Daily Times

Nabeela Khan, the newly appointed Ombudsperson Punjab, has taken the civil society on board to make the institution strong and discussed the possibility of reactivating the provincial implementation watch committee.

The step would be taken to make the province free from harassment of women and ensure their safety and dignity at workplace, she said while talking to members of the civil society at the Office of Ombudsperson Punjab.

Ms Khan also shared with them that Anti-Harassment Committees have already been set up in most of the departments for effective implementation of the measures to curb women harassment at workplace. The establishment of such committees in the rest of the departments would be completed in a short span of time, she affirmed.

The members of these committees would be trained with the help and support from the civil society so they could do their work in an efficient and effective manner.

The Ombudsperson Punjab also shared with the visiting group that for the protection of women living in far-flung areas, an online complaint system has been introduced where the victims could lodge complaints and get speedy justice.

She said a level playing field would be provided to women by ensuring a 30 percent employment share for them in every department.

“It’s our collective duty to curb the scourge of women harassment at workplace. We all must play our role for the success of existing initiatives taken in this regard and continue to strive for introducing even better measures for it,” Nabeela Khan said.

She said the Woman Ombudsperson is committed to keep working with the civil society for developing and implementing long-term legislative initiatives for gender equality and women’s empowerment so “we can create an environment where girls and women can be free from all forms of violence.”

All offices have been directed to place banners and panaflexes at prominent sites to sensitise workers about the existing laws that protect women against harassment, the Ombudsperson said. She added that all the offices have already been directed to constitute inquiry committees to deal with harassment cases and display the code of conduct for the protection of women on their premises. Nabeela Khan, Women Ombudsperson Punjab, said that the implementation of relevant laws would play a pivotal role in women protection and empowerment.