Sexual Harassment: Problems and Challenges Facing Female Working Staff In NGO Sector: A Case Study of Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Women are the core part of society. There are different studies that have shown that women are facing problems in their workplace. It is essential to study those problems and remove them from women's path so, they can help society and the family to have a better future. Thus, this study was conducted to highlight the problems and challenges encountered by working women of NGOs in their workplace. 9 districts of Punjab, Pakistan, were selected for data collection; from these districts, 220 working women of NGOs were selected through multistage sampling. A self-generated questionnaire was used for data collection. The responses were analyzed through SPSS 22 Software. Mean, Standard deviation, and percentages were applied. The reliability of the tool was 0.87. The results of the study discovered that the middle-aged group (25-29) women were most in the job sector. Mostly low-income families and migrant women were facing problems at their workplace. Women were not known of their job-related rights. Ignorance of verbal, non-verbal harassment, greed for rewards, and frank behavior were the reasons for their harassment. On the other hand, stares of male colleagues, unnecessary comments, lame excuses to sit with female colleagues, and delays in women's work so they could have some more time are the challenges of working women at NGOs. The study suggests that women should look after themselves and reporting the sexual harassment could help to reduce these cases.

Keywords: Sexual Harassment, Problems and Challenges, Female Working Staff, NGOs Sector