence and greater marketplace autonomy. ## **Promoting Gender-Sensitive Advertising** Ensure advertisements are inclusive and reflect women as independent decision-makers, challenging traditional stereotypes. ## **Strengthening Consumer Protection Laws** Amend consumer protection laws to provide women-friendly procedures for addressing product quality or service issues. ## **Community Awareness Campaigns** Launch campaigns to challenge societal norms restricting women's economic freedom and emphasize the importance of women's role in the economy. ## **Public-Private Partnerships** Collaborate with private companies to create initiatives that prioritize women's safety, convenience, and access in markets. ## **Encouraging Women Entrepreneurs** Support women entrepreneurs through training, grants, and mentorship programs to increase their presence in economic activities. --- # **IMPORTANT Facts and Figures Given in the Article**: - Women make up **48.51%** of Pakistan’s population (117 million). - Women constitute **49.38%** of the working-age population but only **19%** participate in the workforce. - Only **13.1%** of Pakistan’s female population contributes directly to the economy. - Legal frameworks like contract law and consumer protection laws in Pakistan are **gender-neutral** but fail to address women-specific challenges. - Sectors like beauty and clothing disproportionately impact female consumers but receive little attention in competition law. --- # **MCQs from the Article**: ### 1. **What percentage of Pakistan's population is female?** A. 50% B. 46.5% **C. 48.51%** D. 49.38% ### 2. **What percentage of the female working-age population actively participates in the workforce?** A. 25% **B. 19%** C. 30% D. 49.38% ### 3. **Which legal framework in Pakistan is identified as gender-neutral but insufficiently addresses women's needs?** A. Criminal law B. Property law **C. Contract law** D. Labor law ### 4. **Which organization’s gender-sensitive competition policy is mentioned in the article?** A. WTO **B. OECD** C. IMF D. UNDP ### 5. **What is one example of a market sector disproportionately affecting women?** **A. Beauty** B. Agriculture C. Technology D. Construction --- # **VOCABULARY**: 1. **Underrepresentation** (غیر نمائندگی): The condition of being inadequately represented. 2. **Autonomy** (خودمختاری): Independence or freedom in decision-making. 3. **Patriarchal** (پدر شاہی): Relating to a system where men hold primary power. 4. **Stratified** (طبقہ بندی): Arranged in layers or levels. 5. **Agnostic** (غیرجانبدار): Not taking a specific side or position. 6. **Concessions** (رعایتیں): Compromises or allowances. 7. **Homogeneous** (یکساں): Of the same kind or nature. 8. **Disparity** (فرق): A great difference. 9. **Asymmetry** (غیر متوازن): Lack of equality or balance. 10. **Empower** (اختیار دینا): To give power or authority to someone. 11. **Facilitate** (آسان بنانا): To make a process easier. 12. **Consumer** (صارف): A person who buys goods or services. 13. **Entrepreneur** (کاروباری شخص): Someone who starts and runs a business. 14. **Mandate** (مینڈیٹ): An official order or commission to do something. 15. **Transparency** (شفافیت): Openness and clarity in communication or actions. 📢 **Attention Please!** We appreciate your commitment to acquiring knowledge through our summaries. Please be reminded not to remove the attribution label affixed to this article. It is crucial to acknowledge the source and the effort invested in creating this summary. We discourage any unauthorized distribution without proper credit. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. 🔍 ⚡ **Explore More Summaries, Solutions, and Vocabulary Meanings!** 💡 Join our WhatsApp Channel for timely and comprehensive summaries of the latest articles, along with well-crafted solutions and helpful vocabulary meanings. Click the link below to join now: 🔗 [Dawn Article Summaries](https://cssmcqs.com/dawn-editorials-articles-summary-for-students-pdf-download/) *WhatsApp Channel Link* https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va7tT3o35fLnJeFbpS2y dawn.com Women and markets Amber Darr 7–8 minutes IN 2023, Pakistan’s seventh Population and Housing Census identified 48.51 per cent of the country’s population of 241.49 million — ie, nearly 117m people — as female. Two years prior, the Pakistan Labour Force Survey 2021, had found that 49.38pc of the country’s 159.8m working age population — ie 78.91m people — comprised women and girls more than 10 years of age. However, the Survey had also found that only 19pc of the female working age population — ie, 15.34m people — which equals 13.1pc of Pakistan’s female population and 6.35pc of its total population — were active participants in the economic life of the country. In simple terms, these numbers mean that although females comprise half of Pakistan’s population and half its working age population, only a very small fraction directly contributes to the country’s economic growth. At times this gap is dismissed by reference to the overall lack of economic opportunities in the country for both men and women; at others, it is blamed on the range of social, cultural and religious reasons that hold women back even against their will; and yet at others, it is laid at the door of women themselves who are deemed happy to live off the earnings of the men in their lives