Karachi:Two female teachers of a well-reputed private school in Nazimabad who reported incidents of frequent sexual harassment of female students of class seven and eight to the school administration, are now being harassed themselves, The News learnt on Thursday.
According to reliable sources in the school, during one of their combined lectures on sexual abuse and harassment two weeks ago, the two teachers (who refused to reveal their identity) learnt that some female students of the school were being harassed by two of their male teachers during computer class. When the teachers tried to register a complaint with the school principal, he initially refused to take action, warning them (teachers) about their (male teachers) affiliation with an influential political party. However, on receiving persistent complaints the teachers were suspended.
Both the teachers now complain of insecurity and suspect that after the incident, they are being harassed by the accomplices of the male teachers, who have been threatening them through phone calls. “One of the teachers, who is unmarried and uses the public transport to commute to and fro from the school, fears her life and honour is at stake,” said the source.
The teacher feels she is being stalked from the bus-stop to her home as well. On the other hand, the second teacher who is married and also uses the public transport complained of harassment in the public bus when an unknown man seated behind her in the bus tried to pull her scarf down.
While the second teacher has no option but to continue with the job to support her family financially, the other teacher is considering leaving the job. However, according to the rules of the school administration, a teacher cannot quit in the middle of an academic session.
The administration has instead offered her to switch from the co-education campus (where she is teaching currently) to an all-girls campus of the school in North Nazimabad. However, the administration of the other campus is hesitant to hire the teacher after the incident fearing harassment of more teachers in their school.
Source: The News
Date:10/5/2007
