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What Behaviours Should Women Pay Attention To?<\/p>\nKARACHI (TNS): Quiet Administrative Conduct Can Also Constitute Workplace Harassment.<\/p>\n
Why Are Safe, Dignified and Equal Workplaces Important for Women?<\/p>\n
Workplace harassment does not always appear in the form of loud voices, insulting remarks or obvious inappropriate behaviour. At times, it may manifest through seemingly routine administrative decisions, persistent neglect, exclusion from important meetings, withdrawal of responsibilities, unnecessary delays in legitimate requests, or attempts to undermine a woman\u2019s professional competence.<\/p>\n
Dr. Aliya Kamal Ahsan made these observations in an awareness article, emphasizing the need for safe, dignified and equal workplaces for women in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
According to Dr. Aliya, when an employee is continuously and systematically isolated professionally, subjected to pressure, or made to face difficulties in performing routine duties, such conduct needs to be taken seriously. Persistent collective behaviour of this nature is sometimes referred to as workplace mobbing.<\/p>\n
However, she clarified that not every disagreement, strict administrative decision or professional dispute can be termed harassment. Each matter should be assessed in light of its facts, context, continuity of the conduct, possible discriminatory or retaliatory elements, and the applicable law and institutional policies.<\/p>\n
What Behaviours Should Women Pay Attention To?<\/p>\n
For awareness purposes, it is important to understand behaviours that may indicate a larger problem. These may include repeatedly excluding a woman from important meetings or professional opportunities, repeatedly ignoring legitimate requests, withdrawing responsibilities related to her position without a clear reason, restricting access to necessary information or resources, and continuously undermining her education, experience or professional qualifications.<\/p>\n
Similarly, if an employee faces pressure, threats, humiliation or other retaliatory behaviour after filing a complaint, the matter should also be taken seriously.<\/p>\n
The Issue Is More Sensitive in the Medical Sector<\/p>\n
Dr. Aliya said the issue becomes even more important in the healthcare sector because the professional responsibilities of medical staff are directly connected with patient care.<\/p>\n
If a doctor, nurse or other healthcare worker is unfairly removed from their duties, denied access to necessary information or resources, or subjected to an environment of fear and pressure, the consequences may not remain limited to the individual employee.<\/p>\n
A safe and dignified environment in healthcare institutions is important not only for employees but also for teamwork, professional performance and patient care.<\/p>\n
Legal Protection in Pakistan<\/p>\n
Pakistan has the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010, which was significantly amended in 2022.<\/p>\n
The amendments expanded the scope of the law and the concept of the \u201cworkplace,\u201d while gender-based discrimination was also incorporated into the legal framework.<\/p>\n
For protection against harassment, the Federal Ombudsperson Secretariat for Protection Against Harassment (FOSPAH) is an independent legal forum empowered to hear complaints under the law. In addition, institutions are required to have an internal anti-harassment inquiry committee mechanism.<\/p>\n
In Sindh, the Provincial Ombudsman Sindh (Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace) provides a separate institutional forum for addressing complaints of workplace harassment against women.<\/p>\n
The Sindh Commission on the Status of Women, meanwhile, has a legal role in promoting women\u2019s rights, legislation, policy and gender equality.<\/p>\n
When the Complaint System Worked<\/p>\n
There have also been cases in Pakistan where institutional complaint mechanisms took action on complaints filed by female employees or doctors.<\/p>\n
In a documented case involving a federal teaching hospital in Islamabad, a female trainee doctor filed a harassment complaint against a senior surgeon before the institution\u2019s anti-harassment committee. Following an inquiry, the four-member committee ruled in favour of the female doctor, and institutional action was taken against the concerned surgeon. The case was later documented as a Pakistani example in a case study published by Cambridge University Press.<\/p>\n
The example highlights that when a complaint mechanism is functional, evidence is properly examined, and an institution acts in accordance with law and regulations, an affected individual\u2019s complaint can be heard effectively.<\/p>\n
In another recent FOSPAH case, a total financial penalty of Rs. 2.7 million was imposed on five employees of a private company. According to the available report, the complaint was filed by a former female employee, and the matter also involved allegations of retaliatory behaviour following the complaint.<\/p>\n
Although this case was not related to the healthcare sector, it demonstrates that practical action can be taken through the relevant legal forums when complaints are filed.<\/p>\n
What Should a Woman Do If She Faces Harassment?<\/p>\n
According to experts, an affected individual should, as far as possible, maintain a record of the date, time, location and nature of the incident. Relevant emails, messages, notices and other documents should also be preserved.<\/p>\n
The institution\u2019s anti-harassment committee or relevant complaint mechanism may be approached. In complex cases, seeking legal or professional advice may also be important.<\/p>\n
However, one fundamental principle should always be kept in mind:<\/p>\n
Filing a complaint does not establish that a person is guilty, but ignoring a complaint is not justice either.<\/p>\n
Every complaint should be handled on the basis of evidence, confidentiality, impartiality and fair procedure.<\/p>\n
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The Responsibility of Institutions<\/p>\n
According to Dr. Aliya, an institution\u2019s responsibility is not limited to taking action after a complaint is received. It must also create an environment in advance where employees know where and how they can file a complaint.<\/p>\n
Institutions should maintain clear and accessible complaint mechanisms, make anti-harassment committees effective, protect complainants against possible retaliation, and adopt transparent procedures for appointments, promotions, scheduling, assignment of responsibilities and allocation of resources.<\/p>\n
Awareness Instead of Silence<\/p>\n
Respect and dignity at the workplace are not favours granted to an individual; they are fundamental professional principles.<\/p>\n
Women should be aware of their rights, while institutions must recognize their legal and ethical responsibilities.<\/p>\n
Identifying a behaviour as \u201charassment\u201d does not mean immediately declaring an individual guilty. The purpose is to identify the issue, hear the complaint, examine the evidence, and where a violation is established, take action in accordance with the law and institutional regulations.<\/p>\n
The hallmark of a healthy institution is not that it never receives complaints, but how seriously, transparently and fairly it responds when a complaint is made.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KARACHI (TNS): Quiet Administrative Conduct Can Also Constitute Workplace Harassment. Why Are Safe, Dignified and Equal Workplaces Important for Women? Workplace harassment does not always appear in the form of loud voices, insulting remarks or obvious inappropriate behaviour. At times, it may manifest through seemingly routine administrative decisions, persistent neglect, exclusion from important meetings, withdrawal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":127787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-karachi","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=127788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/127787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=127788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=127788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tns.world\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=127788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}