Sending unsolicited 'good morning' texts to unacquainted women falls under harassment: Kashmala Tariq

• Kashmala Tariq says that touching, staring, and sending unsolicited texts to unacquainted women is harassment.
• Tariq says both parties should be heard “face-to-face” in harassment cases.
  
• FOSPAH says she has heard over 4,000 harassment cases and found that 99% of women were speaking the truth 
  

KARACHI: Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace (FOSPAH) Kashmala Tariq on Saturday said that sending “greetings or good morning” texts to unacquainted women fall under harassment.

“Touching, sending Salam (greetings) or good morning texts and staring at an unacquainted woman is harassment,” said Tariq while speaking at the Dow University for Health and Sciences in Karachi.

FOSPAH told the students that even whistling at a bus stop in the presence of women is also a form of harassment.

Tariq is also of the view that in harassment cases both parties should be heard “face-to-face”. She added that she has heard over 4,000 harassment cases and found that 99% of the women were speaking the truth.

The FOSPAH shared that there is a chance that the workplace harassment law could be misused but clarified that this has not been happening.

“Women have the right to inherit property in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad. However, no legislation has been enacted in Sindh and Balochistan [over the issue],” she added.

Speaking about the university, Tariq said that she is yet to receive a harassment complaint related to DOW University. 

Bill to protect women against harassment at workplace becomes law

In January, the Parliament of Pakistan notified the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Amendment) Act, 2022, and officially enacted it into law. 

The bill was drafted by the Federal Ministry of Human Rights (MoHR) with extensive input from women's rights groups and lawyers. The amendments aimed to ensure and facilitate increased participation of women in the workforce and remove the lacunas present in the existing law.

The law was enacted by the Parliament on January 14, while President Arif Alvi gave his assent to it on January 21. The law has now fully come into force.