Workplace harassment: Call for making workplace safer for women

Mehergarh arranges three-day training for management level officials

ISLAMABAD: Private sector organisations have been urged to implement the workplace harassment act to safeguard women from harassment and to make the place of work safer.

Representatives of private sector organisations attended a three-day training about the effective implementation of “Protection Against Harassment of Women At The Workplace, Act 2010”, organised by Mehergarh at their training facility, said a press release issued here on Sunday.

Special emphasis was given on sensitisation of management and employees on the issue of sexual harassment and the steps to curb it to provide a safe environment for employees so that they could focus on their work to yield maximum results for the organisations they work for.

More than 30 participants including management level officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), the Islamabad Stock Exchange, the Pakistan Manpower Institute, lawyers, principals of three colleges in Islamabad and Rawat attended the training.

Director at Mehergarh, Maliha Husain, who was facilitating the training, urged participants to not only ensure proper compliance of law in their organisations, but also work to raise awareness so people start talking about the issue as a first step towards its resolution.

According to the law, it is the responsibility of the management to display the text of the law in offices to educate all their employees about the issue, the act and the importance of reporting cases so that they may be handled in a confidential manner.

Mehergarh has facilitated more than 3,600 cases in the last five years which shows that a lot of women were not afraid of reporting cases of sexual harassment.

It is important for people to speak out and not accept abuse or sexual harassment and people are speaking out because working in a dignified environment is important to them.

The wife of Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, who was the chief guest of the concluding ceremony, gave out certificates among the participants.

Dr Fouzia Saeed gave out copies of her book, ‘Working With Sharks’ to each participant.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2015.