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Pakistan
Code for the Workplace
Studies conducted by rights
groups in Pakistan confirm the widespread occurrence of sexual harassment
of women at the workplace. But the government is dragging its feet on
introducing a legal framework to check the practice and ensure a safe
working environment for half of the country's population.
Rights-based groups say the absence of laws that define sexual harassment
as a punishable crime is resulting in an increase of such occurrences,
causing tremendous mental and psychological agony to women employees in
the formal and informal sectors.
"The right to live and work with dignity is an inalienable right of all
people. Women, however, are denied this right, be it in agricultural
fields or in corporate offices. Behavior that qualifies as sexual
harassment restricts their active and effective participation in society
according to their fullest potential," says Hadia Nusrat, an activist
based in Islamabad.
A groundbreaking investigation on the issue was recently concluded by the
Alliance Against Sexual Harassment at the Workplace (AASHA), a group of
nine civil society organizations in the country. Its report, "Situation
Analysis - Sexual Harassment at the Workplace", says such harassment cuts
across all boundaries - age, class and position. "Most working women in
Pakistan at one time or another face this kind of violation of their
rights from their colleagues, bosses or employers."
The report is based on interviews with nurses in private and public sector
hospitals, domestic workers, women workers in agricultural fields and
brick kilns, women employees at multinational companies, public and
private sector organizations and retail outlets. Of 17 nurses (between 16
and 21 years) interviewed, 58 per cent faced sexual harassment by
co-workers, patients or their relatives, and doctors. Only 11 per cent
denied its existence while 29 per cent refused to talk.
Ninety-one per cent of the interviewed domestic workers (14 to 30 years)
said they faced harassment from their employers. Similarly, 93 per cent of
women employees in private and public sector organizations said they faced
sexual harassment at the workplace. Most victims were dated by co-workers
and employers, threatened when they refused to comply with sexual
propositions by their bosses, and faced sexually suggestive comments, says
the report.
At brick kilns and in agricultural fields the situation is particularly
disturbing - the incidence of sexual harassment here is as high as 95 per
cent. Interviewees said they faced harassment, or were raped and tortured
by their employers.
The AASHA study, based on a small but diverse sample, is a manifestation
of the magnitude of the issue affecting most women who are part of the
active workforce. "Sexual harassment at workplaces is widespread and
requires immediate government attention," says Nasrin Azhar, a long-time
rights
activist, currently working with Action Aid Pakistan which is a part of
AASHA.
Apart from the fact that sexual harassment is gender-specific
discrimination, says Azhar, it is an exercise of male power based on
economic position and authority at the workplace. "Fear of losing
a job or their career being stifled, prevents victims from reporting
incidents of sexual harassment."
However, even those who muster enough courage to go public with their
trauma find no justice; the country simply does not have the mechanism to
deal with such cases. Besides, public, private and many not-for-profit
organizations are also not prepared to address cases of sexual harassment
if these are brought to their notice.
In 2002, Uzma Khan quit the NGO she worked for, when she saw that her
employers were insensitive to the sexual harassment case she brought
forward. Having been already humiliated by the government official (the
accused) Khan felt further humiliated by the attitude of her colleagues,
who asked her to hush up the matter because it involved a responsible
government official on good terms with the NGO.
Instead of discussing the causes of malnutrition and child mortality - the
purpose for which Khan met the government official, he was more interested
in knowing how it feels when a mother breastfeeds her baby. "He was
constantly asking about the pleasure a mother gets from the 'let down
reflex'. I knew exactly where his line of questioning was leading...I just
walked out in disgust," said Khan.
This is a typical case of sexual harassment that involved an aggressor
whose behavior was ignored because of his position of power. In several
such cases, victims are blamed for telling on male co-workers and
employers if they report an occurrence. Says a spokesperson for AASHA,
"The legal
procedures reinforce a woman's experience of humiliation, embarrassment
and public exposure, thus isolating her further."
Meanwhile, the government is procrastinating - it is simply not moving on
implementing the agenda of CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of all
forms of Discrimination Against Women) to which Pakistan is a signatory.
The Ministry of Women's Development admits the need for a legal mechanism
to check sexual harassment at the workplace. And it says it is aware of
its responsibility to take measures under Article 19 of CEDAW to protect
women from sexual harassment and Article 2 of the UN Declaration on
Violence against Women that specifically mentions sexual harassment and
intimidation at workplace.
On request of anonymity, an official of the ministry says, "It is a
crucial problem that needs to be tackled. The ministry is currently
working on a draft policy framework to deal with the issue, which is to be
presented as soon as it is ready. But we cannot just introduce some law on
our own, it has to clear the cumbersome bureaucratic procedures and
attitudes of the male-dominated bureaucracy." But this is what the
government has been saying for years.
This non-committal official response has prompted AASHA to prepare its own
code to deal with the issue - the Code of Conduct for Gender Justice at
the Workplace. It wants the government to adopt the Code and give it legal
protection as it envisages the issue in its entirety - from reporting to
investigation/enquiry, and punishment.
AASHA has prepared its Code following an exhaustive process of countrywide
consultations with public and private sector organizations and also civil
society groups. It has been prepared in line with the provisions of ILO
Convention 100 (Equal Remuneration for Equal Value of Work), Convention
111
(Discrimination in Employment and Occupation) and with the relevant
clauses of CEDAW. Pakistan is a signatory to all these international
conventions.
But the military government - which discussed the adoption of the Code at
a cabinet meeting last September - deferred a decision when various
ministers raised objections on the wide scope of the definition of sexual
harassment. "It would have also enabled women workers to lodge complaints
against their male companions without having to disclose their identity,
hence creating an atmosphere of distrust at the workplace. The cabinet
asked the ministry to come up with more realistic and applicable ways to
deal with the issue," confided an official of the Women's Development
Ministry.
AASHA however, is undeterred. A spokesperson says, "We are lobbying with
the private sector and civil society organizations to voluntarily adopt
the Code. Our efforts have so far enabled 10 organizations to implement
the Code, proving that it is workable and enforceable, unlike what the
government says."
–
Muddassir Rizvi
February 23, 2003
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By arrangement with
Womens Feature Service
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