Echoes of Patriarchal Benevolence, Fierce Resistance to Equality, and Institutional Inertia

This chapter presents the findings of the study regarding the central concern of this book, that is, the relationship of gender training with the problem of gender inequality in the public employment of Pakistan. It brings to fore the complexity of gender equality efforts such as gender sensitivity trainings by sharing findings about patriarchal benevolence, fierce resistance that gender sensitivity trainings can result in, and the ongoing unchanged institutional inertia that suggests policy interventions must go beyond mere gender sensitivity trainings and need to reform the patriarchal institutions and policies. It emphasizes that inclusion of gender into development activities is a highly charged subject in Pakistan. That it is a more serious problem than gender is seen as an imposition from Western countries and donor agencies. That there is a greater level of cynicism around gender issues because it is seen as something that will get you the funds to run programs. That gender sensitivity training far from being satisfactory, unintendedly producing greater resistance to gender equality.