and uninterested and unwilling to earn their own livelihood. Significant as these statistics or the explanations provided for them may be, they overlook a fact well-known to those engaged in manufacturing, advertising and selling products ranging from textiles to home appliances to spices: that women, whether they generate income in their own capacity or rely on income generated by others, or whether they buy items for themselves or for members of their families, are a critical component of Pakistan’s consumer base and contribute to the economy indirectly by their purchasing and spending activity. However, there is considerable anecdotal evidence that women often lack the autonomy to make their own purchasing decisions, even when they are earning their own money. For instance, if the women are earning through employment of lower social value such as domestic service, sales or waitressing, their salaries are immediately handed over to the male ‘head’ of the family who though not gainfully employed himself, retains complete control over the finances. There is also evidence that even well-meaning men who are not eyeing the earnings of their female family members, consider the Pakistani marketplace too complicated and risky for women to navigate on their own. How can women be enabled and empowered to operate independently and safely in the marketplace? So how can women be enabled and empowered to operate independently and safely in the marketplace? While it is difficult to change mindsets, it is relatively easier to adopt gender-friendly policies and rules for the governance of dealings in the marketplace that recognise that while uniformity of legal rules for both men and women may be theoretically laudable, in the highly gender stratified social context of Pakistan, it renders women dependent on their male counterparts and thereby serves to entrench gender inequality and make appropriate concessions and adaptations for the female consumer rather than treating them as they have the same priorities, knowledge and capacity as their male counterparts. For instance, the rules of economics that determine the price of products on the basis of the interaction between their demand and supply, assume three main things: that the homo economicus is rational; that the welfare of the consumer is highest when the price of a product is lowest because he then has surplus money to buy other products; and that the consumer has complete and immediate information about the prices and attributes of all substitute products available in the market and is, therefore, fully equipped at all times to make a rational decision about whether or not to purchase. A more gendered perspective of the marketplace may have accounted more fully for non-price considerations, such as quality, prestige and brand value, that may play a greater role than price in the exercise of female choice. It may also have understood that while price is an important part of the female idea of welfare these other non-price values are equally important for a fuller appreciation of welfare. Finally, it may also have appreciated that in addition to general information asymmetries between consumers and sellers, there are information asymmetries even between men (who obtain information directly from the marketplace) and women (who primarily obtain second-hand information through advertisements). Legal rules most closely engaged with markets in Pakistan are also gender neutral. For instance, the law of contract which provides legal cover to any sales and purchases at the marketplace, does not recognise that the social power imbalance between men and women may also affect their market dealings. Consumer protection laws also proceed on the basis that both the male and female consumers are similarly equipped to assess the quality and suitability of products they are purchasing, and do not offer a simplified, non-judicial stream through which women may seek redress for any product-related concerns. Similarly, competition law, despite its mandate to weed out deceptive marketing and other anti-competitive and abusive practices that distort prices and product quality and availability in markets, remains agnostic in its choice of which markets to investigate. If the Competition Commission of Pakistan were to adopt a more gender-sensitive competition policy, such as the one developed by the OECD with support from the Canadian Competition Bureau, it would, at the very least, pay close attention to anticompetitive practices in sectors, such as beauty, dress designing, jewellery, that though perhaps not significant from a national economy perspective, have a disproportionately large impact on the female consumer. Will female friendly marketplace rules, policies and procedures grant autonomy to the female consumer? Perhaps not. But as many individual manufacturers, retailers and advertisers already realise, it is important to recognise the core role played by the female consumer in the Pakistani economy and to facilitate its activities. Who knows, in time it may well nibble away at the patriarchal mindset that has remained unassailable under direct attack. The writer is a Lincoln’s Inn barrister and holds a PhD in Law from University College London. She presently teaches Competition Law at the University of Manchester. Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2025