KARACHI, Dec 20: Speakers at a seminar on Saturday demanded equal opportunities for women workers and said that wherever they have been provided such an opportunity, they have proved themselves to be more efficient.

They maintained that a country cannot make progress if half of its population is not given due rights and equal opportunities.

Speaking at a seminar on Role of women workers in National Development, organized jointly by National Institute of Labour Administration and Training and a non-governmental organization, Karawan, they said though the religion and the constitution has guaranteed many rights to women, they were not being given their due rights and were discriminated against in every field.

They said the discrimination towards women begins the moment a girlchild is born and is denied proper food, clothing and education.

They said though the government had signed many international agreements, including the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and was bound to make its local laws in conformity with the international agreements signed by it, many laws that were discriminatory towards women were still on the statute book.

They said that results of various higher education examinations reveal that women time and again achieve top positions.

They said that it was also a discrimination that women are not paid wages equal to their male counterparts for doing similar work.

They said the moment a woman comes out of her home for education or job, she feels harassed at public places, bus stops, during travel in public transport and in offices.

They said that a campaign be launched to create an awareness among women workers so that they knew their rights.

They also urged the women workers to take an active part in trade union activities so that they become less vulnerable to management tactics. This would also help them safeguard their rights.

They also urged the trade union leaders to not only make women workers as members but also bring them up in the trade union hierarchy and include them in the decision-making bodies.

They also informed the audience, comprising overwhelmingly women, regarding the facilities that the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (SESSI) had provided to workers, in general, and women workers, in particular.

Sindh excise and taxation minister Rauf Siddiqui, former education minister Anita Ghulamali, Syed Hakim Ali Shah Bokhari, Fatima Hassan, Nadir Khan, Uroos Sahar, Uzma Shah, Naz Tanveer, Syed Muzammil Hussain, Alam Ali and others also spoke.