Assessing Effectiveness: An Evaluation of Anti-Harassment Measures for Women in the Universities of Pakistan

Abstract

It is inalienable right of every citizen to be dealt with strictly in accordance with law as enshrined in Articles 4, 9, 24, and 25 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973 and no action is detrimental to life, liberty and reputation of the citizen is called for even otherwise one of most precious fundamental rights that all the persons shall be dealt no discrimination by the statutory functions. Mr. Justice Jawad Hassan while passing a judgement in the Lahore High Court in 2019 pertaining to a case of harassment at a university state that “the protection of women from being harassed at the workplace is already enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan”. To preserve this fundamental right, the Government of Pakistan has promulgated an Act “The Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace, 2010” to mitigate the impact of harassment. The paper aims to assess the effectiveness of Act, 2010 and anti-harassment measures taken by Pakistan in the Universities of Pakistan. Incorporating mixed methods, which include a literature review, empirical data taken from the interviews of harassment complainants, the paper aims to shed light on the ground realities of effectiveness and implementation of this act. The paper aims to assess the effectiveness of anti-harassment measures in Pakistan in the context of the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010, to demonstrate the key challenges and gaps in the implementation of enforcement and existing laws and to provide the recommendations for policy makes for effective implications to combat harassment at work place.