‘Workplace harassment affects health, mental welfare’

Ombudsman appeals to women facing the issue to lodge complaints with his office

KARACHI: Women who face harassment at the workplace should come forward and lodge complaints against the culprits without any fear, appealed Justice (retd) Shahnawaz Tariq, pointing out that the menace affected the health and mental welfare of the victims.

Tariq, the ombudsman for protection against the harassment of women at the workplace, was speaking at a consultation with various commissions set up by the Sindh government, organised by the Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Friday.

Explaining that offices had been established for the purpose across the province, he said that they did not charge for their services and only aimed to help the victim get justice. "We do not highlight cases in the media to maintain the privacy of the victims, but our offices have resolved various issues over the last three years," he maintained, adding that they had seen several victims suffering from depression due to the matter.

Meanwhile, Murtaza Wahab, the chief minister's adviser on law, environment, climate change and coastal development, urged all the commissions to work together to reduce the misery of the people.

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"The Constitution is superior to everyone. We need to focus on the implementation of the rule of law," he stressed, adding that if the institutions operated effectively, it would ease the burden on the judiciary. "There will be no need for the National Accountability or the Federal Investigation Agency; people won't even go to the courts if their issues can be resolved by certain institutions."

The adviser pointed out the presence of the Sindh Public Safety Commission, which keeps a watch on issues related to the police and the public. "The police should be independent but also accountable," he explained.

Anis Haroon, a former member of the National Commission for Human Rights, said that the commissions worked to keep a check on the government. "They [the commissions] should be given full mandates; otherwise, there is no need to form them."

SHRC chairperson Justice (retd) Majida Razvi said that the human rights body was working to ensure the fundamental rights of the people. "The mandates of all the commissions are interlinked and overlap with each other," she asserted, urging all the participants at the event to work together.

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Meanwhile, Abida Lodhi, the SHRC secretary, said that the organisation took note of all sorts of complaints, adding that it had worked on 1,269 cases, around half of which had been disposed of. She further bemoaned that they had received less than their sanctioned share of the budget.

On another note, the provincial manager of the Sindh HIV/AIDS Control, Treatment and Protection Commission, Dr Sikandar Memon, said that there had been no treatment centres or medicine for patients suffering from these diseases in Sindh before 2006. "Now, testing and treatment facilities are available in all of Sindh's districts," he disclosed.

Claiming that the commission did not charge any fees for tests or medicine, he asked government officials to refer all HIV and AIDS patients to them.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2020.