Promulgation of anti-sexual harassment act 2010 is a major step forward to protect the honour, dignity and civil liberties of women in our country. Touching this important milestone in the history of struggle for protection and promotion of women rights required incessant and untiring efforts and this process was unswervingly carried forward by the civil society organisations all across the country.
The next step, which is across the board implementation of the anti-sexual harassment legal instruments, is more tedious one. It requires regular awareness raising about the law, continuous social mobilisation and pressure building for its enforcement so that it's the objective may be achieved and every woman may live and move without any fear of harassment, be it indoor or outdoor.
These ideas were expressed by Ms Tehmina from Alliance against Sexual Harassment, Islamabad while addressing a seminar organised jointly by Baidarie Sialkot and AASHA Islamabad with the support provided by UN-WOMEN.
She lauded the efforts made by the present government for adoption of "Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace" Bill by the parliament and its approval by the president of Pakistan, making it a permanent part of the country' legal framework. She hoped that the federal and provincial governments will continue to support the initiative so that rights of women may be secured and the factors causing and increasing their vulnerability to every kind of excesses may be weakened and made ineffective.
Mrs Zille-Huma Omar from Baidarie highlighted the need to launch massive awareness raising among the working women about the law and the ways taking up which harassed women may get maximum of the needed protection and legal support. She said that provisions of the law should be met with and enquiries committees should be formed in all of the industrial units, business concerns and such organisations where women are part of the workforce. These committees must involve the employers and legal proceedings should be initiated, after the necessary investigations, against all those who tend to evaporate sense of security and safety for women in different disciplines of her indoor and outdoor life.
She demanded that toll free help-lines should be set-up and their numbers should be made widely known so women may call for help in hours of need. Mrs Ghazala Khalid from Trade Development Authority while addressing the house said that most of very useful laws just become part of library books, they are scarcely implemented hence their fruit is hardly availed by those for whom these are promulgated.
She emphatically demanded that the details of the anti-sexual laws must be communicated to every concerned tier in state and society so that appropriate arrangements may come in place to provide protection to those women who have to perform their duties outside the boundaries of their houses.
Professor Arshid Mehmood Mirza, Executive Director Baidarie while addressing the seminar largely attended by men and women from different walks of life said that violence against women and girls has become an endemic social norm in our society. We experience it in every nook and corner of our localities but remaining in a state of self deception we tend to deny its existence and do not move to take much needed preventive steps to prevent inhuman practices being carried out everywhere around us.
He said that while working to eliminate this menace from the society, Baidarie has come across such innumerable heinous acts of physical and sexual violence against women listening whose details would certainly let every reasonable human being to bow his/her head in shame and humiliation. He stressed that the facts must be accepted and well-conceived and integrated steps should be taken to purge the society of such inhuman practices.
He severely criticised those who 'fetch' justification from religious injunctions, distort their meanings and interpret them in self-suited way to justify harassment and abuse of women. He said that never ever in his life, the Holy Prophet (PBUH) nor His companions inflicted violence on their women then how the violence against women may be justified seeking support from religion.
Professor Mirza stressed that there should be no more segmentation and compartmentalisation in society and the attitudes of disrespect of human beings, discrimination on any basis, intolerance and extremism must be replaced by love for all, respect for basic human rights and difference of opinion, tolerance and co-existence. This is, if we wish and want to survive as a dignified nation on the globe. If the ongoing process of dividing the society under different justifications and pretexts continues then we as a nation will have no space to live with honour, he maintained.
He congratulated AASHA and other civil society organisations for making heroic struggle for getting the anti-sexual harassment laws promulgated and assured them every possible support from the civil society organisations in Sialkot during their future initiatives for restoration of dignity and respect to the human beings.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Mirza Abdul Shakoor, Muhammad Iqbal Ghumman, Tayyab Habib and Rana Shahzad Ahmad. The seminar concluded with inauguration of an exhibition of the chronological pictorial display of the struggle made by AASHA and other civil society organisations and activists. The event was inaugurated by Mrs Tehmina Mayer, Executive Director Hawwa Foundation.