Toward Total empowerment: Unravelling psychological, economic, political and social dynamics in women's lives in northern Pakistan

It is well known that women's empowerment is a multidimensional process, yet most empirical studies view it as linear and cumulative. This paper focuses on perceived total empowerment among women in Northern Pakistan, discussing it in the context of psychological, economic, political, educational, and social factors. The analysis of the relationship between these dimensions and the probability of women reporting various degrees of empowerment is performed using primary survey data and an ordered logistic regression framework. The findings indicate that empowerment is neither progressive nor consistent. Psychological awareness and social empowerment have a significant effect on reducing the risk of disempowerment, but their impact on overall empowerment is minimal. Economic competence has a positive impact, whereas stronger financial responsibility and political independence are associated with lower perceived empowerment, suggesting that there are social and psychological agency costs. Above all, social status is a threshold condition: a significant increase in empowerment is observed only among women in the highest social group. These results indicate that empowerment is a limited and stratified process, which is governed by both internal agency and social legitimacy and protection. The research warns against policy forms that equilibrate participation with empowerment and the need to have interventions that can manage the social costs and structural constraints of women in patriarchal environments.