Pakistan is a country heavily impacted by cultural values which deprives women, especially young ambitious women of even their basic rights such as education and healthcare. Even though education is available for women and men in Pakistan however families especially in rural areas and slum areas do not appreciate their young sisters and daughters studying alongside boys. This ends up with most of the women in these areas uneducated which ultimately leads to underage marriages and marriages against consent in Pakistan. As for healthcare, firstly there are inadequate health care services especially for women that live in poverty and rural and slum areas. Secondly sexual and reproductive rights of women are overlooked. The main reason for this is that sexual and reproduction topics and talks are considered a taboo in the society of Pakistan. However these things ultimately lead to complications for women in Pakistan and causing high rates of miscarriages and high mortality rates of newborns and women during birth giving.
Therefore STEP works with the women in marginalized communities. We focus on education and awareness for women. In the past we have held several awareness camps, meetings, door to door campaigns in order to talk to families and tell them the importance of gender equality and how the society can improve as a whole if women are given the same opportunities to grow and experience the world.
Therefore, in our schools we uphold this idea of women empowerment where everyone is given an equal opportunity to learn and demonstrate and share their skills and ideas. Our health projects are mostly based on helping women and their children to share their issues which are often overlooked and we try to treat these issue in any way we possibly can.
