Mary James Gill has been working in the Center of Law and Justice as a lawyer and former legislator, raising a voice and fighting for the rights of the underprivileged. Recently, she has dedicated her work towards promoting awareness and dignity for those who provide janitorial services for a living in Pakistan.
It’s unfortunate that within Pakistan, janitorial work is highly stigmatized and reserved for individuals from low-income social classes. These janitors work in highly unhygienic, and often life-threatening, working conditions. Every year, thousands of people in Pakistan lose their lives in gutters and manholes, due to exposure to poisonous gases and unhygienic waste materials. They don’t have access to safety equipment and supplies. They are at constant risk of developing diseases such as hepatitis, smallpox, rabies, influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus and tuberculosis. No form of compensation is given to the workers in terms of medical or safety assistance.
Fighting for their lives, these individuals deserve far more credit than they’re given. The very survival of our cities’ infrastructure and sewage systems is dependent upon these heroes. On top of this, they along with their families suffer stigma, shame, name calling and avoidance of physical contact as they’re not considered an equal part of society.
The Sweeper Heroes campaign is a conjunction of “super” and “sweeper”, that aims to improve the dignity and safety of these heroic workers in Pakistan. In order to achieve this goal, Mary in association with the Pakistan-U.S. Alumni Network (PUAN) began a four-month campaign on social media that was organized to challenge the perception of general public about sweepers, stating that they are not ‘outcasts’ but actually heroes. Multiple training and awareness workshops were conducted with sweepers alongside a study, with the aim to shed light on their issues and how to break the stereotype altogether. These detailed trainings included focus group discussions, empowerment and safety workshops and stigma breaking campaigns, which were further supported by advocacy meetings held with parliamentarians and policymakers to change the laws and help them get the necessary protection and human rights. Approximately 100 sweepers were benefited directly and 30,000 indirectly from the project, which took place in Lahore. This unique social media campaign has positively affected thousands of sweepers and millions other stigmatized as ‘untouchables.’
The campaign has been successful to the extent that it has gained coverage on BBC Urdu, to further promote the initiative on a greater platform in order to gain maximum outreach from the masses. The campaign received a lot of support and appreciation from citizens of all ages and fields, who are proudly commending these heroes as they should’ve been encouraged from the start. A local, Aniq Naji shared her remarks saying:
“Wow! Thank Allah that we have people now finally recognizing the real heroes of ever day life”.
The appreciation was shown not just from the general public but also high-profile individuals. Actress Nadia Jamil shared her sentiments on Twitter with the hashtag #SelfiewithaSuperHero, saying:
“Ye Cheez! I am my own sweeper but shall look around the city and definitely post one with a superhero once I get to Lahore”.
We applaud each real-life superhero in Pakistan and also around the globe and also commend Mary for her efforts to highlight the plight of this segment of our society. To learn more, read Mary’s report on ‘Shame and Stigma in Sanitation’.
