ISLAMABAD: The country has yet to do more to empower women, journalist Tanzila Mazhar said, who had resigned from the state run TV channel as protest just on the reason that authorities allegedly failed to acknowledge female harassment as a crime in real means. While talking exclusively to Daily Times, Tanzila Mazhar said commemorating any such kind day for women nationally or internationally, does not prove the acceptance of their equality in the patriarchy society until each mind admits this reality practically that women empowerment is a foremost issue in our society wherein the woman who speaks against any discrimination would dactyl gram by men for victim-shaming. Mazhar was one of atypical blunt ladies of the country who raised her voice against the man who was harassing her while working in a state run TV channel. She along with another female colleague had resigned from the channel as protest because her abuser was reinstated against the same post after sacking him over the crime. The accused was sacked by an inquiry committee constituted by information ministry over a gigantic criticism by media. Mazhar claimed that she would appreciate it if the channel terminated the abuser over the harassment charges. “Actually the authorities keep them away from admitting this fact that women harassment has been done,” she said, adding that this was not the way to set a precedent for the future if the channel would punish the accused for his actual crime which was harassment. She said our system still not support women despite the passage of some laws in this regard. “The girl who stands against unequal approaches is blamed for her conduct, her dressing and faces numerous other such allegations,” she added. The government of Pakistan has passed some laws to appropriate defense of women rights. It also had established a department known as National Commission on Status of Women through an act in 2012 with exclusive mandate to address overwhelming issues of women. However, experts said the commission did nothing to devise any certain kind of policy in this regard, adding that it merely shrunk to holding seminars and conferences. So far, the government has passed two laws separately against sexual harassment. Human rights activist Dr Farzana Bari told this correspondent that the implementation of these laws was our next challenge for effective results. “To accept such laws in sprit, create awareness among all the segments. Training and a comprehensive policy was direly needed to exercise devised laws for women protection,” she suggested. According to the documents available with Daily Times, over 51,000 cases of women violence have been registered with different relevant forums in the last six years. A total of 17,000 cases of female harassment were reported in the same period. The documents suggest that most of these cases consist of domestic violence. Other such cases were those of honour killing, acid throwing, setting on fire, etc. Apart from these registered cases, the experts said, many other remain unreported. The International Women’s Day is a worldwide event that celebrates women’s achievements from the political front to the social front. It has been observed since the early 1900s and is now recognised each year on March 8. The day is marked around the world with artistic performances, discussions, rallies, networking events, conferences and marches. Gender parity is not the only problem of Pakistan but, according to Global Gender Gap report published by the World Economic Forum in recent, it is a worldwide issue. The report revealed that 144 countries have been found victim of this overwhelming issue and Pakistan was on number 143 while Iceland stood on top in gender parity issue. The report revealed that it may take another 217 years to close the economic gender gap globally. It added that many countries are currently failing to reap the returns from their investment in female education. In addition, too few countries are preparing to meet the challenges and harness the gender parity opportunities posed by the changing nature of work. Published in Daily Times, March 8th 2018.