Although women are secluded inside the boundary of the house they enjoy a considerable freedom in making routine decisions about household affairs. In most of the cases, women are given their share in inheritance according to the principles of Islam. A few women have joined the formal sector through government jobs, specially in the field of education. Since 1995, government has started employing middle-pass girls as women health workers under the Prime Minister’s Programme for Family Planning and Primary Health Care. Through these opportunities women are striving towards economic independence but still women are either deprived of many income generating activities or being exploited by undervaluing their activities. The help they offer in agriculture and livestock farming is unaccounted for and is considered of no economic value.

The Women Organisation promoted by the Balochistan Rural Support Programme has ensured women’s participation in socio-economic development. Women are being trained for income generating activities and awareness is growing. However, there is a need for improved utilisation of this viable platform.

The economic independence of women in Killa Saifullah district does not fully translate into social independence. The woman has multiple roles but the socio-cultural milieu either do not allow her to perform these roles satisfactorily or she has no opportunities. Sometimes her role performance is restricted to the limits which suits the male domination. For example, she is free to move around but just to graze her livestock or to fetch water and collect fuel wood. She makes many of the routine domestic decisions but decisions regarding major issues, like children’s marriages, are made by the males in the family. However, she definitely has an advisory role. Unmarried girls have no say in the decision about their marriage. Very few women were seen in Killa Saifullah and Muslim Bagh bazaars. It is not an appreciable act for women to go outside their homes alone, even for a medical check-up. She is considered protected only when a male family member, even a child, is with her. Male drivers do not like to seat their female family members adjacent to themselves.

Killa Saifullah is a male dominated society where sons are preferred. This preference results in discrimination of female children in education, health, nutrition and affection. Expenditure on female education is considered a waste. In this way women loose their chance to be financially secured and they remain dependant on the men. Due to the preference for sons, mothers without a male child are required to conceive repeatedly without an appropriate break which endangers their lives. There is no exclusive health facility for women – mother child health care centre – in the entire Killa Saifullah district. The girls are bound to get higher education in a boys college – against the local traditions. The only political role women in Killa Saifullah district can play is casting their vote, usually according to the will of their male family members. Their limited political role is evinced by their absence from the District Council and the Union Councils, except for UC Tubli, where they have their reserved seats.