by JayJay
The life of a Pakistani woman is not easy. It is not a hidden fact that she is subjected to discrimination and harassment, within and without the so-called sanctuary of her home. However, harassment and bullying becomes more intense and blatant when she steps out of her home for work or education. From catcalls to verbal innuendo to physical harassment, she has to endure it all, mostly at the hands of strangers, on the streets and on public transport. This harassment does not stop, or rather become more palpable in many cases, at her place of work. The act of harassing women, with sexual tones and motives, by fellow employees or supervisors/managers is referred to sexual harassment. Wikipedia defines sexual harassment as:
Harassment or unwelcome attention of a sexual nature. It includes a range of behavior from mild transgressions and annoyances to serious abuses, which can even involve forced sexual activity. Sexual harassment is considered a form of illegal discrimination in many countries, and is a form of abuse (sexual and psychological) and bullying.
An editorial from The News on October 1 has summed up the issue well, by pointing out to the absence of appropriate legislation to deal with this growing phenomenon. Offering some the broad suggestions, the editorial reads:
As a first step, the government and the private sector should join hands to start a campaign in which sexual harassment in the workplace is defined. This will make working women understand what is acceptable and what is not acceptable behavior in a workplace. The second step in this national exercise would be to ask employers to put into place a proper policy that defines sexual harassment and clearly spells out what action is to be taken against someone found guilty of it. In addition to this, employers need to have a mechanism which enables any employee subjected to such harassment to approach an appropriate forum for filing a complaint. The complaint should be treated confidentially and investigated, and if guilty the offender should be punished according to the employer’s code of ethics for employees. Of course, given that many companies have an environment which is more or less male-dominated and where men are in most decision-making senior roles, it may be a bit much to expect that things will change overnight. However, to do nothing would also be a sign that we as a nation are not willing to evolve and provide justice to those who are victims of this menace.
The menace of sexual harassment at the place of work has been comprehensively and effectively addressed by the West where workplaces are no longer the sole domain of men. Pakistan has a lot to catch up on this matter, and quickly so, as more and more women are entering workforce. It makes economic sense both for employers and the government to have an effective and clear legislation and corporate policies to protect women against harassment. Not only skills and talent of education women can be brought to use more effectively by attracting them in a safe workplace but it has been seen worldwide that presence of women in offices helps boost productivity, besides infusing fresh ideas and way of thinking.
While enacting a piece of legislation and formulating policies is most critical step, a concerted awareness campaign is necessary to influence general attitudes and social behaviors. Without bringing about change to prevalent perception of working women in Pakistan, there is little chance of success in overcoming the problem of sexual harassment. The fact of matter is that most women in Pakistan brave into men-dominated workplaces out of economic necessity, rather than to fulfill career aspirations. The position of women in workplace in Europe, North American and even South East Asia has become entrenched, still it is not odd to come across a public service announcement to press the message on the issue. Such public service announcements are even more necessary in a society like Pakistan where we leg behind even comparable countries in accepting the role of women at work.
feminism is an “unnatural and one-sided view of equality”
http://sagemovement.blogspot.com/2007/10/feminism- flawed-concept.html
Akif Nizam, I agree, it’s like reductio ad absurdum – except, the conclusion isn’t absurd to them.
As for your confusion about the women’s perspective, I can assure you that not all women perceive all men to be uncontrollable beasts. Tragically, according to many Pakistani men (as has been made evident by the comments here), articles like these bring within their purview the topic of how a women should dress. Perhaps that is why the discussion had to go a bit off tangent and tread the beaten path of how its ALL down to the women to stave off sexual harrassment from men. The man’s responsibility regarding the issue is second to the womans. I think this is ironic and goes back to whole “blaming the victim” thing.
In the West women, generally, do not feel like a cut of veal hanging in a meat-market. People are more tolerent to the idea of a women dressed in, for example, a fig leaf. The more taboo you make something, the more fear (of stigma) and frustration you create.
It has been said that in Saudi Arabia, an exposed female ankle can set many a men’s heart aflutter. It comes down to what you’re used to and brought up to think is “okay”. In the upper echelons of Pakistani societies, aunties walk around in shorts and it is not scandalous and in no way threatening to the fragile state of Pakistani male psyche/prostate. In a small village, a girl without a dupatta could unleash havoc.
At any rate, sexual harassment, sexist attitude – these have very little to do with what a girl is wearing. In fact it has very little to do with the girl!
It is not theological, it isn’t sexual, it is about basic human rights of women in Pakistan. They need to be understood better, they need laws to protect them, they need men to respect them, etc. (I’m getting a bit tired of repeating myself.)
dont become nonesense that on her new bank neased Honda Civic ..with tight jeans and short shirt…coming in the society and prooving that she can run the universe and still…..
http://www.paklinks.com/gs/showthread.php?t=248169
Blame the victim attitude is indeed very regrettable. If any one is at fault for harassment, it is the man who does it not the women who falls prey to it.
BTW, I am not too sure about that survey which proclaims that 77% of Pakistani boys observe their fathers abusing their mothers and sisters. It seems too outlandish. One needs to check on the sample size and survey methodology, because if this survey is right than I must have been living all my life in a different Pakistan. In the Pakistan that I know maltreatment of wives and daughter is an exception rather than norm.
Qandeel, your point is well taken about the woman’s perspective but I (being a man) don’t get their views about the man’s perspective either. Their viewpoints brand men as these uncontrollable beasts who can’t control their most basic of urges and put all responsibility on the woman’s shoulders to maintian invisibility.
The problem frankly, as we all know deep down, is the reverse engineering involved in the religious/traditional thought. In the real world, a logical argument is one where the premise supports the conclusion. Unfortunately, with the R/T frame of mind, they already know the conclusions to all problems that ever have and ever will be faced by “humans” (pun intended). So when the conclusion is that a woman has to (largely) stay indoors, they start building a premise to justify the conclusion. In the process, they come up with non-sense such as “the world is a dangerous place so it’s for her own good”. And when she doesn’t listen, they go about making the world a dangerous place for her, thereby making true the conclusion in the process. For example, when they see men and women communicate in co-educational institutions without much incident, their only reaction is to separate them by force and by threat. It’s not that they have the good of the woman at heart; it’s only that they see their own ideological premise collapsing in the face of evidence to the contrary.