KARACHI: On Saturday, Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace (FOSPAH) Kashmala Tariq said that sending “greetings or good morning” texts to unacquainted women fall under harassment.
“Touching, sending Salam (greetings) or good morning texts and staring at an unacquainted woman is harassment,” said Tariq while speaking at the Dow University for Health and Sciences in Karachi.
FOSPAH told the students that even whistling at a bus stop in the presence of women is also a form of harassment.
Tariq is likewise of the view that during harassment instances each side ought to be heard “face-to-face”. She delivered that she has heard over 4,000 harassment cases and discovered that 99% of the girls had been talking the truth.
The FOSPAH shared that there is a chance that the workplace harassment law could be misused but clarified that this has not been happening.
“Women have the right to inherit property in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad. However, no legislation has been enacted in Sindh and Balochistan [over the issue],” she added.
Speaking about the university, Tariq said that she is yet to receive a harassment complaint related to DOW University.
In January, the Parliament of Pakistan notified the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Act, 2022, and officially enacted it into law.