The recent death of social media star, Qandeel Baloch, has brought into limelight one of the sore points of the discourse related to women empowerment in Pakistan: whether a woman in her existence should be a subject or an object in the mainstream society. The brutal death meted out to Qandeel led to a polarised public debate about her death, from which it can be deducted that society, overall, does not have a clear stand whether a woman is a subject or an object. Through her death, Qandeel, a self-proclaimed feminist, has given many other women and feminists in Pakistan a platform to advocate their case about challenges being faced by women in Pakistan. Where a bandwagon has been set across media in Pakistan about the odds women face, this op-ed is an attempt to exclusively shed light on the challenges that women in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) face in their day-to-day existence. Being one of the most impoverished regions of Pakistan where the majority live in rural areas, FATA, according to official records, has an almost 3.17 million population, out of which 1.5 million is female population. The overall literacy rate of FATA is 17 percent, which is notably below the national average of 40 percent, while female literacy rate is even lower, at less than three percent. It is because there are a very few schools for girls in FATA, and mostly, girls go to primary schools for boys. Once they are promoted to upper classes, they stop going to school because the culture does not allow females to sit along males in the same classroom or attend classes taken by male teachers. In this way, girls are deprived of education because of social taboos attached with it, and due to lack of opportunities from government. Moreover, these dismal figures vis-à-vis female literacy rate can be attributed to narrow interpretation of Islamic principles with respect to female education, according to which it is believed that educating a girl is considered a luxury. There is also the Pashthun code of life, natively known as “Pashthunwali.” Pasthunwali is a way of life with some unique features, and is based solely on patriarchal values. In Pashthunwali, although there is great respect for women but they cannot play an active role in society. Since Pashthunwali is about patriarchy, hence females instead of occupying space for themselves in mainstream society have to support males in upholding this code of life by following all that is expected from them in the tribal culture, and keeping intact the so-called “honour” of male members of their family. Invariably, this is what is expected from all women in the tribal milieu in FATA. The subservient role assigned to women in tribal culture is not solely because of Pashthunwali; rather, it has been reinforced in the face of indifference shown by government in social, political and economic spheres towards all issues of FATA in general, and women issues in particular. Women in FATA hardly cast vote, and consequently, politically they are inactive. Their participation in politics is discouraged, courtesy the pashthun code of life, but government too has not made any real attempt to break the status quo by constitutionally allocating a few reserved seats to women in FATA like every other province. To break this political inertia, some women from FATA came to fore recently to occupy political space, and that needs to be appreciated for they stepped beyond the rigid lines drawn for them. Women in political sphere include Ayesha Gulalai Wazir, who on a reserved seat recently made her way to the National Assembly representing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and Badam Zari, who breaking tribal traditions and taboos ventured to contest election from NA-44 Bajaur Agency in the 2013 general elections. There are many aspects of life in which tribal women want their participation, but are unable to do so due to orthodox tribal culture, and most prominently, due to negligence of government towards tribal women. One such example is Maria Toorpakay Wazir in the field of sports. Maria belongs to South Waziristan agency in FATA, and is a professional Pakistani squash player of Pashtun ethnicity. Besides, woman’s health is a traditionally neglected issue in FATA. If a woman falls ill, the male family members consider it shameful to admit her at a hospital in city. In fact, most tribal elders do not show their female patients to male doctors. In FATA, one finds a very low number of female doctors, and for any medical check-up in emergency there are just a few nurses or lady health workers available. The conditions in hospitals where women patients are treated is abysmal. This issue is another addition to challenges faced by women in FATA, and needs immediate attention from government authorities. In the wake of Qandeel’s murder when Pakistan is buzzing with mantras for women empowerment, it is imperative that those at the helm of women empowerment take into consideration challenges faced by women in FATA for women empowerment to take place inclusively. Moreover, women issues in FATA should also be given consideration in the ongoing debate with respect to reforms in FATA, as any reform in FATA sans women empowerment is tantamount to catering to half the population of FATA. The writers can be reached at uinam39@gmail.com and rafimahsud704@yahoo.com