A BBC investigation reveals that women working in hospitals in Pakistan say that they regularly face sexual harassment, violence, and verbal abuse from male colleagues, patients, and their families.The abuse largely remains hidden, as many are too afraid to come forward to report the crimes fearing of losing their jobs, their “honor and respect.”
In a hospital in Karachi, a few months ago, a young doctor came to Dr. Nusrat, the head of the hospital (not her real name), crying. The young doctor fell victim to illegal filming while using the bathroom as a male colleague recorded her and then blackmailed her using the footage.
“I suggested she filed a complaint with the FIA [Federal Investigation Agency, which deals with cybercrimes], but she refused.” She said she didn’t want it to leak and reach her family or her in-laws,” Dr. explained. Nusrat, adding that she is aware of at least three other cases where female doctors have been recorded secretly and blackmailed.
Dr. Nusrat knew a senior police officer who spoke with the blackmailer, warning him that he could be arrested for what he had done. The police officer made sure the video was deleted.But how can this be enough since he didn’t get any punishment ?
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t take further measures, but we covered the hole so that no one can do it again,” says Dr. Nusrat.Other women shared experiences of sexual harassment, including Dr. Aamna (not her real name), who was a medical intern at a public hospital five years ago when she was a victim of harassment by her superior, a powerful man.
“When he saw me with a file in my hand, he would try to lean over it, make inappropriate comments, and touch me,” she says. She filed a complaint with the hospital administration, but says she was met with indifference. “They told me that I had only been there for a short time and asked what proof I had of this harassment.” “It seems, therefore, that even educated women in Pakistan are treated like children whose words are not taken seriously by anyone.No matter how many accusations are made against a male doctor or male nurse, the harasser is simply transferred to another ward for a few months and then returns.
It is pointless to discuss whether women in Pakistan are subjected to a continuous abuse of their individual rights. Girls and women face regular violence for various reasons in Pakistan, which ranks the country three places above the last position in the Global Gender Gap Index of the World Economic Forum for 2024.
Women in Pakistan are vulnerable to sexual harassment everywhere. Pink buses exclusively for women have started being used since 2021, where they can travel undisturbed away from unappropriate act of men.In Pakistan, women provoke harassment just by their existence, which is why their natural habitat was considered to be the home until now. Hadia Majid, an associate professor at the University of Lahore, considers that the pink buses are a positive step towards encouraging more women to work, as the risk of commuting has contributed to the low percentage of women in Pakistan’s workforce.Indicative of the situation is that in 2024, women constituted 20.6% of the country’s workforce. “If there is no absolute necessity, it is easier and preferable for women to stay at home,” Majid said.
Unfortunately, Pakistan is not the only country creating difficult living conditions for women. While China is following a frenzied pace of industrial growth, it is culturally bringing patriarchy out of the closet.Xi Jinping spoke about fertility and family. “We should actively promote a new type of marriage and childbearing culture,” he said, encouraging representatives to “tell good stories about family traditions.” This is in line with his conservative view of society. In the past, he had spoken about the importance of “good wives and mothers” and promoted patriarchal social norms.
There is something quite cynical about Xi Jinping’s vision, says Olivia Cheung from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.”Basically, Xi Jinping sees women like everyone else in China: primarily as a risk to be controlled and as a resource to be harnessed for the achievement of China’s dream.”
Intense discussion and reactions have been stirred up by an unacceptable lesson on sexual harassment at a middle school in southern China. Among other things, there was a strong categorization of the victims.
The school, located in the city of Zhaoqing in Guangdong province, had conducted the “mental health education” class last year – equivalent to sex education – according to Chinese state media People’s Daily. But the photos of the teaching material only began circulating this month.
In the material given to the students, it appears they write that victims of sexual harassment “suffer because they dress provocatively and flirt.” It is added that “girls should not wear transparent or provocative clothes and should avoid frivolous behavior.”
What is happening with women in 2024 as the entire planet seems to increasingly recognize the rights of the LGBTQ community? Instagram is increasingly filled with western unbelievably good looking women who teach people all over the world the value of staying at home and becoming a trad wife.
The current situation in Pakistan ,the current situation in China, what is happening with women in South Sudan who beg soldiers “rape me instead of my daughter” should concern us because if they don’t concern us, the next ones who will be afraid to speak ,afraid to work and afraid to exist will be us Europeans. Perhaps the only accepted role of women in the global collective unconscious is that of a mother, sufficiently lobotomized so that she cannot teach her children to think.
In his book “Prisoners of Geography,” Tim Marshall says the following: “The land we walk on has always defined us.” It determined wars, power, and the political evolution of peoples who now occupy almost every corner of the planet. It may seem that technology has overcome the distances that separate us, both mental and physical, but it is easy to forget that the ground on which we live, work, and raise our children is of immense importance.”We must all together ensure the right of women, the mothers of our children, to think, to hope, and above all, to dignity.
