Due to lethargic attitude of the government and absence of implementation of international labour laws in Pakistan, there is about 22 percent female workers of the total women population contributing in gross domestic production and this meagre percentage of female workers is also being forced to work in very pathetic environment.

This was observed by the participants and women activists during the concluding session of a media training workshop on “Reporting gender and labour issues” held here at a local hotel on Thursday. This workshop was organised by Intermedia with the support of International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) aimed at building capacity of journalists to cover themes of gender equality.

The women activists said they believe that the actual number of female workers is even below than 22 percent and in their opinion the cause of such a low number is that laws and international standard are not being implemented and gender inequality and harassment issues are common at workplaces.

Afia Salam, a Karachi based women activist, identified three regions of the country described a triangle of darkness including South Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan and said that women are living in a very vulnerable condition in these areas. She said women have equal qualities but nobody is ready to acknowledge their role. She stressed that we should eliminate the gender inequality for women and encourages them to play their positive role. She said media can highlight the gender and labour issues of women but journalists should follow the media ethics specially during the reporting of sexual harassment cases and they should avoid publishing the victim identity.

Source: Business Recorder