Work Place Harassment – Page 30 – Pakistan Gender News

November 12, 2018

NCHR addresses 274 cases of women related issues since Dec 2015 to Oct 2018

Islamabad: National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), established with a broad mandate and powers to take actions, has addressed 274 cases of women related issues since December2015 to October 2018. The government was committed to ensuring Protection and Promotion of Women Rights as envisaged under the constitution as well as international commitments by adopting all possible measures.

Official sources while highlighting steps taken by the government for Protection of Women Rights have said the concerned ministry has established a Helpline 1099 for Legal Advice on Human Rights Violations. The Helpline (1099) provides referral services to address grievances of victims with special focus on women related issues.

Since February 2015 to October 2018, total 241,972 calls were received out of which 29,139 eligible cases were sent to relevant departments for redressal.

The sources said the government gives special attention for enactment and implementation of laws for protection of Women Rights and in this context major laws have been promulgated. These included the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offences relating to Honour Killing) Act, 2016, The Criminal Law(Third Amendment) Act, 2011 (anti-women practices), The Protection Against Harassment of Women at workplace Act, 2010, Hindu Marriage Act, 2017: (the first personal law to regulate Hindu marriages, has been promulgated to register marriages and to prohibit marriage of minors by prescribing the minimum age of eighteen years) and The Women in Distress and Detention Fund (Amendment) Act, 2018 (to operationalize Fund for women in distress and detention. The source said National Commission on Rights of the Child Act, 2017 promulgated. The Commission will examine existing laws relating to child and propose new legislation related to child rights.

The National Commission on Status of Women is also working as a statutory body, to exclusively work on women issues. Family Protection & Rehabilitation Centre for Women is working in Islamabad to provide protection and legal assistance as well as psycho-social support to women victims of violence.

Total 295 cases were registered during 2017-2018. Establishment of Free Legal Aid Mechanism has also been proposed for poor and vulnerable litigants with special emphasis on protection of rights of women and children.

For protection of Inheritance Rights of Women in Pakistan, an awareness campaign to educate the masses about inheritance rights of women under Islamic jurisprudence and the constitution has been initiated.

The process of establishment of groups of lawyers in every district to provide free legal aid to women vis-à-vis inheritance issues is in progress while process of seeking ways for documentation of births, especially in rural areas, is also in progress.

The News

November 12, 2018

Seminar on harassment at workplace

KARACHI – A seminar on gender discrimination and harassment at workplace was organised by the media students of course Gender Studies and their course in-charge Ms Tahira Tariq at Greenwich University Karachi Campus, on Sunday.

The objective of organising this seminar was to examine gender discrimination and harassment in society and at the workplace.

Ms Tahira Tariq informed media that nowadays the cases of gender discrimination and harassment are on rise and to get a clear picture of what’s going on at our workplaces; professionals from both genders working in different sectors were invited to discuss the issue.

Prominent speakers of the seminar were politician Ms Shermila Farooqi, famous actor and model Ms Nadia Hussain, advocate Nadeem Sheikh, Advocate Aleena Alavi and Sikander Mughal along with Faryal Shaikh representing the department of Federal Ombudsman Secretariat for protection against harassment of women at work place.

Speakers were of the view that due to gender discrimination, females do not have the same opportunities as males have in education, careers, politics, and economic progress.

According to speakers unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature are all types of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment has a bad effect on an individual’s employment, interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates a threatening, hostile and offensive working environment.

Seminar was attended by a large number of students, faculty members, guests and prominent media.

Greenwich University is a private degree awarding university located in DHA Karachi. It has rich history of more than 30 years in academic excellence. It is recognised by Higher Education Commission (HEC) among the top ranking Universities of Pakistan and accredited across the world.

The Nation

November 6, 2018

Meesha Shafi case adjourned

LAHORE: An additional district and session’s court on Monday adjourned the hearing of a defamation suit filed by actor Ali Zafar against singer Meesha Shafi.

The court has adjourned by November 21 after directing counsel of both parties to extend their arguments on that hearing. As per details, singer-turned actor Ali Zafar had filed a defamation suit worth Rs1 billion against Meesha Shafi on the charges of defaming the singer through allegations of sexual harassment. The singer filed the defamation suit through his counsel Rana Intizar.

