Pakistan follows a patriarchal family system, and women decision making power with in home remains a critical yet neglected dimension of gender equality, because men are typically head of the family. Although women constitute more than 50 percent of Pakistan's population, men dominate all walks of life. This study is design to investigate the socio-cultural and economic barriers that limit women decision making power at household level in Dir Lower, with a specific focus on Tehsil Timergara. Women in Pakistan face many social and cultural problems in order to live a good life and achieve their legitimate rights. The main reason for male dominance is the patriarchal family system throughout the country. Empowering women is the fundamental key to social, cultural, economic, political and educational development so that they can enjoy freedom within their legitimate rights. Thus the study highlights the relationship between dependent variable (female decision making in familial affairs) and independent variable (sociocultural and economic barriers). In this study quantitative research design was employed and Univariate and Bivariate including Chi Square test was carried out to assess the association between independent and dependent variable by using SPSS Version 21. The present study was conducted in Tehsil Timergara. Purposive sampling technique was used for data collection. The data were obtained from 379 respondents through structured interview schedule due to low literacy levels among the respondents. The study revealed that socio-cultural and economic barrier has significant association with female decision making power in familial affairs. This was true since the patriarchy, early marriage, economic dependency, lack of education, societal pressure and limited mobility was found significant association (p=0.000) with women decision making power in familial affairs.
Ullah et al. (Sun,) studied this question.