Pakistani Police Sex Scandal

From the Times of India:

Authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province have suspended five women police personnel and launched a probe following allegations that they were involved in a sex racket.

The scandal has rocked the women's police department and officials fear the issue will make it more difficult for newcomers to join the force in a conservative society.

The matter came to light when Inspector Shafia Bakhat, believed to be the head of the racket, "dispatched" two women constables for duty at the residence of an officer of the Lahore Development Authority.

The constables found three "customers" waiting for them at the officer's home, police sources said. When the women constables refused to do the bidding of the officer and his friends, they were allowed to leave but warned that they should not raise an alarm.

However, the women constables reported the matter to the station house officer in Sabzazar police station and he subsequently informed his superiors.

Lahore's SSP (Operations) Shafiq Ahmed suspended Shafia Bakhat and four other women police personnel for alleged involvement in the racket. He also directed SSP (Coordination) Imran Arshad to investigate the matter and submit his findings at the earliest.

According to the initial findings, Inspector Bakhat was involved in the racket for several years. A couple of years ago, she was suspended on similar charges but was reinstated owing to her "strong connections with police high-ups", sources said.

"Shafia targets women police personnel from remote areas with poor family backgrounds. She has a strong network backed by senior police officers and journalists," a source said.

The findings of the probe indicated that she was in league with other persons in Lahore. "Shafia's network uses the codeword 'duty' for such assignments and the same landed her in trouble when she wrongly sent a SMS to personnel who were not part of her network for performing duty at the Lahore Development Authority officer's house," a source said.

Inequality In The Workforce

Are women being unfairly treated in the workplace when it comes to promotion and / or demotion??

Take, for example, a recent story from Baltimore, USA where a woman claims she has not only been discriminated against due to her sex but also her race. Are we still in the cycle of sexism and racism in the workplace??? Have we not yet risen above gender and racial inequality???

The Examiner reports that Rene Swafford was demoted from her local government position due not only to her gender but her race. Swafford claims that the racism is obvious from the fact that many of her duties were given to "a white employee". Swafford also alleges that here appointment was resented and that efforts to carry out her duties in a satisfactory manner were being thwarted.

Yet the County counters Swafford's arguements by commenting that approximately "18 percent of the county government’s 45 top level positions are black, and 62 percent are women". So why is Swafford's not the only case being investigated???

Whilst a Utopian society of gender and racial equality is not a current reality, surely it cannot be that far off.