Anti-Sexual Harassment Law: Enforcing legislation in FATA effectively

Five participants from FATA express commitment to comply with law in their workplaces.

ISLAMABAD:

Since it was passed in 2010, not much has been done for the implementation of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).

This was the crux of a two-day training workshop on Anti-Sexual Harassment Legislation that concluded here on Monday.

Five participants from Fata attended the session. They expressed the commitment to improve the work environment in their respective organisations.

Mehak Jamshed, a journalist said, “Whereas media holds everyone else accountable, it lags behind in the implementation of Anti-Sexual Harassment Legislation.” She added that with the help of the training she received at the workshop, she will be able to ensure compliance with the law at her workplace.



Salahuddin of Quaid-e-Azam University said the institute is complying with the law and there is a strong mechanism to report any case. “It is the responsibility of the management to ensure that the students, faculty and administration are all aware of the law as well as the Inquiry Committee members,” he added.

Maliha Husain, the lead trainer expressed the hope that all the participants of the workshop will strive to make their work environment more dignified.

She added that some of them had already adopted the Code of Conduct, but were facing challenges in implementing it.

The workshop was organized by Mehergarh Centre for Learning under its continued efforts to implement anti-sexual harassment legislation.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 27^th, 2012.