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.
Tina’s immature fallacy is exposed when I read things like following on BBC:
tinyurl.com/294ftm
“Jurors in the US state of Missouri have convicted a woman who strangled an expectant mother and cut the baby from her womb with a kitchen knife in 2004. ”
Tina, learn to accept errors of West. It’s so childish you favor west as ignorantly as guys praise about East or Pakistan.
Thankyou.
Bela,
“The majority of the population lived in the countryside close to nature. Many people, in fact, shared their houses with their cattle. Families were used to sleeping together in the same room, often in the same bed.”
If you had not mentioned that you were talking of life in Europe a couple of hundred years ago or more I would have thought you were describing the life of rural working class Pakistan. This is exactly how the peasants and the poor live in Pakistan today.
Your post provided an interesting insight.
I am not surprised at all the men who are arm chair defenders of the Pakistan and Islam and still argue that that woman are not sexually harassed in Pakistan. I am a man of Pakistani origin who came to the West as a graduate student 35 years ago. I am also a practicing Moslem. So when I see posts of the likes of Mr. Thinker, I am ashamed.
To solve a problem, first we have to admit that a there is a problem. I can see why sexual harasment exists in abundance in Pakistan. We still have not admitted that a problem exists.
Thanks for the idea, Baber. Pedophilia is another social plague that we have kept buried under the pile of misplaced stigma, religious sensitivities and our collective hypocritical attitudes when it comes to public morality.
Coming back to the topic, it is sad that this debate has descended into typical victim-bashing on an issue of rights and protection of women. The redundant argument
Sultan Ghori – In an earlier post, you wrote the following
“unfortunately you know nothing about Muhammad Iqbal and Muhammad Ali Jinnah and talking about pakistaniat; how come????? ”
You seem to imply that Jinnah was not in favour of women’s equal participation in society. The historical records, however, paint a different story. Jinnah was extremely progressive on women’s issues. Two quotes by Jinnah illustrate this point: