In July 2011, the Federal Ombudsperson Secretariat (FOS) for protection of women against harassment at the workplace was established at Islamabad. One of the main objectives of the office is to oversee the implementation of Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010 and redress the complaints against harassment at workplace.

The ombudsperson office, since its inception, has been trying to address the issue of sexual harassment at workplace and to make sure the implementation of law but lack of resources mars its performance. Senior officials at the ombudsperson secretariat tell TNS that government has not provided it with funds for research, advocacy or outreach programmes.

The Act makes it mandatory for the management of the public and private sector organisations to display the code of conduct at conspicuous places in the organisations and form a three-member inquiry committee to deal with the complaints of sexual harassment. But there has been least development on these two basic requirements of the act. "Leave alone private institutions, majority of public sector organisations have not adopted the code of conduct. Six months back we wrote letters to all public sector organisations asking them to set up inquiry committees. So far, only six of them responded to our request," says Shahrukh Abbasi, Deputy Director Communications FOS. "Only two provinces, Punjab and Sindh, have established offices of provincial ombudspersons."

He says that since its establishment in 2011, the court of the Federal Ombudsperson has received 184 cases of harassment and disposed of 181. A low number of cases registered does not mean that harassment and violence against women exists at a minimal level. Lack of awareness, a complicated system, fear of losing jobs, social taboos, unawareness and scarcity of finances are major reasons behind poor implementation of the law.

Abbasi says that although the law was passed in 2010, lack of awareness among the public is one of the major challenges towards its effective implementation.

"There is a need to let people know that they have a legal right to raise their voice against those who make them feel uncomfortable at their workplace. They also need to know about the court of federal ombudsman where they can fight their cases without a lawyer," he says, adding that overwhelming majority of women do not complain about harassment at workplace. "This act is also meant for men as well. So far, we have received several complaints from men against harassment at workplace."

He admits that the system to lodge complaints with FOS till November 2013 was very complicated. "Especially, in the provinces, the complainant had to go to the provincial capital to lodge a complaint which was difficult and an expensive process for the people of far-flung areas," Abbasi says, adding that after a detailed deliberation the FOS decided to launch an online complaint system. "FOS had no resources or expertise in this regard, so we decided to approach donors. International Labour Organisation (ILO) was quick to respond to our request. It provided us with resources and expertise and within three months we launched online complaint system. Now the complainant can lodge the complaint directly on the website of FOS in both Urdu and English languages and is backed by an SMS tracking system."

Farida Khan, the ILO National Project Coordinator for Promoting Gender Equality for Decent Employment (GE4DE) Project under which FOS is supported, says that employers and government need to know how workplace harassment and bad workplace culture leave a negative effect on productivity and workplace relations.

The FOS approached the GE4DE Project for support and after a series of consultations the GE4DE Project helped them establish their website which also contains the complaint management information system, through which any complainant can lodge a complaint and get legal relief. Similarly, an SMS based tracking system of the complaint has also been established. The project has also been helping FOS to conduct seminars and awareness campaigns.

Before supporting FOS, ILO conducted leadership trainings of trade unions, where all the members were asked to list three core problems at the workplace. "Majority of women workers revealed that they faced sexual harassment and there was a lack of formal redressal system with easy access," she says, adding that it affects women’s right and ability to work. "It affects workplace relationships and the right to participate with freedom, dignity, security and equality (ILO’s pillars).There is a growing demand to have a labour standard specifically for workplace harassment."

Farida Khan says registration of low number of cases might reflect low incidence. "But we know that the issue is actually quite common, so it is probably more due to lack of awareness and hesitation. But still the number of cases reported and prosecuted in favour of the complainant has been rising. We need to raise the profile of those cases, without naming anyone, to show that the law does work and it does protect the vulnerable and exploited people. And the law is not being abused as a revenge tool as some people fear." She says that generally women are hesitant to lodge a complaint of harassment at workplace because they do not know the law and the extent of protection that they can get.

Farida Khan is hopeful that steps like online complaints system will help Pakistan fight against sexual harassment at workplace. "Studies have proven that it affects productivity of women workers. Government, employers, trade unions and civil society need to play their role in ensuring zero tolerance for harassment at workplace."

Shaheena Kausar, General Secretary of Women Workers Union, terms launch of online complaints system a great success for women workers. "Harassment at workplace is such a big issue. We received scores of complaints on daily basis." Kausar, though not happy with the performance of FOS, terms its presence a great achievement for women empowerment in the country. "It is true that there is lack of political will on the part of the government to support it but its existence itself is an achievement." She says that it is true that overwhelming majority of workers do not have access to internet to lodge complaints but this does not undermine the importance of the process. "Such progressive steps need to lift the spirit of women workers in Pakistan."

Shahrukh Abbasi tells TNS that complainants have already started using online system for redressal of their grievances. "This is an encouraging sign. FOS, with the help of friendly parliamentarians, submitted a reform act 2014 in the parliament seeking coverage of brick-kiln workers and domestic workers under the act and sou motu powers for the federal ombudsperson."