Social sciences

WORKING WITH SHARKS( Countering Sexual Harassment in Our Lives) (REVIEW) About the author:Dr. Fouzia Saeed(PhD) Lahore, Punjab Province, Pakistan Born: June 3, 1959(1959-06-03) Nationality: Pakistani Occupation: Director, Mehergarh: A Center for Learning;
Member, National Commission on the Status of Women; Member, International Board of Directors, South Asian

Partnership Dr. Saeed earned her PhD from the University of Minnesota, USA, and returned to Pakistan to pursue a career in social change. She has worked for the United Nations and other international development organizations. Her main identity remains her activist work on women's issues, social justice and democracy. She is currently the Director of Mehergarh, human rights

Review:
This book is a first-person, non-fiction, account of a complaint of sexual harassment filed by eleven women against a UN official in Pakistan and the institutional harassment suffered by those women for voicing their complaint when UN officials colluded with the perpetrator to crush their caseand their spirit. Dr Fouzia Saeed, one of the 11 women who filed the complaint with UNDP, has written about the experience in Working with Sharks: Countering Sexual Harassment in Our Lives. The complaint was against a Pakistani male, at the Pakistan office of UNDP. Most of the complainants were also Pakistani, and the cultural context was also Pakistani. But this was not just a Pakistan specific issue.

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Social sciences
It is a revelation to read about the kinds of abuse and harassment these women were subjected to, and that they had to bear, taxis are expensive, public transport is difficult to access and there was lot of harassment when using public transport. At office, in many places, attitudes of co-workers, especially male co-workers, presented a whole cluster of major and important issues, and then there were issues of infrastructure (non-existence of separate facilities such as washrooms), salary equivalence, promotion related issues, and time/flexibility issues. Some could not speak against it due to family reasons, others were afraid of losing jobs that were badly needed, and all of them were also aware of the fact that our society does not hesitate in blaming the victim. The phrase about this being a mans world can clearly be seen from the book. In the end though, the case was won. This was important for the women and for truth. But the case was also important in highlighting all of the issues that women face when they come out to work, and it also highlighted a number of social and attitudinal issues in our society that need to be corrected. Saeed has written a very a taut narrative. Harassment of any sort is unacceptable. But sexual harassment, given the social/societal context we live in, is simply odious and needs to be fought bravely. Saeeds book is an excellent record of how 11 women did exactly that. This case sparked a national movement that culminated in the passage of legislation by the Pakistani Parliament in 2010 making sexual harassment a crime. The Prime Minister of Pakistan declared the 22nd of December, the date the original complaint of this case was launched, as a National Day for Working Women.

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