Karachi:Women have offered great resistance even during the era of dictators like Zia and Musharaf and the elements afraid of women’s resistance are opposing “Aurat March”.
This was stated by Uzma Noorani, Co-chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan while addressing a seminar ‘Challenging gender stereotypes in the workplace’ organized by the Pakistan Press Foundation.
She said that working women have always been part of the workforce because they had been working in the agriculture sector for centuries, but their work was never recognized. “It is encouraging to see that more educated women are now becoming part of the workforce,” she added.
Talking about how to deal with gender stereotyping in the workplace, Noorani said every organization should make efforts to create conducive environment for women to enable women to achieve their true potential.
Nuzhat Shirin, Chairperson of Sindh Commission on the Status of Women (SCSW) appreciated that now more ever before male members are also approaching authorities and NGOs when the rights of women are violated. “It is time for women to emerge stronger to make their voices heard,” she stressed.
Discussing laws on working women, Farhat Parveen, member of SCSW, said it is a pity that women who work at homes are not considered working women and their work and sacrifices are never recognized.
Parveen said that women were now working in almost all sectors but still most of them don’t have control over their finances. She added that working women can protect their financial future by having assets under their control.
Moreover, working women should know how to avail benefits like Employment Old-age Benefit Institution (EOBI), pension and minimum wages.
PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali said women offered great resistance during the dictatorships and contributed to defending democratic and constitutional rights of all Pakistanis. He added that all institutions should adopt gender equity practices as it would benefit them. Lala Hassan, Ghazala Fasih, Naseem Shaikh and others addressed the seminar.