Though a lot of measures are already in place to secure women rights in the country, a concrete strategy is urgently needed to implement the respective laws at ground level. The government had been endeavouring to safeguard women from incidents of acid throwing, harassment, domestic violence and honour killing, said an official of Ministry of Human Rights while talking to APP here on Sunday.
Elaborating on these laws, he said the Women in Distress and Detention Fund Act 2011 had been enacted to provide funds and assistance to the following categories of women including women in detention, disabled women, deserving women suffering from serious ailments or those who were in distress and needed medical aid, burn cases, distressed women and their minor children in need of shelter, women seriously maltreated by their husbands, similar cases of grave distress and legal help to women in detention or distress.
Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act 2011, commonly known as Acid Control and Acid Crime Act, had been enacted in 2011 to provide protection to women against incidents of defacing through acid throwing, he added.
The official said the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2010 was an amendment in the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 in clause 509.
This amendment added a clear definition of any kind of harassment and articulated that this behaviour, may it have happened at the workplace, markets, streets or home, was a crime and was punishable by law, he added.
The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010 required that all public and private organisations had to adopt an internal code of conduct and to establish complaint/appeals mechanism aimed at providing a safe working environment which was free of intimidation and abuse for employees, especially women.
Furthermore, the HR ministry official said the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2004 made changes in the existing criminal law to deal effectively with incidents of honour killing (Karo-kari).
Moreover, he said that the Protection of Women (Criminals Laws Amendment) Act 2006 had been enacted to provide relief and protection to women against misuse and abuse of law and to prevent their exploitation.
To address the issue of Domestic Violence in the Federally Administrated Territory, the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill 2012 that was moved by Senator Nilofer Bakhtiar in
February and was supported by the human rights ministry. Similar legislation would also address the issue of domestic violence at Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) level, the HR ministry official stated.
He also informed that a draft of Domestic Violence (Criminal Law Amendment) Bill 2012 had been prepared by the National Commission on the Status of Women, adding that the proposed bill was aimed to amend the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP).
