In this day and age-the female gender is still stigmatised and discriminated against. The hurdles females o face on a recurring basis starting from home, to the workplace, to public transport and education; are uncalled for and demeaning. Why are females who are equally qualified as their male counterparts, if not more in certain cases — still paid less than the males appointed at the same or lower positions? Females’ dress code is still something that most males consider they can dictate, and become an arbitrary power to question and sanction the appropriateness of. The male misogynistic attitude is increasing, and there seems to be no end to the authoritarianism which certain males divinely consider to be bestowed on them. Most males still dehumanise the female gender and consider them as objects to gratify their desires, when need be. What gives a person an authority in general to dictate someone on their personal choices? Why get into someone’s personal space and act as a judge and a dictator, wanting for the others to conform to your thought process? Who gives a right to some stranger to force down their thoughts or morality on someone? Why do some males still consider themselves as an authority to dictate females — about what is right and wrong — when they think that they can personally commit whatever immoral act they want, just because they are of the ‘male gender?’ They are propositioned with derogatory questions, as if their personal life is not personal anymore, and if it has been a number of years for them to come forward, the legitimacy of their account is questioned outright; without giving thought to the predicament or the ostracisation they already face How can most men consider themselves to be better than their female equivalent? I understand that because of the differences in the physicality and other aspects, men are bestowed with more physical strength than females in general, but when it comes to the other aspects of life how can a female not equally excel at a certain task if not be better than her male counterpart? If a female is given a chance and has put in the desired effort to be equally educated compared to a male or even more in certain cases, why is she still valued less and why is her advice and knowledge still considered as below to that of the male equivalent in position or knowledge? Why do certain men consider themselves to know more or justify the partial treatment of the female gender? To target females and consider themselves as their dominant figures has to end. There will always be tasks that men will continue to outperform women at, but when it comes to the workplace and education, some men should clearly take a step backwards and get into some deep introspection with their attitudes in general. Sex discrimination, retaliation, and other workplace violations are deeply rooted in societies around the globe. Unequal pay and promotion might seem as minor offences, when compared to sexual assaults, but the inequality in pay and power gives the men unchecked economic control over the women’s lives and leads to an influence over their physical lives. The subtler forms of discrimination lead to much graver problems. Vast majority of women in the workforce are told they are too belligerent in the office,they are excluded from important meetings and events because of their gender;their opinions are not given due diligence to and are ignored outright in certain cases,and have to go through uncalled for unwanted sexual advances on a daily basis. The advances are made by their superiors,and women do not report these advances as they fear retaliation. The hostile climate for women is due to mostly male dominated organisations. Male superiors in most organisations are fed with the stigma and notion that they can get away with any lewd behaviour,and considering the loopholes in our justice system,and the difficulty faced by any female to bring forward her complaint,most remain quiet for the remainder of their lives,without even mentioning the harassment to their folks. If a female is to report the harassment to the higher management,assuming that the perpetrator of such lewd behaviour might get punished-she is met with silence and if she persists,threats to fire her out for making too many complaints is not uncommon. Women are often harassed or made to feel ashamed for speaking openly,while the alleged harassers evade serious inspection ;due to their political influence(if belonging to a party)or power in an organisation. Only women who gather up all their courage and muster the strength to go public with the harassment are listened to,and they are still not given due diligence to. They are faced with extreme criticism and the lives of their loved one’s is made public. They are propositioned with derogatory questions, as if their personal life is not personal anymore, and if it has been a number of years for them to come forward, the legitimacy of their account is questioned outright; without giving thought to the predicament or the ostracisation they already face, with the mindset prevalent. It takes a lot of courage for any person to go public with the ordeal they have faced in their life, and for the female gender, it is a task with a tremendous amount of scrutiny and backlash. Women — who go public with their story — have an idea of the storm that is brewing up and despite all the odds placed against them, but those who go public are the real troopers. Instead of being heard and given sympathy, they are all of a sudden dropped to the lowest stratum in our society. The writer is a corporate lawyer and an alumnus of SOAS, University of London. He can be reached at sami@samishahpartners.com Published in Daily Times, December 7th 2017.