Pakistan

Senate

Political system: Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament: Bicameral
IPU membership: Yes

Data on women

Information on the current and historical representation of women in the parliament. Consult the 'Elections' tab to see how women have fared in elections or renewals.

Current representation

Women's representation in the current parliament or chamber

Current number of members: 85
Women: 16
Percentage of women: 18.8%

Speaker

No information available

Secretary general

No information available

Chairs of specialized bodies

Specialized body	Theme	Name	Sex	Age
Foreign Affairs Committee	Foreign affairs	Sherry Rehman	Female	63

Data on age at the start of the legislature

Number of members, by age (2024-04)

Breakdown of members by age and gender
	18 - 20	21 - 30	31 - 40	41 - 45	46 - 50	51 - 60	61 - 70	71 - 80	81 - 90	91 and over	Totals per gender
Male	0	0	5	10	11	17	26	9	2	0	80
Female	0	0	3	3	1	5	5	2	0	0	19
Totals per age interval	0	0	8	13	12	22	31	11	2	0	99
	Total <= 45: 21				Total >= 46: 78

Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal	Overall	Male	Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger	8.1%	5%	3.0%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger	21.2%	15%	6.1%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups: Yes
Women: 17
Electoral quota for women: No

Sources: Cf. Paragraphs (c),(d),(e) and (f) of article 59 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakiastan.

First woman in parliament

Year of first woman in parliament: 1947

Notes: 1947: The Constituent Assembly became the first legislature of the country after it was granted independence and became a Commonwealth Dominion, at the same time as India; Bangladesh was part of the country until 1972; the total number of seats in the Assembly was later increased to 79 1973???: very difficult to make sense of all the information; fiche and 1995 answer list different dates for first women, 2004 reply is an update for recent elections; precise dates and numbers are lacking, the 1973 entry in fiche does not correspond to the other numbers in document and does not fit history as found on http://www.na.gov.pk/history.htm

First woman speaker

Year of first woman speaker: 2008

Women’s suffrage

Date of independence: 1947

Women’s right to vote: 1937
Restricted or universal suffrage: Restricted
Detail of restrictions: literacy, income and tax payer

Women’s right to vote: 1947
Restricted or universal suffrage: Restricted

Women’s right to vote: 1956
Restricted or universal suffrage: Universal

Notes: The 1956 Republican constitution provided for universal suffrage.

Women's right to stand for election: 1946
Restricted or universal: Restricted
Detail of restrictions: Women must have an income; pay taxes and be literate in order to stand for election.

Women's right to stand for election: 1956
Restricted or universal: Universal