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.
Also for those dragging religon into this argument. I am sure you are smart enough to realize that history is filled with people using religon for their own means. 1947 partition many attrocities were commited in the name of religon. You will find kids sexually abused in religous institutions (yes including madarssas). So please for those with the holier than thou attitude look at your own selves first, if you aren’t a woman then you can not fully relate to this issue, so lets give weightage to the comments of the people most effected i.e. the sisters posting here
All I have to say is that I had a maid once, everytime she would leave the house she would be in a complete burqa (except the eyes). I remember hearing of stories of harrassment and stalking that she narrated to my mother during her trip from her house to ours. Man if showing of the eyes is indecent then you are right women are at fault, lock them up till they are old enough to be called grand mothers.
I am appalled of the people finding excuses, trying to make theological argument etc. Just admit harassment is wrong and it needs to be fixed in our society. You can not have a society where rights of a particular sex are not protected.
Also this is a deep rooted cultural issue extending to India also, read the history of partition and the plight of the women during the partition. That same mentality exists today because it was neither confronted nor addressed. If you do not know what I am talking of, pick up a history book, and you shall be ashamed of your own self, and then you won’t be blaming MTV, US, or any contemporary influences.
Brothers Human and Ibrahim… I applaud you two. Some of your remarks have, very successfully, illuminated all the wonderful warts that plague the Pakistani male psyche. Bravo.
Human, I was especially impresed by your “provocation” allegation. I believe this particular breed of rationale dates back to the times of Homo neanderthalensis and has its roots in the “its always the girls fault” school of thought. It is indeed a marvel how the Pakistani male psyche has managed to preserve such historic thinking. Its practically in mint condition! Oh if only there were Nobel Prizes for such accomplishments… wouldn’t we be a proud nation?
Tina and I were naive enough to think that our viewpoints as Pakistani women may prove important for a discussion on Pakistani women. Perhaps a dialogue may help men understand their better halves better. We didn’t know that as is the case with every other issue in Pakistan, this too had already been solved by the dominating male and his specific brand of Islam.
There’s little hope for progress if Pakistani men refuse to try and understand the status of women, to understand where she is coming from, to empathise and to be brave enough to engage in decent dialogue with them, without presupposing that they know everything. Now THAT would be “manly.”
Thanks for not answering the question again, Human.
Ibrahim, I appreciate the polite tone of your answer but you must remember that Human wrote we “don’t need any stupid laws” to protect women because the fault is all their dress.
So I do not find Human’s postition tenable and I am not saying the same thing at all. When he makes a “call for education” he is basically saying “I wish to make a vague pronouncement everybody will agree with that means nothing”.
I find this particularly egregrious. Would Human support a program for boys in school teaching them feminism? Would he support a program for girls teaching them assertiveness and job skills? I don’t think so. And we already know he does not support legislation and its enforcement, so what’s left?
Nothing, except the family scene and we can already see over the centuries how well that works. If it’s true that 77% of Pakistani boys observe their fathers abusing their mothers and sisters, we know that change won’t come from the home.
Tina
Ibrahim just explained and answered your question about “prevention”. I totally agree with him, I would have said the same. I am not gonna post anyother comment; I said what I had to say and what I think is right and tried to explain my point of view; if you wanted to understand you would have understood.
May God forgive us all. Amen