Gender is the cultural and social divide among the different parts, responsibilities, reach over resource, limitations and potentials between men and women, between varying age groups of the same gender and among various economic classes. Due to the altering socio-economic scenario in the mountain regions such as the tourist boom, many changes are taking place that are affecting men and women and are forcing them to adapt to changing conditions. A growing number of mountain men are migrating to cities in search of jobs, leaving women, children and the elderly to maintain the homestead. As a consequence, mountain poverty has become increasingly the territory of women. There is a substantial increase of burden on these women who are bound to look after the farming activities in the absence of the male family members. Despite their additional responsibilities and dependence on farming income, few women are given title to mountain farmland, and fewer still have access to financial credit. In some mountain societies, women's movements and acquaintances are restricted, preventing them from benefiting from educational and extension opportunities. For example, mountain men often attend school and get the chance to build linkages with other fellows with an additional benefit of learning common languages such as English and Urdu, while women often don’t get such chances. These factors place the greatest burden of poverty on mountain women. Women in these areas "have early marriages, become anemic because of repeated pregnancies, work all day long and do all the domestic chores…" Despite these issues, there are various programmes such as the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP), which provides an opportunity to these women to attend school and college and pursue bachelors and masters programs in the NAs. Sometimes there are evidences of more qualified women than men in few mountain communities that at times create problems for match making for marriages.

Women: Traditional Roles

Since the conditions of the mountain regions are harsh and survival is difficult with the meagre resources of the mountain people, traditionally women’s role in these areas has encompassed a great deal of physical labour along with their reproduction and household functions. They looked after the soil ecology and maintained crop field environment, domestic environment through recycling of wastes and practiced kitchen gardening and maintained storage of vegetables, fruits and collection of wild food to fill in the hunger-gaps of the family. In many areas, they also collected firewood for fulfilling energy requirements of the household in addition to being the prime water carriers from distant water deposits. Women also had the role of taking care of the health of the family and were the repository of indigenous knowledge regarding family health issues, animal diseases, crop pests and diseases and use and benefits of medicinal plants, wild fauna and flora.

Due to such important productive roles, women were considerably respected and regarded in the community and they enjoyed significant influence in the decision-making process of the community.

Women: Altered Roles and Expectations

Due to increased access to markets, now there is a greater emphasis on selling the local produce for cash and importing goods from the market. This change in configuration of production automatically reduces the social and productive roles of women. Conservation of biodiversity, maintenance of field environment, soil ecology, domestic environment, domestic food provision and maintaining family healthcare are not women’s concerns anymore, because many of these measures are either no longer required or are overtaken by modern means of agriculture such as pesticides and fertilisers and modern medicines. Abandoning of traditional practices is gradually resulting in loss of intergenerational transfer of traditional knowledge of both the genders, since women have been the prime carriers of traditional knowledge about family and the resource management.

Male Out-Migration

As a result of changing economic conditions to earn income to satisfy household needs, an increasing trend in male out-migration has been observed. Because of this male out-migration, women, children and the elderly are left alone to pursue the management of resources. The tasks that were previously jointly taken care of cannot be very well managed by few family members, resulting in improper resource management, low resource productivity and poor health status of the family. This is largely due to the seasonal male employment during the tourism business in the mountain areas. Local men work in menial capacities of porters or guides to earn livelihood for their families.

Women Health Issues

Concern for women’s health remains a neglected area in the mountain areas of Pakistan. Malnutrition and food insecurity in these mountain regions contribute to increased disease and disability. While hospitals are accessible in some areas, mountain women generally have lesser access to medical care, family planning or female doctors. Dr. Yasmin Raashid in her personal account of medical work with women in Skardu, notes: "I was astonished to learn that the 150-bedded District Headquarter Hospital had never had a Gynecologist for the last 50 years. The hospital had male surgeons but women (of Skardu) would rather die than show themselves to a male doctor." Most mountain communities lack access to adequate water supplies and proper sanitation facilities, also raising the risk of related illnesses.

In Addition, at a general level, there remains insensitivity towards gender-related issues in Pakistan. Where women of the mountain areas play active role in socio-economic activities, there needs an initiative to acknowledge their active role in policymaking and keep provisions for them to play their role effectively.

Works Cited

• Hussain, Syed S., Arshad M. Khan, and Shahzad A. Mufti, eds. Mountains of Pakistan: Protection, Potential and Prospects. Islamabad: Global Change Impact Studies Centre, 2003. 133-232
  
• International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development - Newsletter No.28, 1997. [ International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)]
  
• Mountain Heritage of Pakistan: The Essential Quest. Islamabad: UNESCO, 2002. 1-59
  
• Introduction: Toolkit on Mountains developed by FAO
  

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