The Women Lawyers' Association (WLA) or Pakistan Women Lawyers' Association (PWLA) works for

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

in Pakistan's judicial system and is committed to removing

gender bias Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...

while promoting gender-equality in the legal profession. The Pakistan Women Lawyers' Association is supporting small-scale projects throughout the country that focus on empowering women and have been involved in a range of activities, which include instituting

legal aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to co ...

for indigent women and opposing gender-segregation in universities, etc. It publicizes and condemns the growing incidents of

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often consi ...

, and has released a series of films educating women about their legal rights. The focus of the movement is three-pronged, i.e. ensuring women's representation in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

, raising women's consciousness about

family planning Family planning is the consideration of the number of children a person wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, and the age at which they wish to have them. Things that may play a role on family planning decisions include marita ...

, and fighting suppression of women's rights by defining positions on events in order to raise public awareness. Legislative landmarks by Pakistan Women Lawyers' Association on women's rights are paving the way towards the full economic, social, legal and political participation of women. Some of these landmarks include

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

's Home-Based Workers Policy,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

's Protection of Women against Violence Bill, and

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

's Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act.

References

{{reflist Professional associations based in Pakistan

See also

References