The issue of sexual harassment remains unaddressed in Pakistan. Working women are most likely to fall victim to the crime in which victims are treated as culprits. What does a working woman do at a crossroads when her two options are either to allow her to be sexually harassed or to lose job if she refuses to comply?
The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act which was signed into law in 2010 was hailed by women rights groups as a milestone in protecting career women from harassment.
The Act made it mandatory for all institutions to have inquiry committees to deal with complaints of sexual harassment. It also recommended the establishment of an office of woman ombudsperson in all provinces that would listen to complaints about harassment at workplaces.
The code of conduct in the Act defines sexual harassment as “any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favours or other verbal or written communication or physical conduct of a sexual nature, or sexually demeaning attitudes, causing interference with work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, or the attempt to punish the complainant for refusal to comply with such a request or is made a condition for employment”. The Act also made it mandatory for all employers to ensure that the code of conduct is displayed in a prominent place in their offices.
HARASSMENT CONTINUES:
While the criminalisation of sexual harassment is a good step forward, not much has changed since the passage of the anti-harassment act. There have been multiple cases of harassment at offices in the recent past. Women continue to face harassment at the hands of male colleagues, as majority of the institutions and their employees have little knowledge of the requirement to have inquiry committees.
Punjab’s Woman Ombudsperson Office for Protection against Harassment at Workplace was established in 2013 and Mira Phalibus was appointed as the first ombudswoman. Not many people are aware that such a body exists.
The working women who are sexually harassed by their seniors usually have no idea what to do. Resignation does not always help, especially when there are reference letters to be acquired and future job to be worried about.
The office of ombudswoman enjoys the powers equal to that of civil courts and has the authority to dismiss the accused from post if he is found guilty of harassment.
Employees of an institution can reach out to the ombudsperson with complaint of harassment, and the accused is issued a written show cause notice. If the accused does not reply to the notice within five days, the ombudswoman may proceed ex-parte.
Pakistan Today spoke to the current Woman Ombudsperson of Punjab Farkhanda Waseem to get a better idea of how the whole process works.
Explaining the procedure, Farkhanda said: “After a complaint of sexual harassment is received, we issue show cause notice to the accused. Sometimes the institutions complain why we served show cause without checking if the complaint is true, since it damages their credibility. But that’s how the office works.”
Although the verdicts are advertised in newspapers, the office ensures that the victim’s name is kept hidden since the process is confidential.
LHWS ALWAYS AT THE RECEIVING END:
Farkhanda told Pakistan Today that most of the complaints her office receives are from lady health workers, adding that the nature of their job makes them more vulnerable to harassment.
She lauded banks for having a balanced system to deal with sexual harassment cases, and said that the inquiry committees of banks are very active that have taken action against the accused persons on several complaints. “The accused terminated by these committees then approach us to file an appeal, (but we have so far upheld every decision of the inquiry committees),” she said.
NO REJECTION ON ‘LACK OF EVIDENCE’:
Talking about evidences needed to confirm the complaint, Farkhanda said that a complaint is never rejected because of a ‘lack of evidence’.
“Sometimes there is no proof that the harassment took place, because it all may not always be filmed or taped. In that case, complainants bring junior staff like clerks and peons as witnesses, and we do take their statements into account. Even if the complainant brings her own family members with whom she discussed the matter, their statement is recorded as evidence”, she said.
Farkhanda said an obscene text message or phone call recording is considered concrete evidence and a case with such evidence is disposed of early. According to her, a simple case is disposed of in two-three months while a complicated one may take up to eight months.
NOT ENOUGH FUNDS:
Even three years after its establishment, the office of the woman ombudsperson remains unknown in smaller cities of the province due to a lack of awareness and advertising. And these small cities are where sexual harassment is more pronounced.
Farkhanda said that the budget of the department is insufficient so they cannot focus much on the awareness part. “The office cannot afford regular advertisements in newspapers,” she told Pakistan Today.
To ensure implementation of the anti-harassment Act, the Punjab government needs to focus on launching awareness campaigns and the office of ombudswoman needs to be expanded to other cities of the province.
