Book review: Working with Sharks – challenging silence

Working with Sharks is a riveting account of 11 determined women, who sought to fight back against constant sexual harassment in the offices of the United Nations Development Programme. Author and human rights activist Dr Fouzia Saeed once again writes about a subject many consider to be taboo but this time, she tells her own story. One of the eleven women, Fouzia decided to file a complaint in 1997 after her colleague Tasneem was fired for not reciprocating to senior manager Tarik Khan’s sexual advances. As word silently spread in the office, more and more women began to speak up about how they too had been repeatedly harassed by Tarik’s obscene gestures, phone calls and sexual jokes. The number of complainants kept adding up, but the stories remained the same — the same conversations, the same manner of manipulation and the same pattern of sexual harassment. Finally, after much deliberation, the 11 women, belonging to four different countries, came together and filed a joint complaint against sexual harassment on December 22, 1997 — a day now marked as the National Day for Working Women in Pakistan. The book provides an in-depth look at the complaint and the institutional harassment suffered by the eleven women when UN officials colluded with the perpetrator to crush their case and their spirit. Working with Sharks is as much a story of disappointments as it is of enduring courage. At various points in the book, Fouzia exposes her vulnerabilities, the way she had been touched, her fears and moments of weakness. However, the tone of the book still remains positive, with every little achievement in the case being celebrated. Sometimes it is easy to feel lost in the minute details of the UN’s organisational structure, but the book still remains gripping, especially towards the end. Fouzia has published this book at an important time; around two years after laws against sexual harassment were passed in Pakistan. By providing a personal account, she has made it easier for others to speak up, which may play an essential role in the implementation of the laws. After all, there can always be a ‘Tarik’ lurking around. Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 29th, 2012.