Post Date
Dec 02 2024

Extending Sexual "Harassment" and "Workplace" to Broader World of Work in Society

This project led by Dr. Muhammad Azeem, Associate Professor at SAHSOL will go through a desk review of current civil, criminal, and labor provisions and institutional mechanisms of Pakistani law which correspond to articles of C-190. The aforementioned laws merely recognize harassment of a sexual nature, not accounting for the fact that harassment can be physical, psychological, verbal and in the form of online (cyber) bullying. This project imagines the world of work beyond the traditional workplace, to the extent of home-based workers. The aim is to enlarge and develop labor law framework and institutional mechanism to accommodate legal requirements outlined in the C-190. Instead of courts and police, it wants to rely on available institutional mechanisms of labor representation and organization. This study will point out gaps in these laws so a questionnaire for stakeholders can be prepared. In the next stage of field research, interviews of trade union leaders, labor lawyers and judges and female factory and home-based workers will be conducted to gather data. Finally, an academic article will be produced which details the development of a legal framework and institutional mechanism to address the issues of violence and harassment in the workplace.