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We the working women of Pakistan mark the International Day
for Women with articulation of our demands and hope that the
newly elected government will fulfill them urgently. We join
hands with all the women in Pakistan in the struggle for
social justice and equal rights for women in our country.
Fouzia Saeed
Representative AASHA
Agreed on 31st January, 2008 at the conclusion of
Working Women’s Assembly, Islamabad, Pakistan
Working women
constitute a major part of the population but are
unrecognized as a constituency. Working women not only
contribute to the economy but are also the beacon of future.
It is only their efforts of creating space in the
professional fields and a wide range of careers that will
pave the way for our future generations, all women and men,
to fully participate in the development of our country.
Working women are the secret path of salvation for our
nation, a path out of poverty, where one male is left to
feed a big family, a path that promises a way out from being
a developing country to a just and prosperous developed
country.
We the working women of Pakistan are the agricultural field
workers, labourers, dairy farm workers, nurses, doctors,
office workers, police women, air hostesses, immigration
officers, business women, political workers, sales women,
office workers, educators, managers, accountants, Theatre
artists, writers, journalists, poets, administrators,
development workers, , mid wives, and healers from Khairpur,
Lahore, Badin, Hyderabad, Swabi, Peshawar, Faisalabad,
Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Toba Tek Singh, Shadara, Islamabad and
many other towns and villages of Pakistan.
We the working women,
attending AASHA’s sixth annual Working Women’s Assembly
hereby demand the following:
Women should not only be referred to as mothers,
wives and daughters. We do treasure those roles but we are
much more than our relations with the men in our lives. We
consider ourselves to be complete human beings with our
attributes and professions that we belong to. Restricting
our identity to our relations with our men leaves out the
working women’s identity completely thus leaving an
ambiguous place for this Identity to be accepted in the
society. We demand that working women should be accepted,
respected and clearly have a distinct position in the
society. This should be clear to media, government
officials, intellectuals, politicians, and anyone else
making any statements about women.
Working women deserve a safe and respectable
environment to work. We consider it the responsibility of
the management to ensure that. However we know that the
political leaders and the government have to take the
responsibility to mandate the managements to do this job
through legislation. We demand that our politicians through
the parliament and the government machinery pass a law that
mandates every registered body in private, public or civil
sectors to have an anti sexual harassment policy in place.
We demand that every political party should
clearly state what they will do for working women in their
mandate. They should also articulate their strategy for
combating the most commonly experienced issue of sexual
harassment at the work place. They should adopt a policy
against sexual harassment in their own parties.
To have legislation that gives women protection
against sexual harassment at work and at public places is
our right. We demand amendments in the current laws to
ensure that. We want a firm accountability system for the
culprits and implementation of the legislation in the true
spirit.
The Government was a part in
developing and approving the Code of Conduct for Gender
Justice, a policy document to address sexual harassment.
After a long time the Government has finally made an
amendment to the Civil Service Laws (Esta Code) which we are
pleased about. We would like an open announcement and
release of the orders of the amendment. We would also like
this amendment in the provincial corresponding rules for the
government employees.
We demand that the
Government institutionalizes the Code of Conduct for Gender
Justice (anti sexual harassment policy) for all the
government hospitals and health services. The ordeal of
women working in health sector has to come to an end. We
demand safe and dignified work environment for nurses,
doctors and all the women workers in health sector.
We demand that the Government institutionalizes
the Code of Conduct for Gender Justice (anti sexual
harassment policy) for all the government Educational
Institutions. We demand safe and dignified work environment
for our teachers, students and all the women workers in
Education sector.
The media has been an ally in AASHA’s work and it
has helped propagate the message of adopting the Code of
Conduct. We demand that media, especially electronic media
should show the plight of working women and the consequences
of sexual harassment through its programs. The expantion of
a woman’s traditional role to include work outside home and
positive profiling of women working in general should be
taken as a key responsibility by media.
We
demand that the Government of Pakistan honours the
International commitments i.e CEDAW, ILO Conventions 100 and 111 that cover fundamental rights of men and women at work.
We
demand that the Government actively facilitates fulfilling
the quota specifically allocated for women within the
government institutions and ensure a better and dignified
work environment for them. This includes providing a clear
mechanism for reporting any discrimination and harassment at
the workplace and actively following the spirit of the Code.
We demand that owners and
managers of private sector companies, industries and
businesses adopt the Code of Conduct for Gender Justice as
their anti sexual harassment policy within their Human
Resource regulation.
We demand that all the trade unions in the
country adopt the Code of Conduct for their own working. The
national federations have already set an example.
We demand that the civil society organization be
true to their agenda of social justice and walk the talk by
adopting the Code of Conduct for their own organization in
order to model a dignified work environment.
We demand employers as well as employees to show
individual as well as collective responsibility to their
staff and colleagues in creating a work environment with
Zero Tolerance for Sexual Harassment.
The Alliance Against Sexual Harassment has been working
closely with the relevant Government Ministries, trade
unions and other bodies of employers and employees. In order
for effective action it is necessary that all the related
parties fulfill their commitments and responsibilities and
commit to create a work environment that is totally free of
sexual harassment.
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