PESHAWAR
The federal ombudsman secretariat for protection against harassment on Monday held an awareness seminar on harassment at the workplace.
The seminar was organized at University of Engineering & Technology (UET), Peshawar.
Federal Ombudsman Kashmala Tariq gave a presentation on the nature and significance of gender sensitivity and harassment.
Vice Chancellor Dr Iftikhar Hussain, Regional Commissioner FOSPAH Regional Office, Peshawar Rubab Mehdi, Lawyers and the students attended the event.
She shared her vision of creating a harassment free environment at workplaces including educational institutes and the provision of an enabling environment which realize one’s potential without intimidation and discrimination of any sort.
Kashmala urged the harassment victim to collect strong evidence against the harassers before filing a complaint.
In case of any misconduct, the audience was advised to share it with colleagues in order to create a witness which can later be used as evidence, she added.
She also stated that FOSPAH was equipped with a swift and simple procedure; any victim either directly or through an internal inquiry committee can register a complaint which does not require any lawyer and takes only two months to decide the case.
FOSPAH is also empowered under the “Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Act 2020” to protect and secure the rights of ownership of women in the property (inherited or owned).
The Federal Ombudsman elaborated about the FOSPAH’s online systems including online complaint registration, availability of judgments on official websites, latest activities through social media and hearing of the registered cases through video conference.
In the end, she added that after the enactment of Harassment Act 2010, it is the responsibility of every employer of an organization to ensure implementation of this Act i.e. formation of the internal inquiry committee and display of Code of Conduct at conspicuous place in their organizations.
In his concluding remarks, Vice Chancellor UET Peshawar Dr Iftikhar Hussain applauded the efforts of Federal Ombudsman Kashmala Tariq and her team for conducting this awareness seminar and presented a souvenir to the Federal Ombudsman.
