PESHAWAR
The provincial Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Rukhshanda has lauded Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for collaborating with civil society efforts to ensure women inheritance rights in the society, adding that “we need to focus on changing attitudes and mindsets along with educating communities about inheritance laws”.
She made these remarks while addressing a one-day “Creating Space for Women’s Inheritance Rights in the Newly Merged Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa“conference at Peshawar.
The conference was held on promoting women’s property and inheritance rights in the newly merged districts.
The event was organized by the Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme (CAMP) in coordination with KP Ombudsperson Secretariat.
Rukhshanda shed light over the challenges being faced by women while working at different offices.
She applauded the male civil society representatives for spreading the awareness about women’s rights and property/inheritance in their hujras and other public spaces.
She also reminded the participants that “the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Act” was not only about inheritance but about property of all types.
This Act aims at providing protection to women of their rights of ownership and possession of properties owned by them, ensuring that such rights are not violated by any means of harassment, coercion, force or fraud.
Rukhshanda Naz highlighted some structural gaps in the law, issues with institutions, and the need for policy level debate.
CAMP’s representative Asad Ali shared with participants a short documentary on the importance of issues.
He highlighted that despite the resistance from some quarters, it was encouraging to see the role of local activists and CSOs, and the commitment of communities in taking the message forward.
CAMP’s representative informed the participants about the sensitivity of the women’s inheritance rights in some parts of the province and stressed the need for awareness and educating communities to plug the loopholes in achieving the objectives.
The event was attended by lawyers, media, government and NGO representatives and others.
