#MeToo in Pakistan

The courageous attempt on the part of Meesha Shafi to break the culture of silence on her alleged sexual harassment has caused ripples in our otherwise stagnant society as far as the taboos connected with women are concerned. While many women in the country view her tweet a source of inspiration for them to break the shackles of shame and social stigma and come out in the open in this name and shame exercise, there is nevertheless a huge number of people who are castigating the use of social media for sharing one’s ordeals and levelling against a man such allegations that are yet to be proved before an appropriate forum.

Without getting oneself entangled in the riddle of who is right and who is wrong in Meesha Shafi-Ali Zafar quagmire mesh, one thing is certain and that is the existence of the lingering malaise of sexual harassment in our country. Sexual harassment of women, particularly at the workplace is so rampant that it has literally seeped into every segment of society. From police to teachers, media industry to sports, doctors and nurses to civil servants and even parliamentarians, women are subjected to unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, verbal and written communication, physical conduct of a sexual nature, sexually demeaning attitudes, interference with work performance and creation of intimidating, hostile and offensive work environment. In many cases, fiscal and social constraints restrain women from speaking out and they continue to undergo this ordeal fearing losing their job which might well be the sole source of their family income and the social backlash which often view women as instigator rather than victim of this crime.

The spilling of beans by Meesha has at least woken society up from a deep slumber and girls started breaking their silence on Twitter. While resort to social media cannot substitute invoking the jurisdiction of relevant legal forums if a victim firmly contemplates to bring the offender to justice, the naming and shaming exercise may nevertheless act as a strong deterrence for other harassers. Even otherwise, what can a victim do other than to resort to Facebook and Twitter when laws pertaining to sexual harassment are cosmetically placed on the statute book but when it comes to its enforcement we hardly see any concrete action on the ground.

In 2010, parliament enacted the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment at Work Place Act, which declared any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favours or other verbal or written communication or physical conduct of a sexual nature or sexually demeaning attitudes, causing interference with work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, or the attempt to punish the complainant for refusal to comply with such a request or is made a condition for employment ‘Harassment’ entailing various major and minor penalties, including dismissal from service. The employer organisation may also pay compensation to the victim. The act also makes it mandatory upon all organisations, including the federal or provincial government ministries, departments, companies, corporations, autonomous/semi-autonomous bodies, educational institutions, medical facilities, commercial and industrial establishments, to constitute inquiry committees within 30 days of the enactment of the legislation to inquire into complaints of harassment. The legislation further stipulates that the inquiry committee shall consist of three members of whom at least one member shall be a woman. The Act categorically vests responsibility on the employer to ensure implementation of the Act, including but not limited to incorporation of the code of conduct for protection against harassment at the workplace as a part of its management policy and to form the inquiry committee and designate a competent authority.

However, despite these much-trumpeted lofty ideals by the government and unequivocal statutory enunciations, most of the employer organisations in Pakistan have not even bothered to designate competent authorities and constitute the inquiry committees where complaints regarding sexual harassment by women at workplace can be adjudicated upon and their grievances be redressed. It is astonishing to note that even organisations like the National Assembly, Senate, Bar Associations and the police, which claim to be the custodians of people’s rights, have trampled the anti-harassment law under their feet by not constituting the requisite committees. Similarly, seriousness of the provincial governments towards protecting women from harassment at workplace can be gauged from the fact that despite the passage of several years, even the appointment process of provincial ombudsmen in all the provinces has not yet been completed.

There is no cavil in the fact that the Protection of Sexual Harassment of Women from Workplace Act is a positive step in the right direction. However, our women can only yield the benefits of this legislation and avail of its protection when the organisations are compelled by the federal and provincial governments to constitute inquiry committees pursuant to Section 3 of the Act. The governments also need to ensure that the offices of ombudsmen in the capital as well as in the provinces do not remain vacant otherwise Haleemas (Pakistan Cricket Board Multan Player) would continue to commit suicide and Meeshas would continue to place reliance on social media rather than reposing trust in the state organs.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2018.

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