ISLAMABAD: Celebrating the ‘National Women Working Day’, Lok Virsa Executive Director on Thursday said women’s contribution in carrying on traditions and the richness of culture had not been fully acknowledged.
“I want to acknowledge the women working in occupations associated with our traditional cultures. We have women who are potters, those who weave, teach in remotest villages, poets, writers, folklorists, sufis, folk singers, those who do the meena kari on lacquered wood, embroider shawls, make clothes, knot carpets. But when you say farmer you think of a man, when you use the word potter you think of a man”, she maintained.
These women often remain invisible to the public as they work as artists and crafts persons and in many other traditional and non-traditional jobs, she said, adding, “I also want to acknowledge the work that women do on the domestic front, playing a significant role in nurturing life and maintaining family networks. In both professional and domestic roles, women not only face lack of recognition but also harassment and discrimination”.
The National Working Women’s Day is an opportunity for us to ensure that their contribution is recognized and impediments addressed.
Lok Virsa has invited representative artisans who work with their hands. Women who carve wood, embroider, make dolls, paint, and do paper machie, and weave, all the while passing on our traditional treasures and more importantly, our cultural identity to our next generation. Pakistani women have been spinning the thread and weaving the fabric of life for a long time.
After passing the legislation against sexual harassment in March 2010, the then Prime Minister announced December 22, as the working women’s day to ensure that the contributions of working women to Pakistani society are made visible as well as any harassment, discrimination or any other issues faced by working women should get attention.
The date December 22, comes from filing of the first big sexual harassment case in Pakistan. This case was filed on December 22, 1997 by 11 women against persistent sexual harassment in the offices of the United Nations.
The women won their case after a lengthy struggle in August of 1999. Those were the days when efforts to oppose sexual harassment was badly stigmatized. Women were always criticized for raising their voice. Things have improved after the legislation was put in place. Now at least the issue has been criminalized and a solution has been offered. Every provincial government has taken concrete steps to improve the conditions of working women.
Lok Virsa stands committed to facilitating the recognition and empowerment of working women in the field of traditional culture. Not only we have invited some women that are in the occupations connected to traditional culture but is also acknowledging women working at Lok Virsa. I hope that the country recognizes and improves the conditions of all working women in the offices, in the agricultural fields, in hospitals, in schools, as traditional birth attendants, as artisans, as artists. And I hope women cut into many new occupational fields as we expand our traditional roles.”
