In order to convince the managements and employees of firms to abide by sexual harassment laws, Alliance Against Sexual Harassment (AASHA) held a two and a half day Training session on sexual harassment legislation which was concluded on Sunday.
Participants were mixed stakeholders that included Human Rights personnel from international organisations; employees of legal departments; potential inquiry committee members and officials from civilian organisations against gender bias; media personnel and lawyers. The training provided the opportunity for male and female participants to understand the point of view of the opposite gender.
Many participants, especially male, agreed that the point of view of the opposite gender changed their perspective and attitude towards the issue of sexual harassment. Once the participants were clear on what sexual harassment entailed, they were given a detailed session on the two laws promulgated to curb sexual harassment: Protection Against Harassment of Women at Work Place Act 2010, which applies to the formal work sector; and the amendment to section 509 of the Pakistan Penal Code which applies to the public and private sector.
The participants were clarified that even though the name of the legislation was ‘Protection Against Harassment of Women at Work Place Act 2010’, the Act used the word ‘person’ in its text and therefore it applies to men, women, children and even third genders. The participants agreed on the fact that the management of an organisation had a high responsibility to implement the Act in their workplace but it was the responsibility of the employees to ensure that their organisation implemented the law and to take their organisation to court, where the organisation in question would be fined anything from Rs 25,000 to Rs 100,000 in case it was not in compliance with the legislation against sexual harassment.
The participants were also told about the implementation of this law through the National Implementation Watch Committee. The participants all promised to implement the law in their respective organisations.
Even though Pakistan has a law against sexual harassment in the workplace, it will not be effective if women employees do not have access to competent and honest attorneys and women's organisations that are willing to take up their cases. Pakistan's Alliance Against Sexual Harassment [AASHA] lists a large multinational pharmaceutical company Smith Kline Beecham Pakistan, as a "progressive employer" even though the company fired me for filing a sexual harassment complaint against my supervisor. I informed AASHA about it but the organisation neither replied to me nor removed the company's name from its list of "progressive employers." So much for mobilising organisations for victims of sexual harassment. –Asma Siddiqi
Hi Asma,
If you get my reply, can you please contact me at [email protected] regarding what happened with you at your workplace
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