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Protest against arrest of power-loom workers.
workers, led a march of 10,000 strong to demand the release of their leaders
and to continue their struggle for minimum wage.
Women were especially vulnerable at the workplace as they often undertook
hazardous or poorly paid work that did not appeal to many men. They were
overwhelmingly not entitled to maternity leave. Harassment at workplace was
also not uncommon. In January, a vigilance officer of the Punjab Education
Department molested a female schoolteacher. When the teacher filed a complaint
against the man, she was fired. Protests by the Punjab Teachers’ Union led to
the teacher being reinstated and the vigilance officer sacked. This was one of
the rare occasions when a female worker stood resolute to confront her
tormentor. In most such cases, however, women remained silent about the
sexual abuse and harassment they faced for fear of losing their jobs. In addition
to the fact that women are often paid less for the same amount of work
compared to men, the fact that home-based workers are not counted among
the workforce affected women more directly, and deprived them of rights
such as social security benefits and minimum wage, among others. [See the
chapter ‘Women’]
Peasants’ struggle
Pakistan is among those states in the world where feudalism is still rampant
and power is still associated with the ownership of land. Holders of large
tracts of land sit in positions of power and the peasants who seek their rights
from these land holders have little hope of getting justice from state institutions.
The verdict of the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court that land
reforms are un-Islamic has effectively shut the door on judicial recourse for
those seeking or advocating equitable re-distribution of land. This decision
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State of Human Rights in 2012