GENDER INEQUALITY IN PAKISTAN: IMPACT ON WOMEN’S INHERITANCE RIGHTS

Abstract

Gender inequality in Pakistan remains most evident when it comes to women and their limited right to inheritance in the country, despite the existence of Quranic injunctions and the law on their safeguard. The second reason is that this issue cannot be described only as the lack of thorough legislation because it is not just a part of the law system that cannot cover all the aspects of the social world and every individual. Such denial or dilution of a woman in the perspective of inheritance occurs due to firmly rooted patriarchal principles, socio-cultural demands, and institutional constraints that restrict all means to implement it. Based on legal provisions, policy statements, and current commentaries in the literature, the paper uses a qualitative review approach to explore how cultural practices, lack of strong institutional systems, and less attention to the legal provisions hinder women's effective control of property. The article evolved through critically synthesizing the academic literature, judicial decisions, and policy interventions to find that the existing problem of the law-practice gap can only be truly resolved by improving the implementation of the law and by transforming the culture.

Keywords:   Inequality, Gender, Inheritance Rights