The eyes of the whole world were on the results of the election in the United States of America. Mr Obama’s win as a second term president was celebrated in many countries. Mr Obama got 55 percent of all votes from women. This difference was critical to his election because women were 53 percent of the total voters compared to only 47 percent men, which made a big difference in his lead in the election. Women voters are becoming more assertive in using the power of their votes to demand a clear policy stance on issues that are important to them. We are beginning to see this in Pakistan as women press their agenda on political parties. It is possible that women might play a crucial role in the coming parliamentary elections in Pakistan. The parties might not be able to ignore their demands in a tight race.
Women’s issues took centre-stage in the final weeks just before the election in the USA. Issues about women’s reproductive health, and Mr Obama’s national health insurance law, which concerned women in a big way, were being discussed daily. From the beginning, Mr Obama took a strong pro-woman stance, while Mr Romney was pressured near the end to make supportive statements on behalf of working women. Both parties understood that addressing the interests of the 53 percent of the total vote bank was important for both candidates if they wanted to succeed. However, Mr Obama started earlier and proved to be more believable.
Todd Atkins from Missouri, running for the House of Representatives, made a statement to the effect that a woman cannot become pregnant if raped because her body produces chemicals in high stress that does not let her become pregnant and if she does get pregnant that proves that it was not a rape. This statement caused both men and women, Republican and Democrat, to repudiate his comments. Although he was leading in the polls before that statement, he lost heavily to a woman. Another extreme rightwing candidate, Richard Murdock, said if there was a pregnancy after a rape then that was God’s will. He also experienced a sudden drop in support and had a gloomy fate on election day.
Women also took the limelight as winning candidates. The US Senate will have 20 women members, the highest number ever. The new members who won yesterday include Deb Fischer (Nebraska) and Democrats Tammy Baldwin (Wisconsin), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Heidi Heitkamp (North Dakota) and Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts.). In addition, six women retained their seats, Senators Maria Cantwell (Washington.), Dianne Feinstein (California.), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota.), Claire McCaskill (Missouri) and Debbie Stabenow (Michigan).
This list includes some firsts. Hawaii elected the first Hindu-American female to the House of Representatives, Tulsi Rubbard, and the first Asian-American female to the Senate, Mazzie Hirono. Tammy Baldwin is the first openly gay person to be elected as a Senator. They are seeing the possibility of a woman presidential candidate in the next election. Does the name Hillary Clinton sound familiar?
Pakistan has already had a woman prime minister twice and many women parliamentarians — both directly elected and on reserved seats — appointed to high-level positions. It seems now, however, that a women’s agenda is where Pakistani females will focus next. After the successes achieved through the current parliament, it is impossible that women’s issues will not be a critical component of the future election campaign agendas of the major political parties. Some of the parties have a clear stance on women’s rights but a more concrete plan for reforms needs to be included in the priorities of all parties.
However, in order to take advantage of this momentum, the women of Pakistan need to do two things. First, they must come out to vote in large numbers in the next elections to prove that they are a significant constituency. Second, they must work together to articulate their priorities and make sure these are recognised regardless of their party. Women of Pakistan have stressed the need to end violence against their gender and improve the conviction rate for those accused of these crimes. They also demand that political parties articulate a clear plan for including them in economic recovery programmes and open up opportunities for their progress in every field. It is time for political parties to recognise that paying attention to women’s concerns will be crucial for their future success.
The writer is an author and freelance columnist