Pakistan observes extremely low female labor force participation. One of the anticipated reasons behind women’s lagging behind in the economic domain happens to be the prevailing issue of workplace harassment. Harassment in the workplace is the most common form of gender-based violence happening in Pakistani society characterized by patriarchy and gender segregation. When women attempt to join workforce and take economic responsibilities of family in opposite to predominating social norms, they have to suffer several forms of harassment. Harassment in workplace is largely due to unequal power relationship among genders. Workplace nuisance occurs in almost all occupations and industries and makes working environment stressful, damaging, and hostile for women, thus making it difficult for them to achieve their rightful place in the employment sector. Surprisingly, the issue of workplace harassment is not confined to the formal economic sector only, the informal sector witnesses the evil practice of workplace harassment even more. The harassment issues women face in the domestic sector at the domestic level are far more complex and deeply embedded in the system than the harassment issues women face in formal offices, firms, and industries. This shows that the culture of workplace harassment is deep rooted in the Pakistani society, and is normalized largely. Unfortunately, women face harassment of numerous kinds at workplaces. The most common type of harassment at workplace is sexual harassment, women mostly face physical sexual harassment in the form of inappropriate touches, unwelcomed physical contact or suggestive body language, such as touching, patting, pinching, hugging, kissing, or brushing against an individual’s body along with physical coercion or pressure to engage in sexual activity or punishment for a refusal to respond or comply with sexual advances. Moreover, nonverbal sexual harassment is also common in the form of uninvited sexual innuendo, offers,...

The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) severely affected the global and Pakistani economy. One of the major impacts the global pandemic made on the economy was bringing changes in the employment trends. Another startling observation was that the business and entrepreneurship sector were the only sectors that sustained in the face of the global economic and health crisis. The previously flourishing development and services sector suffered the most in such times. As a result, people all across the world started switching to entrepreneurship and initiating their own startups, even at the smallest levels.  The reason behind the increasing trend of entrepreneurship is not only the sustainability and reliability of the sector, but also the ease of doing business. One can start a business even without a formal business education background. “Some of the essentials for entrepreneurship include a tangible and unique business idea, on which one can make a comprehensive, workable business plan”, stated Ms. Tehmina Asad Chaudhry, co-founder INSTA Foods (Pvt) Ltd., while addressing a group of women entrepreneurs at a seminar arranged by Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS). She further added that the plan must be made while being mindful of the goal and vision behind the startup. Another factor significant for a business to flourish is the articulation of a proper roadmap for the execution of the business plan. Moreover knowing your customers, valuing their feedback and demand, proper marketing of goods, and proper allocation and use of revenue and finances are essential for a startup to run successfully. However, in addition to the above-mentioned factors, a lot of smaller yet highly significant factors are present, which are often ignored by all and sundry, which leads to failure of several businesses in their nascent phases. These factors include specifying the main goal of entrepreneurship. Ms. Tehmina Asad Chaudhry stressed that “Entrepreneurship is all...

Gender inequality and gender based violence stand as the most persistent but least recognized human right abuse and a pertinent issue internationally. However, the issue is more evident in under-developed and developing countries. Pakistan, like other regional countries, faces this issue. The cultural and religious setup in Pakistan has legitimized such issues and hence they have become an integral component of our societal setup. Regardless of Pakistan’s progress in the field of economy, several social inequalities seem to persist, particularly gender inequalities. However, Pakistan is making progress in the field of women empowerment and security. In 2018, the world economic forum placed Pakistan as the second worst county in terms of gender equality in its Global Gender Gap Index in 2018, behind Yemen, but the country ranks third-to-last, at number 151, on the 2020 Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI), showing positive progress. The country has been able to lessen the gender gap by 56 per cent, said World Economic Forum (WEF) in its report. The gender gap measures economic participation, professional exposure, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Though Pakistan has shown a good progress in wage equality and on the educational attainment sub index within the last year, still a lot needs to be done in order to ensure gender equality in the country. The first thing that needs to be done in this regard is the normalization of women’s presence in public spaces. As our culture appreciates women’s presence in the homes only and gives public spaces’ ownership to men, it is extremely vital that we observe gender equality in this realm. Public spaces are a shared asset and all the citizens have equal ownership rights on it, so efforts should be made to make women feel safe in public spaces. This can be done by having a better lighting system in cities, improved transportation system, provision of comforts to women e.g. washrooms, nursing...