Omni present Gender Discrimination

Maltreatment of girls prior to the dawn of Islam was common and people used to bury them live in graves. Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) tried to bring one eighty degree change in the society, by showing extreme respect for his daughter Hazrat Fatima and wives. Islam clearly defined the mandate of man and women, declared man as head of the family and assigned him the responsibly of taking care of needs of his wife and children. It is on record that in the most developed countries there still exist gender discrimination, the level of this biasness is even higher in least developed and developing countries including Pakistan.

This discrimination starts the moment the child is born. If it is boy there are many festive activities and in case of birth of a girl the modes is as if someone has died in the family. As the two grow there is difference in care, food offered and the responsibilities. Boys are offered superior quality food and clothing and rarely asked to participate in daily chores. As against that girls are offered inferior quality food and made to perform certain duties at very early stage. These include washing dishes and clothes, cleaning and dusting of the house. The duties of girls living in rural areas are even tougher.

When it comes to education boys are sent to superior educational institutions and little attention is paid on the education of girls. The general perception is that man is the earning member of the family therefore he needs better education. Many families still suffer from the illusion that the duty of mother is to cook food, wash clothing and keep the house clean. The situation may prevail till the husband/earning member of the family is alive but after his death the dependents have to lead a miserable life. As the widow is uneducated or has acquired only the basic education, when she goes out in search of a job at the best she is offered an odd job and remuneration is also low.

Though, it is often said that many companies offer equal opportunities, remuneration of man and women having the same education and experience are different. Most of the time man is given preference and also offered higher remuneration. This is not unique to underdeveloped and developing countries but also true in most of the developed countries.

There also exists a perception that job of receptionists, telephone operators and secretaries are only for the women. Some of the cynics say that these jobs have been made exclusive for women so that the men can enjoy their company while in office. Likewise, only girls are hired in readymade garment factories but the moment they get married, they are removed from the production line and at times have to forgo their jobs.

One of the worst examples of maltreatment of the weaker gender is the death of over 200 female workers in a fire incident at one of the garment factories situated in Karachi. Similar incidents also happened in Bangladesh where human loss was colossal. While the incidents have been termed ‘negligence of owners’, there are also credible evidences that some gangs responsible for booty collection were also involved. Worst was the attitude of law enforcing agencies and civic agencies, which failed in containing the fire as well as rescuing the female workers. It is also on record that dozes of female workers also died in a pharmaceutical company working in the residential area in the past. These incidents clearly show the attitude of owners towards female workers. Ironically, such incidents could never happen if the relevant authorities are vigilant but they keep their eyes closed once their palms are greased.

Female workers also fall victim of assault and maltreatment by owners and coworkers. It is on record that on the eve of assassination of Benazir Bhutto over 500 female factory workers were assaulted and dozens of them were also killed. It is assumed that the number of missing or assaulted female workers was grossly understated.

The plight of female workers in rural areas is even worse. The worst example is ‘bonded labor of brick kilns’. Though, male workers are also included in this category but most maltreated are female workers, which are often abused. These workers are like slaves and often bought and sold. After the working hours workers are chained and provided food of the lowest quality.

At farms female workers work under extreme climate/scorching heat during cotton picking and wheat harvesting seasons. In tea gardens the picking is also done by women. One could also see dozens of female workers at construction sites and during road construction. All these are lowest paid jobs but women are forced to work.

According to some NGOs who have been working for ensuring better working conditions and remuneration for female workers, most of these female workers are victim of their own families. Their fathers, brothers, and husbands are drug addicts. Not only that these men don’t work but buy drug from the hard earned money of these females.

One of the ways for empowering women is to give them contemporary education, help them learn some vocational training and offer then equal opportunities and remuneration. Men have to learn to respect female coworkers and supervisors. This objective can’t be achieved unless ending gender discrimination at homes and work places.