Engaging men for gender justice: Overcoming barriers to girls' education in the Pashtun tribes of Pakistan

Resistance to girls' education is a social justice and human rights issue in many countries. In Pakistan, where the lowest school enrollment for girls is in Pashtun areas bordering Afghanistan, it is especially problematic. Pashtun society is patriarchal: Men have the power to construct obstacles to girls' education, and to remove them. This article therefore explores a different way of overcoming barriers to gender justice, namely through the participation of men. A qualitative Delphi process and in‐depth interviews with Pashtun men led to their consensus on seven key points of leverage where action could be taken. Participants agreed that progress toward gender parity could be achieved only by making allies of powerful community leaders, especially religious leaders, and by utilizing existing institutions, such as the mosque, Jirga (council of elders), and the men's guest house. For each point of leverage, a policy recommendation is made for increasing girls' participation in education.