Kashmala calls for public awareness on anti-harassment law

Islamabad First priority of the Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2010, Kashmala Tariq, is to raise awareness among people on the issue and the law against harassment.

She shared the steps undertaken by the Federal Ombudsperson in a meeting with a delegation of Mehergarh, an organisation already working on the implementation and awareness of the law.

Kashmala Tariq is third Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2010. The first one was Justice Mussarat Hillali and the second one Justice Yasmeen Abbassi.

Kashmala said that she has already sent out letters to different organisations regarding their status of compliance with the workplace harassment law. In her first three weeks of office, she has fined Rs100,000 to Shaheen Airlines for non-compliance with the harassment law.

Federal Ombudsperson said that there is already a camp office in Peshawar, since the Provincial Ombudsperson has not yet been appointed. She intends to open another camp office in Gilgit-Baltistan, who have extended the law to their province but have no appointed the provincial ombudsperson yet. She said that awareness among employees about the issue and the law should be a priority of all organizations after completing all the requirements of compliance.

Executive Director of Mehergarh Maliha Husain shared a presentation with the Ombudsperson showing the status of countrywide implementation, accomplishments and challenges being faced. Kashmala Tariq assured her support in addressing the challenges. She also appreciated the idea of having a Federal Implementation Watch Committee to facilitate and monitor the implementation and make the federal area a model for the rest of the country.