Pakistan’s economy cannot grow while women remain unsafe, excluded | The Express Tribune

ISLAMABAD:

No economy can grow while half its population remains unsafe, unseen, or silenced. Women’s protection is not just a moral or legal concern; it is an economic necessity. Pakistan’s ongoing challenge in ensuring women’s dignity translates directly into lost productivity, declining labour force participation, and weakened competitiveness.

The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010, was Pakistan’s first national effort to create safer workplaces, requiring organisations to adopt codes of conduct and inquiry committees. The Act defined harassment narrowly, focusing primarily on sexual misconduct in formal workplace settings. The 2022 Amendment slightly expanded coverage to include freelancers, domestic workers, virtual spaces, and gender discrimination.

Yet both laws share the same structural limitation: they presume formal employment, internal committees, and HR mechanisms. For the majority of women in informal, home-based, or field work, these protections remain theoretical —the law exists, but they do not.

With female labour force participation hovering around 21-22%, Pakistan ranks among the lowest in South Asia. Safety, mobility, and social constraints prevent most women from joining or remaining in the workforce, highlighting both a social and economic blind spot.

The narrow legal definition of harassment leaves broader forms of gender-based hostility, ridicule, or exclusion unacknowledged. In Nadia Naz v President of Pakistan (2021 SCMR 1004), the Supreme Court interpreted the law narrowly, addressing only sexual harassment. This reduces a structural social problem to isolated incidents and masks the economic consequences of women exiting workplaces out of fear or marginalisation.

Reactive institutions, failing prevention

The law is complaint-driven, assuming women can safely report, have access, and possess the courage to come forward. In reality, stigma, retaliation, and job insecurity deter most victims. Over 1,300 workplace harassment complaints in the past 10 months signal growing awareness but not prevention. True success lies not in case numbers but in deterrence – creating workplaces and economic spaces where women feel safe enough to participate and thrive.

Battlefield beyond the office

Pakistan’s real challenges lie far beyond office walls: in homes, classrooms, markets, and digital platforms. Domestic workers harassed in private homes, commuters abused on buses, and freelancers targeted online all face fragmented or absent redress mechanisms.

Sensationalist media further corrodes societal respect for women. Dramas and viral social media content normalise vulgarity, trivialise trauma, and promote perverted narratives that erode collective moral standards. Young girls working or playing in streets, shops, and schools remain invisible, unprotected, and exposed to exploitation.

Economic power

The Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) and the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) are mandated to protect women’s rights and promote gender equality. The NCSW reviews laws and policies, while the MoHR monitors international treaty compliance and legislation.

Yet both bodies remain largely reactive, focusing on monitoring and reporting rather than designing proactive policies that integrate women as economic actors. Protection exists on paper, but empowerment as a driver of growth is largely absent.

Adjudication is not enough: safety as economic policy

Treating harassment purely as a legal offence misses its economic dimension. Every woman who exits the workforce due to fear represents lost skills, productivity, and income. The World Bank estimates that closing Pakistan’s gender gap could boost GDP by billions annually.

Prevention is not charity; it is sound economic strategy. It requires education, ethical media, credible institutions, and workplace reforms that build confidence rather than fear. Dignity must become a measurable policy goal, not just a statutory promise.

Exclusion is not just moral; it is economic. Each woman who leaves work or remains silent diminishes productivity, diversity, and national growth. Pakistan ranks 148 out of 148 countries in the World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report 2024 – a statistic that should have triggered a national emergency.

A nation that sidelines its women sidelines its economy. When women feel unsafe, they withdraw from workplaces, markets, and public spaces, silently draining GDP, innovation, and social capital. Dignity is not a human-rights luxury; it is an economic foundation.

Islam enshrines women’s honour and safety as collective duties, not administrative formalities. The Constitution mirrors this moral economy: Article 25 guarantees equality, Article 34 mandates participation, and Article 35 protects family dignity. Pakistan’s international commitments reinforce this duty.

A society that dishonours half its workforce defies both faith and Constitution. Upholding women’s dignity is not only justice; it is survival and progress.

Building dignity in the economy

1-Legal and economic reorientation: Pakistan needs an expanded Gender-Based Harassment and Violence Law covering all work contexts – formal, informal, and digital. Harassment must include gender-hostile, exclusionary, or intimidating conduct.

2-Institutional integration: Link protection systems with labour departments, ICT regulators, and social protection agencies. One-window Gender Justice Desks at provincial and district levels can provide streamlined access for women.

3-Cultural and preventive reform: Shift national discourse from “protection at work” to “dignity everywhere.” Reform media codes, train employers and informal-sector associations, and embed prevention into public- and private-sector performance metrics.

4-Economic empowerment: Simplify access to finance, banking services, and entrepreneurship programmes for women. Provide information, advisory services, and targeted support to integrate women into value chains.

5-Gender-responsive budgeting: Ensure fiscal resources reflect the scale of the challenge and prioritise women’s economic inclusion.

From law to livelihood

Pakistan’s Protection against Harassment Act was visionary in 2010. By 2025, it must evolve into a Dignity and Equality Law – one that sees women as citizens whose safety fuels growth, not merely as victims needing rescue.

Women’s safety is not a side issue; it is economic policy. The transition Pakistan needs is from legalism to justice, adjudication to prevention, and compliance to culture-building. When dignity enters the economy, progress ceases to be selective and becomes truly inclusive.

The writer is a policy economist, former senior civil servant, and an advocate for gender-inclusive economic reforms