BLOG: When The Cameras Aren't Rolling 

It’s a sad state of affairs. Pages upon pages have been devoted to discuss this issue, yet there remains a considerable number of people who just don't understand: What entails sexual harassment at workplace? Where do you draw the line? When does friendly working relations veer into predatory zone?

A simplistic answer would be to ensure that the office environment is a comfortable one, which can be recommended to other female family members.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case in Pakistan. A lot needs to still be done. A lot more voices need to be raised against such predatory antics that target professional women.

With this flush of news and entertainment channels mushrooming around in our media landscape, women have been provided with greater opportunities to join the workforce. Yet, in many instances, they are hired primarily as merely eye candy, or in local parlance, ‘Dil pishori’.

Recently, the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) had a similar case where one of their anchorpersons accused a colleague of being inappropriate. The organizational ethics committee, which was mandated to investigate the matter and penalize the perpetrator, failed to do their job dutifully and honestly. Under pressure from higher authorities, they buckled and settled the matter behind closed doors.

Let me give you a hypothetical example. Here is an imaginary FAQ with myself as the victim of harassment:

Q.1: Why didn’t you quit your job when you were subjected to harassment

Why should I quit my job? What would I do even if I do leave the job? Who will pay for my son’s school fees, or bear household expenses, or my father’s medical treatment? We all have financial needs and that’s why we work.

Q.2: Why are you reporting harassment only now? We’ve seen you being friendly with him.

Why does it matter if I was socially cordial with him or attended his family events? None of it gives anyone any right to act inappropriately. It remains my decision who I choose to go out with, when I go out and when I don’t.

Q.3: Don’t you think your clothes are provocative and attract male attention?

I don’t dress to please anybody. Being fashionable is not a crime. Shalwar Kameez is not the only fashion choice we have. Besides, I have never judged how my male colleagues dress up at work.

These questions, posed above, and many other highlight the lack of context these ethical committees have. Only a woman can truly explain what harassment is, and to each, there are different limits. We all should understand that professional disagreements do not fall under harassment.

I too was a victim of harassment. I resigned from my first job and thought of never going back simply because I wasn’t allowed a fair chance to speak up. After my resignation, a senior colleague met me for coffee to request that I reconsider my decision. During the conservation, he added that my father too wanted me to rejoin but told him to not reveal this nugget of information to me.

It is unbearably painful when you face such difficulties at workplace and yet you have to continue working because of household pressures. Thankfully, I managed to continue working, continue fighting and have found success. As for the senior colleague, well, he is a no one today.