Sexual Harassment Stories and Experiences

Retaliation after I refused to sleep with my boss

Tahira, Pakistan

I am widow with two sons and am a practicing lawyer in Rawalpindi Pakistan. I did my(LL.M) Masters in law from Kings College University of London in 1991. I would like to share my story of sexual harassment at my workplace, and how it has affected me in my life.

I was selected for ******** as a Special Prosecutor in 2002 for 2 yrs with further extension. My boss wanted me to go out with him and share bad with him. I completely refused to do so. He told me that if I didn’t sleep with him then I would be fired from the job. My answer was still the same. So, he started picking on me. Every day he use to torture me .eg. he use to abuse me in front of office staff. He stopped my vacations which I was officially entitled to. He made my life miserable and tried hard to cancel my contact .

One day I got termination of my contract with no reason given at all. I raised the issue with the President of Pakistan and with the chairman of the ****** but nothing happened. The result was not satisfactory as Pakistan is a country dominated by men.

My termination really affected my personal life. I remained under lot of financial and physical pressure. I had to take out my sons from good institutions and was burdened by bank loan. Since then, I decided to do PhD on the sexual harassment issue, and write down my own experience.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 1st, 2007 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, Retaliation, Backlash, and Victim-blaming, Effects of Sexual Harassment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Retaliation after I refused to sleep with my boss”

joanie Says:
February 5th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Tahira you are an incredibly brave and courageous woman for speaking out about your experiences in your native country. The male dominated power structures in the Middle East, religious observation and customs, certainly makes what you are experiencing exceptionally difficult.

You have made incredible sacrifices to protect your honor, dignity and integrity. Your advanced academic work in relation to what you have experienced is remarkable. I hope that you foster a new awareness of this issue in your native land and lead the way for other women in similar circumstances.