‘Women joining workforce face harassment’

Pakistani females should go out for work as it has become very difficult to rely on a single income to meet expenses

KARACHI:

The Office of Students' Advisor of the University of Karachi in collaboration with the Ombudsperson for Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace arranged an awareness seminar on protection against harassment under Workplace Harassment Act at the Chinese Teachers Memorial Auditorium on Monday.

Speaking during the seminar, the Federal Ombudsperson for Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace, Fauzia Viqar said that only 21 per cent of the total population of females in the country are working, but now with the increase in the inflation by over 35 per cent, the proportion of the working women must be increased. Pakistani females should go out for work because it has become very difficult to rely on a single income to meet the expenses.

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Giving a reference to a research conducted in 2018, Fauzia shared that around 80 per cent of college-going girls in Punjab, who use public transport, have complained about harassment. She mentioned that this is a huge number that reflects our social problem. She urged that this issue must be resolved on an emergency basis.

She informed the seminar that another study shows that about 57 per cent of working women face harassment at workplace. According to her, this is a reported figure and there are chances that more females experience the same problem.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20^th 2024.