‘Mindset that women are unequal to men needs to be changed’

KU social sciences dean says women’s role pivotal in country’s development

The mentality that women are not equal to men needs to be changed, said the University of Karachi’s Prof Dr Muhammad Ahmed Qadri on Wednesday.

Terming women “a key part of our society”, Dr Qadri, dean of KU’s Faculty of Social Sciences, stressed that the role of women in the country’s development could not be ignored.

He observed that women working from home made a significant contribution to the national economy, including export earnings, but lamented that their work was undervalued and they were denied any form of legal protection, including the guarantee of a minimum wage or social security benefits.

Dr Qadri was addressing a seminar on ‘Home-based Women Workers: A Legal Perspective’ that was organised in connection with International Women’s Day, observed on March 8 every year around the globe, at KU’s Centre of Excellence for Women’s Studies.

The event was organised in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission, the Sindh Women Development Department and Anjuman Taraqqi-e-Niswan, a non-governmental organisation for the welfare of self-employed women.

Qadri informed the audience that a bill on the rights of working women, titled ‘Home-based Women Workers Social Protection Bill’, was tabled in the National Assembly back in 2007 and had undergone several revisions since then, but, unfortunately, it was yet to be approved.

“There are around 16 million working women in Pakistan who are not recognised as workers under the labour laws, though they are playing an important role in the textile, garments, leather, sports goods and other important industrial sectors.”

Adding to Dr Qadri’s statement, Prof Dr Nasreen Aslam Shah said 95 per cent female home-based workers did not have any legal protection. “Women living in the rural areas of the country are the real game-changers.”

Dr Nasreen, director of the Centre of Excellence for Women’s Studies, stressed that women must be provided a safe atmosphere in which they could get an education as well as fulfil their duties without fear.

“We are lucky that we have hardworking women, but they do not get any reward for their work in society.” She added that violence and child abuse were the major issues of society that needed to be addressed.

The chief guest of the seminar, Sindh Social Welfare Minister Shamim Mumtaz, appreciated the efforts of working women and visited their stalls set up at the event.

At the end of the programme, a book titled ‘Soofi Khawateen’, the fifth volume of the Journal of Applied Social Science and the 14th volume of the Pakistan Journal of Gender Studies were also launched.