Half the sky

Chairman Mao said in one of his famous proclamations that women hold up half the sky. Not so in Pakistan where, it seems, women are prevented from doing any such thing, except instead to sit at home and mind the children besides cooking and cleaning.

The media is no exception. Despite great strides made in journalism, in 2012 it was estimated by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) that the number of working women in the profession was about 5 per cent.

There are a number of reasons for this. Much has to do with our mindsets as women are actively discouraged from reporting. In many media houses, women reporters are paid less. They are not given adequate transportation arrangements. There is no training on their safety in the field. No wonder there are so few.

When we launched this paper, a senior colleague from an Urdu-language daily insisted that we don’t hire women. He said that they all get married and then “the only thing they want to do in the evenings is to go home.”

Our experience has been different. Our newsroom is possibly the most diverse in terms of gender. Women are in positions of authority and of those who left, many went to positions of more responsibility. And it has made for a better paper. Mostly because of women reporters.

In general, however, for women journalists, the level of harassment at the workplace is nothing compared to what they have to face on a daily basis in the field. Rabia Ali, one of our star reporters who currently reports on the MQM, speaks of some of these challenges. From pushing and shoving while covering rallies to instances where she has seen women who have been cornered and physically attacked. It’s a jungle out there.

Rabia says that the MQM and the Jamaat-e-Islami rallies are the two places where women reporters are at their safest. When covering rallies of other parties, women reporters simply stand behind their male colleagues as there is no other way to do their work. There is safety in numbers and journalists protect each other.

What is encouraging is that the number of women in the field continues to grow. And they are breaking new ground and dispelling stereotypes.

One recalls the words of Shamim Bano, who has worked as a reporter for almost two decades. When told at a Jamaat-e-Islami rally to go into the women’s enclosure, Shamim Bano replied: “I am not a woman, I am a journalist.” This is the spirit that we need to encourage.

And yet discrimination need not come from outside. Xari Jalil was possibly the first female crime reporter I hired. Her male colleagues told SHOs as well as police high-ups not to cooperate with her. But Xari continued to work and finally did some great stories.

Who can forget my colleague Zulekha Ali who did a number of exposes on the building mafia in the ‘90s. Sadly she died in a swimming accident at the prime of her career. The list of women reporters is endless.

There is a saying that what men do, women can do better. One example of this was the reporting done by Saba Imtiaz as a reporter who covered the DHA rape case in 2011. The male crime reporter didn’t even bother reporting the details, saying that since they were women of questionable character, it couldn’t even be considered rape. That is when Saba was assigned the story and she did justice to it by highlighting the plight of the victims.

It is important for us to continue to push for more women reporters in the field as there are many stories that only women can do better as they sometimes gain unfettered access.

Women should also not be restricted to the “women’s beat” as no such beat exists. Put them in any area and chances are that they will do a better job as compared to their male colleagues.

And yes, the words of the old journalist still ring true some times. Two reporters, Aroosa Masroor, who is remembered for her stories on human rights issues, and Aisha Masood, who diligently reported on the built environment, left the country after their marriages. But then, everyone leaves one day, it can be argued. It’s what they do when here that matters most. We should live by that.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2016.

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