A Harassment Awareness Volunteer Programme (HAVP) has been launched in the province to sensitise women workers about their rights under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act of 2010, Provincial Ombudsperson Prof Mira Phailbus said on Thursday.
She was speaking at the Punjab Education Foundation (PEF) on the status of the implementation of the Act.
She said that women employed at both government and non-government institutions including banks, hospitals, universities and factories were covered under the law.
About the investigation process, the provincial ombudsperson said the law required that inquiry into a harassment complaint be completed in a month’s time.
She said a show-cause notice was issued to the suspects within three days of the receipt of a complaint. They were required to submit their response within a week, she added.
She said complaints could be filed with the ombudsman’s office in person or by mail and there was no fee charged for it.
She said appeals against the verdict in an inquiry could be filed with the office of the governor within a month of the decision.
PEF chairman Qamarul Islam Raja, PEF managing director Aneela Salman and Asim Sadiq Qureshi, a consultant in the office of Ombudsperson, also spoke on the occasion.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2015.
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