The counsel of Ali Zafar contended before the court that Meesha Shafi defamed the repute of his client through baseless allegations. The counsel pleaded the court to direct Meesha to apologise from his client along with a fine of Rs1 billion for extended baseless allegations against his client.

The counsel requested the court to direct Meesha Shafi to pay Rs1 billion to his client, Rs20 million for mental torture, Rs80 million for loss of contracts, Rs400 million for loss of business opportunities and Rs500 million for loss of reputation.

Previously, the singer had sent a legal notice to Meesha Shafi stating that her tweets and an article in national dailies were false, slanderous, and defamatory statements.

The News

October 30, 2018

Two Rescue 1122 workers accused of raping mentally challenged teen suspended

LAHORE: Two Rescue 1122 workers on Monday were suspended for their alleged involvement in rape of a mentally challenged teenage girl inside an ambulance in the neighbourhood of Nankana Sahib district in Punjab.

According to the ambulance’s tracker record, the accused – Ahsan Ali and Sameen Haider, – spent a total of nine minutes inside the vehicle after picking up the victim before dropping her off.

According to the rescue service spokesperson Farooq Ahmad, the organisation has been assisting law enforcement agencies in probing the matter.

The rescue service has a zero tolerance for such behaviour, he said, adding that the protection and health of the victim is a part of the oath that workers take.

The spokesperson went on to say that an independent inquiry is also being launched and if found culpable, the accused will be removed from service.

On Sunday, the incident had surfaced when the 15-year-old was allegedly raped by the duo inside the ambulance.

According to the FIR registered by the police, she had gone missing from her home at midnight on October 27.

The girl’s parents searched for her and after going pillar to post, at 1:30am, they found a Rescue 1122 ambulance abnormally parked at a bypass for over 2o minutes.

When they sneaked inside the vehicle they found that two men were sexually assaulting their daughter.

The family then began calling out for help leading an ensuing chase, after which the girl was thrown out of the vehicle.

The Express Tribune

The News: Girl raped by staffers: Punjab CM seeks report from DG Rescue 1122

October 29, 2018

Child maid allegedly tortured by employer in Lahore

LAHORE: An 11-year-old girl who worked as a domestic helper was allegedly tortured by her employer in Lahore on Sunday.

Sumera had been working at the house of a man named Ejaz in China Scheme, Gujjarpura for the past four years. On the day of the incident, Ejaz’s wife Hina tortured the girl. “She beat me with sticks and also burnt my body with a hot iron. I managed to escape from the house and started crying for help. The neighbours spotted me and informed the police,” she said, adding that she feared Hina Baji would kill her.

Later, a police team reached the spot and took the victim into their custody. They also recorded the statements of eye-witnesses.

The case was also brought to the attention of the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB). The bureau took custody of the victim and also registered a case against Ejaz and his wife, Hina.

Police have arrested the suspects.

The child in question is a resident of Faizpur, Sharaqpur Road. Her father passed away a few years ago and she has five siblings. She said that she had been working at Ejaz’s house and his wife used to beat her up over minor issues with iron rods and also subjected her to severe torture.

When asked if she wanted to go and live with her mother, the victim refused saying that she would prefer staying at the bureau.

This is not the first incident of a child maid being tortured. In July 2017, a 16-year-old boy, Akhtar, who worked as a domestic helper at the house of former Member of the Punjab Assembly Shahjahan along with his 11-year-old sister Atiya, was physically tortured. The former MPA’s daughter Fauzia asked Akhtar to go and buy some utensils from the market. He returned a little late than anticipated which enraged her. She started beating the boy and his sister with a club. The boy suffered severe injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital from where he was discharged after being treated. Later, his condition deteriorated and the victim died. The post-mortem report revealed that he had died due to internal injuries he had sustained. He had received at least 16 injuries on his body according to the report.

In January 2017, two minor children, a brother and a sister identified as Iqra and Zaman, were subjected to torture by their employer in Hanjarwal when they sought permission to meet their parents. The family retaliated by shaving the head of the victims.

In another case, a minor victim identified as Sawera, died after being left crippled for eight months. The victim was not only tortured by her employers but also thrown down the stairs. The incident had left her crippled. The child also sustained other injuries before she died eight months later.

The Express Tribune

Dawn: Police arrest couple in Lahore over alleged torture of child maid