It took the court almost two years to rule that the workplace harassment complaint brought by Tehreem Muneeba, a well-known radio jockey, against her former colleagues and employers had merit. She had complained of harassment by studio staff and later left the job. In the process she accused the management team of deleting the close circuit television (CCTV) footage, the only physical proof of an incident that she said took place in the studio. She had initially filed a complaint with the management against the studio staff for harassing and badgering her.

After a legal struggle that lasted for almost two years her complaint was upheld and a Rs 100,000 fine was imposed on each of the seven accused. The management has been accused variously of being reluctant to act against the harassers and of actively protecting them.

The Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act came in 2010 with the stated objective “to create a safe working environment for women, which is free of harassment, abuse and intimidation with a view toward fulfillment of their right to work with dignity.” The government had then admitted that workplace harassment was one of the biggest hurdles faced by working women and that it was preventing many women who wanted to work. The law built on the principle of equal opportunity for men and women and their right to earn a livelihood without fear of discrimination as stipulated in the Constitution. It required all public and private organizations to adopt a code of conduct and a complaint/appeals mechanism aimed at establishing a safe working environment, free of intimidation and abuse, for all working women.

In 2011, the government created the office of the Federal Ombudsperson for Protection Against Harassment (FOSPAH). All ministries, divisions, departments, corporations and autonomous or semi-autonomous bodies, educational institutes, medical facilities established or controlled by the federal or provincial government(s) or district government(s) or registered civil society association(s), or privately managed commercial or industrial establishments or institutions were mandated to set up anti-harassment committees to monitor, receive and investigate harassment complaints. The ombudsman’s office was set up to receive appeals against the respective committee decisions.

According to an official report of the (FOSPAH), till now, the office has received 1,514 cases of harassment at workplace. Out of these, 1,439 have been disposed of. A total of 915 of these complaints were from the private sector and 599 from various government departments. The number of complaints has significantly risen in the recent years.

Meanwhile, the social media has become a major tool in highlighting such complaints. A few weeks ago, a private-bank official in Islamabad was removed from the job after a video of him in a harassment act went viral on social media.

“It is good that the law is in place but there are still challenges and there are problems in its enforcement. Also the issues that do not fall in the ambit of the law need to be addressed,” Khawar Mumtaz, a women-rights activist and former chairperson of the National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW) tells The News on Sunday. According to the law, she says, the committees to deal with such complaints were supposed to be set up in each and every public and private institution of the country. This has yet to happen. Also, she says, the law refers to a formal workplace. In case of informal workplaces and where there is a formal place but no employee-employer relationship (as in case of a student and a teacher etc or where somebody is not considered a regular employee) the case still goes to the police.

Also, in many cases, the committee have been found lenient towards the accused who are superior in rank to the complainant. Moreover, in many cases, there has been victim blaming. She says many women workers do not even know about the law or do not understand it. There is thus need for a lot of awareness raising. There is also need for strengthening the institutions involved in terms of providing adequate staff and setting up regional/local offices.

Mumtaz also says there is no proper monitoring system for the government to know whether the required committees have been set up in every institution and whether they are functioning independently. “We lack financial and human resources to do this,” she says. She urges the government to amend this women protection law to bring the informal sector under its mandate. There is a need to redefine and improve the law after discussing its shortcomings, she says.

The author is a staff reporter. He can be reached at vaqargillani@gmail.com