LAHORE: Being a woman in Pakistan is like being in a constant state of societal worries. But one might ask why women are facing this?
The deep-rooted misogyny and the superiority complex are engraved in men all over the country, it appears. Micromanaging a woman, the way they eat, dress, talk, and generally lead their lives is a ‘gift’ upon generations of our female population as according to many men women are the ones who need to be guided all along the way.
From personal to practical life, everyone has an opinion over how a lady should be. And since everyone in the country is so opinionated how can the prime minister (PM) stay away from commenting. Just by dressing the way we want to; we apparently lure men into acting indecently.
Maybe the PM believes that men have no ethos or the mental ability to restrain themselves.
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Let’s focus on talking about working women in Pakistan. Those who have to work without a choice, those who want to work but are unable to, and those who are currently working and want to work but due to some unfortunate incident aren’t able to continue working, or are traumatized by some past experiences.
Due to inflation, there is a growing need for almost every member of the household to work in order to make ends meet for their families, and women in the country are caught up in a vicious cycle of discriminatory gender-based sequences.
More than half of the population comprises of women, yet there is no law to protect or support them. The first hurdle in their journey is actually getting out of the house and looking for a job. Just this mere act can apparently put a question mark on the family’s reputation. Next comes the issue of actually feeling safe at the workplace.
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The workplace laws of the country are in a shambles. The boss-to-employee environment in the country is messed up.
According to a survey, four out of five women working at well-known ‘respectable’ institutions have said that their bosses have made inappropriate comments about them. Women here generally face the issue of a constant race between the male and female gender, created by the degenerates of our society who believe that women want to compete with men.
Wanting rights is not competing, practicing democratic freedom is not competing. It’s actually mind-blowing how opinions are bestowed without experiencing the other side of the bargain.
Sexual harassment at workplaces is a grave concern, while the cases of verbal harassment aren’t even taken seriously as they are merely accounted for as ‘jokes’.
Being a victim of sexual harassment doesn’t depend on women’s social class or background. So, the question is, do women need to carry a gun or a pepper spray at their workplaces? The question still remains unanswered that why females still are considered as a grade-two gender.
The problem clearly lies in our system that does not push towards punishing the wrongdoers.
The writer is a freelance contributor.
