Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Pakistan

Rashida Mohammad Hussain Patel was an eminent lawyer, an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and an active member of the legal fraternity. She was among Pakistan’s foremost leaders for reforms and a human rights activist. She wrote five books, namely Women and Law in Pakistan, Pakistani Aurat ki Qanooni wa Samaji Hasiat, Islamisation of Laws in Pakistan, Socio Economic Political Status of Women, and Woman Versus Man: Socio-Legal Gender Inequality in Pakistan. She also published several articles on law and human rights and presented papers at national and international conferences. She was deeply concerned with the conditions of life of the underprivileged and worked for the uplift of the status of women in Pakistan. She held important offices in government and non-governmental organizations. She was the Standing Counsel for the Government of Pakistan and Chairperson of the Pakistan Women’s Legal Rights Committee—appointed by the Government of Pakistan—to recommend legal reforms. She was the Vice President of the All Pakistan Women Association (APWA) for a long period. She was elected to the Sindh Bar Council and was the elected Vice President of the Sindh High Court Bar Association. She was the Founder Life Patron of Pakistan Women Lawyers’ Association (PAWLA) in which capacity she oversaw the legal aid and awareness projects and formulated reforms for PAWLA’s law reforms activities.