In this photograph taken on August 17, 2024, receptionist Hina Saleem arrives to work at a leather factory, in Karachi. “I am the first girl in the family to work, from both my paternal and maternal side,” said Hina Saleem, a 24-year-old telephone operator at a leather factory in Korangi, Karachi’s largest industrial area.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The sight of Amina Sohail veering through heavy traffic in a motorcycle to pick up her next passenger drew stares in Pakistan’s megacity of Karachi.

The 28-year-old is the first woman in her family to enter the workforce, a pattern emerging in urban households coming under increasing financial pressure in Pakistan.

“I do not focus on people, I do not speak to anyone or respond to the hooting, I do my work,” said Ms. Sohail, who joined a local ride-hailing service at the start of the year, transporting women through the dusty back streets of the city.

“Before, we would be hungry, now we get to eat at least two or three meals a day,” she added.

The South Asian nation is locked in a cycle of political and economic crises, dependent on International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailouts and loans from friendly countries to service its debt.

Prolonged inflation has forced up the price of basic groceries such as tomatoes by 100%. Electricity and gas bills have risen by 300% compared to July last year, according to official data.

Ms. Sohail used to help her mother with cooking, cleaning and looking after her younger siblings, until her father, the family’s sole earner, fell sick.

“The atmosphere in the house was stressful,” she said, with the family dependent on other relatives for money. “That is when I thought I must work.”

“My vision has changed. I will work openly like any man, no matter what anyone thinks.”

Pakistan, in the 1980s, became the first Muslim nation to be led by a woman Prime Minister. Now women CEOs graced power lists in Forbes magazine and women made up the ranks of the police and military.

Conservative society

However, much of Pakistani society operated under a traditional code which requires women to have permission from their family to work outside of the home.

According to the United Nations, just 21% of women participated in Pakistan’s work force, most of them in the informal sector and almost half in rural areas working in the fields.

“I am the first girl in the family to work, from both my paternal and maternal side,” said Hina Saleem, a 24-year-old telephone operator at a leather factory in Korangi, Karachi’s largest industrial area.

The move, supported by her mother after her father died, was met with resistance from her extended family.

Her younger brother was warned that working could lead to socially unacceptable behaviour, such as finding a husband of her choice.

“My uncles said ‘get her married’,” she said. “There was lots of pressure on my mother.”

At the changeover of shifts outside the leather factory, workers arrived in painted buses decorated with chinking bells, and a handful of women stepped out amid the crowd of men.

19-year-old Anum Shahzadi, who worked in the same factory inputting data, was encouraged by her parents to enter the workforce after completing high school, unlike generations before her.

“What is the point of education if a girl cannot be independent,” said Ms. Shahzadi, who now contributes to the household alongside her brother.

Bushra Khaliq, executive director for Women In Struggle for Empowerment (WISE) which advocates for political and economic rights for women, said that Pakistan was “witnessing a shift” among urban middle class women.

“Up until this point, they had been told by society that taking care of their homes and marriage were the ultimate objective,” she said.

“But an economic crunch and any social and economic crises bring with them a lot of opportunities.”

Farzana Augustine, from Pakistan’s minority Christian community, earned her first salary last year at the age of 43, after her husband lost his job during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“My wife had to take over,” Augustine Saddique explained. “But it is nothing to be sad about, we are companions and are running our house together.”

Bellwether for change

The sprawling port metropolis of Karachi, officially home to 20 million people but likely many millions more, is the business centre of Pakistan.

It pulls in migrants and entrepreneurs from across the country with the promise of employment and often acts as a bellwether for social change.

19-year-old Zahra Afzal moved to Karachi four years ago to live with her uncle, after the death of her parents, leaving her small village in central-eastern Pakistan to work as a childminder.

“If Zahra was taken by other relatives, she would have been married off by now,” her uncle Kamran Aziz said, from their typical one room home where bedding is folded away in the morning and cooking is done on the balcony.

“My wife and I decided we would go against the grain and raise our girls to survive in the world before settling them down.”

Ms. Afzal beams that she is now an example for her sister and cousin: “My mind has become fresh.”