Pakistan Considers Law on Gender Harassment at Workplace Punishable with
Dismissal
By IANS
Friday June 1, 2007
Islamabad, June 1 (IANS) Pakistan will amend its laws to make workplace
harassment of women punishable with dismissal from service.
The National
Assembly's Standing Committee on Cabinet Affairs has decided to include gender
harassment at the workplace in the definition of 'misconduct' in the Removal
>From Service (Special Powers) Ordinance, 2000.
It has recommended
that the National Assembly pass the ordinance into law, the Daily Times said
Friday.
The amendment includes in Section 2 (b) of the ordinance a
new clause 2 (b) (ii) that reads: 'Gender harassment at the workplace causing
interference with work performance and creating an intimidating, hostile or
uncongenial work environment'.
In the existing law, Section (2) (b)
(i), 'misconduct' is defined as 'Conduct prejudicial to good order or service
discipline or conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman or involvement or
participation for gain either directly or indirectly in industry, trade or
speculative transactions or abuse or misuse of the official position to gain
undue advantage or assumption of financial or other obligations to private
institutions or persons such as may cause embarrassment in the performance of
official duties or functions.'
The committee also decided to replace
the words 'officer and gentleman' with the word 'officials' because, according
to committee members, these words give the impression that it does not apply to
junior cadre government employees.
The proposed amendment further
reads: 'Misconduct includes gender harassment, which is any unwelcome sexual
advance, request for sexual favours or other verbal, non-verbal or physical
conduct of sexual nature, causing interference with work performance, is made a
condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work
environment, or the attempt to punish the refusal to comply to such a
request.'