About 130 Christian women participated in a congress held in Lahore, during which they analyzed various problems in Pakistani society and proposed initiatives to help resolve them. They took advantage of this event to once more courageously affirm that the women of the country should be allowed to play a more active role in society, taking as a starting point the primary and inalienable right to vote and to be elected to public offices (a point that is currently under hot debate).
It seems as if the role of women in Pakistani society has not improved much in the last few years. One datum to confirm this statement: in 2002, only 30% of the women in the country were registered to vote, and in 2007 this number had increased by only ten percent. Lillian Younas, Vice-President of SHAAD (Association for Social Harmony Awareness and Development), cites patriarchal values, a discriminatory law and inadequate policies as the major blocks to the development of Pakistani women. She says that even when women need an identity card they must depend on male members of the family.