Empowering Women: Making Inheritance Rights Fundamental and Mandatory in Pakistan
Keywords:
Women Empowerment, Gender Equality, Inheritance Rights, Property Rights of Women, Fundamental Rights of WomenAbstract
Women empowerment begins with acknowledgment and with providing them their rightful shares in inheritance. Our society follows Islam and it not only recognize women's due shares in inheritance, through unequivocal revelations, but also condemn the usurpation of property through unlawful means. Despite this, it is dishearten to see that daughters in our society usually have to resort to legal battles to claim their inheritance. This study aims to increase awareness among our daughters regarding their inheritance rights through conducting survey-based interviews with 200 educated women, including lawyers, teachers, prosecutors, students, and doctors, etc., by the use of technology. A questionnaire comprising 10 questions was designed to analyze their understanding of inheritance in Islam and Pakistani law. It also includes the propose solutions: such as automatic recording and transferring of properties, and involvement of law enforcement agencies on transferring inheritance properties from women. The data gathered revealed that over 90% of respondents supported the proposed measures. However, there was a notable reluctance among some participants to report instances of property deprivation to the police. This underscores the need for a robust and an independent system to protect and safeguard the inheritance rights of our daughters. To achieve this goal, we require amendments to the fundamental rights of women and legislation governing property transfers. Through implementation of these changes, we will be able to safeguard the inheritance of women as per injunctions of Islam.
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