The Hari Welfare Association (HWA) today sounded the alarm over the precarious state of safety for women and girls in Sindh, revealing that approximately one-third of the female population feels unsafe in their own neighbourhoods, a situation compounded by high rates of early marriage and child labour.
In a statement released on International Day of Human Rights, the advocacy group expressed grave concerns regarding the non-implementation of recommendations from the Sindh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2018-19, which were intended to enhance female security.
HWA President Akram Ali Khaskheli asserted that fundamental human rights are unattainable without the state guaranteeing the safety of women and girls. He described this security as “largely absent” across the province, particularly in rural territories influenced by powerful feudal and corporate interests. According to the MICS data cited, only about 67 per cent of women feel secure in their local environment.
The association highlighted alarming statistics on early childbearing from the same survey, which recorded an adolescent birth rate of 49 births per 1,000 girls aged 15-19, with rates being substantially higher in rural localities. This points to the significant burden of early marriages on young girls.
Citing the Sindh Child Labour Survey (SCLS) 2022-2024, the HWA noted that despite the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013, which prohibits marriage before 18, the practice persists. The survey found that 0.2 per cent of girls aged 10-14 and 2.3 per cent of those aged 15-17 had already been married, a rate consistently higher than for boys in the same age brackets.
Significant gender disparities in education were also revealed by the SCLS. The data shows that only 61.8 per cent of girls attend school compared to 71.5 per cent of boys. Furthermore, 32.6 per cent of girls have never had any formal education, a figure noticeably higher than their male counterparts.
The HWA detailed the extensive involvement of girls in child labour, primarily in agriculture, forestry, and fishing (55.5 per cent), followed by manufacturing (22.3 per cent). A distressing finding was that nearly two-thirds of these girls (63.8 per cent) work as unpaid family helpers, and 41.2 per cent work from home, compared to only 13.2 per cent of boys, indicating societal norms that confine girls to the domestic sphere.
Access to healthcare remains a critical issue, as the statement pointed out that Lady Health Worker (LHW) outreach is inadequate. Merely 42.7 per cent of ever-married women have reportedly received care from these essential community health providers.
Finally, the HWA lamented the lack of detailed, women-specific data in national reports like the Pakistan Economic Survey. The association argued that the absence of provincial statistics on women”s roles in agriculture, livestock, and fisheries devalues their economic contributions and hinders the development of effective, informed policies.