Author: George Samuel Okoth,
Department of Bible and Theology,
Trelliss International Training College, Kenya
Abstract
Religion, culture, politics, and socio-economic inequalities continue to shape women’s lived experiences in both Pakistan and Africa, often limiting opportunities for progressive development within historically male-dominated social systems. This study foregrounds women’s voices and examines how postcolonial patriarchal structures restrict women’s access to social, political, and economic spaces necessary for self-realization and collective advancement. Despite formal independence and legal reforms, many women across these regions remain constrained by inherited cultural norms, unequal gender roles, and power relations that privilege male authority. Women are frequently denied autonomy over fundamental life choices, including education, leadership, and marriage, and in extreme cases face violence for resisting expectations tied to honor, obedience, and sexual control. Such realities are not isolated cultural anomalies but reflections of broader structural inequalities sustained by economic dependency, political exclusion, and selective interpretations of tradition and religion. Within these contexts, women experience a condition of social breathlessness marked by silence, fear, and limited agency, yet also by resilience and resistance. By examining Pakistan and Africa comparatively, this study humanizes women’s struggles while exposing the shared mechanisms of dehumanization and highlighting decolonization as a necessary pathway toward dignity, justice, and gender equity.
Keywords: Let Women Breathe, Women Dehumanization, Women Decolonization; Women’s Studies; Postcolonial Feminism; Gender Inequality
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Suggested Citation
Okoth, G.S. (2026). Let Women Breath: A Comparative Study on Dehumanization and Decolonization of Women in Pakistan and Africa. African Research Journal of Education and Social Sciences, 13(1), 17-31.