Tahmena Bokhari, Mrs Pakistan World, and Sonia Ahmed, President of Miss/Mrs. Pakistan World made a very special appearance on October 16th 2010 at the Rally to End Violence Against Women in Markham, Region of York, Ontario, Canada. Seneca Professor Bokhari has been a long time advocate for women and as a social worker, she has worked with victims, abusers, families and communities through counselling sessions, workshops and group work on violence related issues. In addition, Bokhari has a long history working locally as she coordinated the first South Asian-focused Take Back the Nigh March in York Region and she also formerly worked with the Town of Markham on the diversity strategy.
Bokhari stated, "It is important that women take on more positions of leadership, and even in a country like Canada we have a long way to go on this. When we look at male public figures, we hardly ever wonder, ‘Is he a good father? A good husband? What’s he like when he is not in the office?’ But when it comes to women, we often wonder, ‘How will she manage home and work life? What kind of mother and wife is she? What about her morals and values? What is her personality like?’ The expectations we have placed on women regarding their roles in the domestic sphere are just part of the many barriers women face to taking on positions of public leadership. Hence, as we review corporate and public sector hierarchies, we see less and less women near the top.”
Bokhari went on to say, “In addition to this, we must ask ourselves as a society, what is happening in our culture when men in positions of power, authority, public trust and working on tax payer salaries are violating the very values that Canadians are known for around the world. We have town councillors, currently the case in the news about a military man, and we have teachers, police officers and more, all men in positions of trust who have been abusive to women.
Tahmena Bokhari, Mrs Pakistan World, and Sonia Ahmed, President of Miss/Mrs. Pakistan World made a very special appearance on October 16th 2010 at the Rally to End Violence Against Women.
