The state and the society must work hand in hand to ensure harassment free educational space.
Junaid Sharif
Since the birth of civilization in the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia, the daughters of eve have suffered unmitigated atrocities. Today, one of those serious atrocities that the women face is harassment. So far so that this criminal act has entered the educational space across Sindh and Pakistan. Notably, the problems of harassment range from lack of awareness, weakness in implementation of harassment laws and societal stress. The solutions like legal aid, awareness and support to the affected are vital to ensure the harassment free educational space. In short, it’s a high time to evaluate harassment at the educational space, with the light being shed on its problems and a roadmap being chalked out to wipe out this misogynistic act.
To begin with, the problems of harassment that women face in educational institutes are multifaceted. One, young females in educational institutes lack awareness about the harassment and strategies to cope with it. Second, the weakness of harassment laws in the educational space is another problem to be reckoned with. Third, young females face social pressure and stress to talk about harassment experiences. In short, the problems of harassment in the educational space are manifold and multidimensional.
Read: Unsafe Sanctuaries: How Harassment In Pakistani Libraries Undermines Women’s Education
Moving to the solutions that are indispensable to address this antihuman practice, the first thing that comes to the mind providing the remedy of legal aid to those affected by harassment. These young girls in educational space must be given free and fair legal aid within educational space. Second, young females should have awareness about the harassment laws and the mechanism to use them. Third, young females who experience harassment must get support and motivation in family and society to defeat this criminal act rampant in educational space across Sindh and Pakistan. Hence, harassment at educational space can be conquered by these actionable means.
The women have faced problems since the millenniums but the problem of harassment at educational space is a novel dangerous one. The forward march of civilization and its heyday in Sindh and Pakistan cannot be realized without feminine access to ‘harassment free educational space.’ The state and the society must work hand in hand to ensure harassment free educational space.
Read: Gender Harassment in Academic Institutions
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Junaid Sharif, based in Hyderabad, has dome Masters in English Literature. He writes articles for English and Sindhi dailies. Currently, he is working as a subeditor and reporter at a Sindhi newspaper in Hyderabad. Email: junaidsharif2016@gmail.com.
