Karachi: Rubina Shaheen’s black veil hides her black belt - in taekwondo, that is - and her prowess in javelin throwing. But neither saved the 28-year-old policewoman from the unwanted advances of her male colleagues.
A graduate in physical education studies and national gold medal winner,
Shaheen used to work in the police department of southern Sindh province.
But after she complained about the sexual advances of her seniors, she
was sacked.
"I was repeatedly asked to surrender myself to their sexual desires and to become a tool of their malicious intentions," Shaheen told AFP.
"They also wanted me to lure other girls for to be used by them as well,to be a trap for the big shots."
She refused. Her bosses responded by transferring her around more than a dozen postings over an 18-month period until dismissing her.
Shaheen is one of many Pakistani women subject to workplace harassment, but one of the few to speak out in the ultra-conservative Islamic republic.
"The reported cases are only the tip of the iceberg," said psychologist Qurat-ul-Ain who works with Bedari, an organisation devoted to improving the status of women.
"Innumerable incidents of physical battering, rape, killings remain unreported in Pakistan. Silence prevails due to culture, religion and family honour."
University employees have also complained of lecherous environments.
"A lady professor at an agriculture university was so severely harassed sexually by one of her seniors that ultimately she had to quit the job," Naureen Ashraf, a counsellor with the Working Women’s Association, told AFP.
The social hierarchy in Pakistan is headed by men, making it difficult for women, especially among the poor, to stand up for themselves.
"We get hundreds of cases reported to us, but we pursue them in strict secrecy as women are subject to scorn in such cases," Ashraf said.
Grinding poverty, afflicting at least one third of Pakistan’s 145 million people, means many women give in to the sexual advances of their bosses and supervisors for fear of losing their wages.
"Severe poverty offers another encouraging factor for the persons in charge or colleagues at the offices to exploit the economic helplessness of their female subordinates or mates," Ashraf said.
"Many girls ultimately succumb to their pressure and indulge in sexual activities, out of dilemma."
Pakistan’s constitution guarantees non-discrimination on the basis of sex and the government is signatory to international conventions on eliminating gender discrimination.
But local law enforcement agencies are devoid of such laws.
"Our police, being part of our social and cultural set-up, usually patronise traditions and customs instead of enforcing laws, and are found to be biased in such cases," psychologist Ain said.
Government-set quotas of female employees - officially at least five percent of workers must be women - are largely unfulfilled, women’s rights activists said.
Nine non-government organisations have formed the Alliance Against Sexual Harassment to combat sexual harassment and devise a workplace code of conduct.
Coordinator Aqsa Khan, however, said while 24 private companies have adopted the code of conduct, there has been little response from government organisations.
"Unfortunately, no public sector company considered it worthy to be
adopted," Khan told AFP. |
