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| August 21, 2002 | Wednesday | Jamadi-us-Saani 11,1423 |
Laws being framed against women harassment: Ranjha
ISLAMABAD, Aug 20: Harassment of women is a universal problem and the government is taking measures to improve the situation in the country by putting in place appropriate laws that will prove effective through implementation.
This was said by law minister Dr Khalid Ranjha on Tuesday, while speaking as chief guest at a seminar organized by Alliance against Sexual Harassment (AASHA). He said: “We make laws but fail to implement them.”
A report, “Sexual Harassment at the Workplace: A Situational Analysis,” was released on the occasion, featuring case studies. The situational analysis of sexual harassment of women encompassed behaviour such as physical touch, suggestive language and gestures, and subtle advances.
The minister said as a nation, Pakistanis were shy of placing problems in their proper context, owing mostly to lack of knowledge and self-confidence.
He regretted that there was no security against harassment of women at work places and maintained that only 10 per cent of such cases were reported. However, according to him, harassment was more prevalent in cities and towns. People in villages were more humane and civilized, and showed proper respect to women, he maintained.
Noted poet Kishwar Naheed lamented that few political parties took notice of the situation because they had no programme for women uplift. Such problems can not be overcome in the absence of a coordinated outlook enshrined in the programme of political parties, she added.
She was also critical of the salacious reports repeated in the recent case of Mukhtar Bibi.
Working Women’s Organization director Rubina Jamil said incidents of women harassment continued over the years with no one to take notice of them. However, the society is now realizing the problem after concerted efforts made by social workers and their organizations.
She said the recommendations in the situational analysis would yield results after they were truly implemented.
Samina Hasan of the ILO said the problem started when menfolk did not respect the relationship code, adding that the seminar sought to urge them to respect the code. She emphasized that the people living in metropolitan cities and towns should be educated on ways of respecting women. She said often men were also subjected to discrimination and this should give them food for thought to treat every human being with consideration.
The report also features real stories of sexual harassment faced by nurses in hospitals, and domestic servants working in the houses of the affluent class. The most horrifying stories are about women working in fields and at brick-kilns where they are treated as slaves, and are often sold to other brick-kiln owners.—Jonaid Iqbal
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