AASHA, an Alliance against Sexual Harassment, is a platform that represents the interests of the working women in Pakistan. We are made up of six nationwide civil society organizations which include Action Aid, Bedari, Interactive Resource Center, Mehergarh, HAWWA Associates and PILER along with several major support organizations like the Apex body of all the labor unions of Pakistan called Pakistan Worker’s Federation with a membership of more than eight hundred thousand, Chamber of Commerce Karachi and many other civil society organizations.
As sexual harassment is one of the most common problems faced by women of Pakistan and our Alliance has spent most of its researching this issue and raising awareness against this problem. In past we have developed a Code of Conduct which discourages sexual harassment and had it adopted in about 300 companies on a voluntary basis.
The Minister of Women’s Development proposed two bills to the Cabinet on the 5th of November, 2008 in which the bills were principally approved and were taken for the formal vetting. On the 3rd of February the cabinet formally approved the bills and on the first week of April the bills were presented in National Assembly.
Our platforms worked intensely on the research and formulation of these bills as we have been working on this issue for the last six years. We did what we could as citizens on this issue and will continue to raise awareness but we expect that our leaders will take legislative steps to strengthen this struggle to make our society a more civilized place with women and men can retain their dignity.
The two bills are:
- A Bill to institute an Anti Sexual Harassment Policy called PROTECTION FROM HARASSMENT AT WORKPLACE 2008 in every organization
This bill makes it essential for all institutions may these be government, private or community organizations, to adopt a Code of Conduct and form a three member committee to deal with all complaints of sexual harassment within their organizations. The powers of the Committee and the procedure of the inquiry that an organization should conduct on such complaints have been stipulated in this Bill. The management will have to form the Committee and notify the employers of the Code of Conduct within one month of the passage of the Bill.
In case the perpetrator is too senior or is the owner of the business himself and the victim is not sure if the internal Committee could do justice with the complaint she could go to an Ombudsperson which will be established only for this purpose. Any party who is not satisfied with the decision of its Committee and the final verdict of the management can also go to the Ombudsperson for appeal.
Any management that fails get the Code of Conduct instituted within their organization or to establish a three-member Committee can be taken to court and can be fined up to Rs 100,000/-
- Amendment in Pakistan Penal Code 1860 (Act XLV of 1860) and the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 (Act V of 1898)
This is an amendment in the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 in clause 509. This clause was the closest to cover sexual harassment but was vague. The current amendment adds a clear definition of sexual harassment and articulates that this behavior, may it happen at workplace, markets, streets or home, is a crime and is punishable by law. This covers all women in the country including those who are domestic workers, agricultural labourers or home based workers; the non formal sector as well as women in all public and private places.
The punishment is up to 3 years imprisonment and/or up to Rupees 5 hundred thousand fine.
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