Women Empowerment:

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) could be physical, emotional, sexual, psychological and verbal abuse, targeted towards a person because of her or his socially constructed gender role. Most prominent and convenient victims are women and girls. The most pervasive form of gender-based violence continues to be violence against women which has been caused by the historical unequal power-relations between men and women. This inequality exists both in the public and private sphere and ultimately results in the denial of women’s human rights. Violence against women is a serious problem across Pakistan and contributes to the low social indicators for women’s development in the country, with Pakistan ranked 141 out of 182 on the Gender-related development index compiled by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The issue is responsible for a major loss of productive labor in the economy, restricting the participation of women in the development process and reduces women’s capacity to access resources and services. Many forms of gender based violence in Pakistan are not even recognized as crimes or rights’ violations, and those that are subject to criminal law are often not dealt with accordingly.
As per its mandate IDA is working for the women bonded laborers in various districts of Punjab and making efforts to reducing violence against women and to aware the women about their legal rights. Women bonded laborers or women folk of bonded kiln workers have suffered at the hands of employers due to their vulnerability, lack of literacy and awareness and organization.  Sexual harassment has been rampant as a result. Through its various interventions IDA formed female-headed unions of kiln workers that resulted in a marked decrease in cases of sexual harassment of such women, and IDA plans to pursue this successful strategy in other districts