From what I have heard and seen , many working women in Pakistan are easy target for harassment in offices. Here in the west , we have stringent policies and HR deals with such cases very strictly.
But in Pakistan HR is still not seen as a management force and hence policies on harassment/bullying are neither in place nor followed as stringently.
My question is , how do women tackle bullying/ harassment in the work place in Pakistan?
Re: Working Women and Harassment in the workplace
True especially for that part of the world unfortunately. Watched an episode of Crime Patrol recently and it was about a teacher's journey through hell. She worked in an Army public school in Jaipur and was repeatedly harassed by the principle. She wasn't the only one, other female teachers and maids had also experienced his sexual advances but no one ever reported him. When the teacher wrote a complaint letter to the school officials, they terminated her contract and also fired 7 other employees who supported her. When the Indian Army authorities also cleared the principle of any wrongdoing, the teacher went to the police who arrested him but he bailed out. It wasn't until a women's rights group got involved that the story was picked up by the media and a proper inquiry order was issued. Don't know what happened after that.
So going by this story, I guess some women just keep quiet and put up with it for the sake of earning for their family, some women just quietly resign if they can afford to, some women speak up but get no help because they’re too weak/poor to build a proper case or to be even heard by the corrupt authorities, and only a few have the courage to pursue the case till the end with the help of some honest officials.
That said, I do think these are rare cases as I know of plenty of working women back home and have never really heard of anyone going through bullying and harassment.
Re: Working Women and Harassment in the workplace
They should call up their blood brothers or husbands regularly and openly talk to them about what goes on in the office to make the listeners aware ... and call all of their male colleagues brother ... or uncle ... it can help put the would be offenders off ...
Re: Working Women and Harassment in the workplace
Psyah thats actually not a very bad technique
Huma, what I find really sad is that the whole definition of harassment is so different for women in Pakistan. I had a chance of speaking with multiple working women , some in big offices , some working at factory level and I was shocked to hear that a manager/colleague hitting on them, making personal remarks etc was considered “not a being deal”. Big deal actually would be if any office worker tried to physically harass the woman 
I mean in the UK , if anyone even dares send a distasteful joke via email or text to a co-worker , that would be classed as harassment .. and look how much people can get away with in Pakistan…
Re: Working Women and Harassment in the workplace
True, the whole flirting bit isn’t really considered harassment, just… tharkiness, I suppose! But then I guess, they live in a society where they’ve had to grow a thicker skin. Take a short walk to the bazaar and you will most likely be winked at by some retard. They prefer to ignore and move on.
This I don’t agree with because ignoring them is what keeps encouraging these sickos but again it comes down to how seriously the authorities take this and how strict the laws are about this.
Re: Working Women and Harassment in the workplace
^ I respectfully disagree ( Jk)