“IT’S a patriarchal society and everyone is very narrow-minded when it comes to women,” said Sara Afridi, a 22-year-old schoolteacher from Jandool, Lower Dir. “I wanted to vote in the by-election but was not allowed to.”

Lower Dir’s powerful men have a history of excluding women from the election process. In the 2013 general election they signed a deal not to allow women to vote. All political parties — religious and those that call themselves secular — were part of it. The deal was signed on May 10, 2013and bore the signatures of Dr Nazir of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Aizaz-ul-Mulk Afkari of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Haji Abdul Rahman Khan of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Malik Rehman of Pakistan Peoples Party, Abdul Wahid of Awami National Party and Dr Deedar Mohammad of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz. According to the agreement, any party violating it would be fined Rs5 million.

Rights activists condemned the deal, but political parties did not take any action against their respective local leadership.