PukhtunWomen

Documentary to be launched today

By Shahina Maqbool
3/8/2008
Islamabad

Aside from low literacy rates and lack of access to vocational skills and other productive resources, one of the key issues for low labor force participation of women in Pakistan, are the constraints on their physical mobility. A creatively produced documentary portraying the major issues being faced by workingwomen while they commute from homes to their workplaces will be launched today (Saturday) at the Women’s Day event being organized by the International Labour Organisation.

Produced by Samar Minallah, a research anthropologist and filmmaker specializing in the use of the electronic media to bring about social change, the documentary highlights those physical and emotional episodes that discourage women from working and hence, put them in the back seat of employment.

The documentary has been produced as part of the Women Employment Concerns and Working Conditions (WEC-PK) Project being implemented by ILO with funds from CIDA. The project aims to enhance the quality and quantity of women’s employment in Pakistan.

The primary objective of the documentary is to create public awareness and sensitization on problems faced by working women while traveling from home to workplace; to highlight the physical and emotional torture that women face while traveling in public transport; to identify potential stakeholders who can support working women in enhancing their physical mobility; and of course, to highlight the ground realities related to women’s physical mobility.

Even though women play an important role in economic development, their majority lacks the means to free themselves from the grips of poverty. And the problem is seen as not one of exclusion but of invisibility. Women’s physical mobility is dependent on societal norms and cultural notions of honor. The fear of sexual harassment further prevents them from pursuing larger goals in life including education and employment. Sadly, the nature of the transportation system in Pakistan has not been looked upon as a factor for women’s participation in economic development.

The video shows glimpses of bus rides that workingwomen experience every day to reach their workplaces. The problems range from domination of the women’s section of the bus by men, to exchange of harsh words because of the unbecoming attitude of men.