Mr. Hassan Nadeem Khan, Assistant Registrar Regional Office, Lahore FOSPAH apprised the participants about the provisions of the harassment law. In particular he informed them that after the 2022 amendments the scope of the harassment law has been expanded to encompass not only acts of sexual harassment but also gender-based discrimination as violative of a person’s dignity and that now any aggrieved person i.e., men, women and transgendered persons can approach either the departmental Inquiry Committee or FOSPAH for redressal of their grievances relating to workplace harassment.

Ms. Uzma in her address elaborated upon the importance of having gender-sensitive institutions such as FOSPAH in Pakistan which facilitate and encourage women to take a stand for their rights. She told the audience that to improve the accessibility of FOSPAH the current Federal Ombudsperson has launched the helpline number 03444 367 367 which is available during office hours for persons afflicted by workplace harassment. 

The awareness seminar concluded with a question answer session wherein participants, amongst other things, posed queries about the type of conduct that falls within the ambit of actionable harassment and about the procedure followed in FOSPAH during the hearing of a complaint.