Of all the women running in Pakistan's general election tomorrow, few revel in their assault on the traditionally male sport of politics more than Musarrat Shaheen, a former film star once famous for her exuberant dance routines.

The retired sex symbol, known for her pulpy Pashtun films of the 1980s that are still risqué by today's standards, has chosen to pick a fight with one of the country's most high-profile, ultra-religious conservatives.

"If I had money I would contest every constituency where he is standing," she said of Fazlur Rehman, head of a faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), one of the country's leading Islamist parties.

As it is, she has to settle for just one of the handful of seats he is contesting, her home town of Dera Ismail Khan, a ramshackle place near the restive frontier with Afghanistan that is plagued with extremist violence.

"I am not afraid of bomb blasts," she said, although she has done precious little campaigning there since receiving Taliban death threats.

"I am a tribal woman who was born in DI Khan, but I have progressed and now I am fighting for the empowerment of every tribal woman."

Rehman, a white-bearded mullah, or cleric, famous for helping to install the hard-line Taliban regime in Afghanistan in the 1990s, has returned the favour on the campaign trail – dismissing the "vulgar actress" once affectionately known to her fans as the "Beautiful Atom Bomb".

Pakistan's historic election could go either way, with former cricketer Imran Khan surging ahead in his contest against the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif. But in a country where politics is still dominated by men only the most determined women are taking part.

Election authorities say there has been an increase in women candidates this year. But social traditions and threats from the Taliban still hold back female candidates and voters.

Few women that stand in regular constituencies are likely to win, least of all Shaheen. Those that do sit in the next parliament will more likely have been selected for one of the 70 seats reserved for women, which critics say are handed out to female members of well-connected political families.

Shaheen, who has her own party, the Tehreek-e-Masawat, has attracted particular attention because of her past fame as an actor and her lively contempt for the male religious leaders she takes on.

She said her loathing of mullahs took root in the 1970s when she tried to work as a family-planning adviser in DI Khan.

"I had to travel alone going door to door and these mullahs would tell people to beat me up with a stick," she said. "Eventually they got me sacked because I was unmarried."

There are several other examples of women standing despite overwhelming odds against them, including Veero Kolhi, who escaped a life of slavery as a bonded labourer.

Now an activist campaigning for the rights of workers, she has been furiously electioneering in a clapped-out minivan in her native Sindh province, against far better-funded opponents.

Also remarkable is Badam Zari, the first woman to contest a seat in Pakistan's federally administrated tribal areas (Fata), the ultra-conservative region bordering Afghanistan that has become home to some of the world's most dangerous terrorists.

"I am taking part in elections because our area is very backward and living condition of women is poor over here," she told the Guardian in April. "There will be a lot of people opposing me, but we will try our best."

In neighbouring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Nusrat Begum has become the first woman to run from Lower Dir, another extremely conservative area.

Musarrat Shaheen, the actor turned politican described as 'vulgar' by one mullah

Shaheen is particularly gratified that a few tribal women are running and credits herself with blazing a trail in 1997 when she ran for election.

She said: "The first time there was not much awareness so these mullahs told the voters that if you vote for a woman it would be a disgrace and dishonour. The mullah would say why is this woman coming to make a fuss and corrupt our people?

"Now there is more attention from the media and more public consciousness. Now is the time to show that women can get elected."

But human rights groups say there is still a very long way to go, even in a country that has twice been led by a female prime minister. Some 10 million women are simply unregistered to vote, largely because they have not been granted identity cards.

Social conservatism and tribal customs ensure women have very limited freedom of movement and are unable to leave their home without the permission of their husbands.

Threats from the Taliban, who have announced their intention to launch suicide attacks on polling days, could also deter families from taking their women to vote. On the eve of this year's election

Media reported that KP would be hit once again by agreements struck between political parties to bar women from voting, despite attempts by the election commission to stop such behaviour.

In theory, anyone found guilty of preventing a woman from voting could face three years in jail, but parties are said to have simply escaped the rules with secret deals notto paper. Few women in KP, Fata and the southwestern province of Baluchistan voted in the 2008 election, despite efforts to encourage them by setting up women-only polling stations.

In that year there were no votes in more than 550 of the 29,000 women's polling stations, with most in the Pashtun areas of the country.

Shaheen has a solution to help women from the tribal areas feel at ease: arm some women and have them work as soldiers protecting polling stations on election day.