ISLAMABAD: Ever since her appointment as Federal Ombudsperson, Kashmala Tariq has been actively involved in the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2010.
Since Mehergarh has been working on the countrywide implementation of this law, representatives of the organisation went to welcome the Federal Ombudsperson and assured her of their support. Kashmala Tariq is the third federal ombudsperson since 2010. The first was Justice Mussarat Hillali while the second was Justice Yasmeen Abbasi.
As soon as Tariq took charge, she sent out letters to different organisations regarding their status of compliance with the workplace harassment law. In her first three weeks of office, she has already fined a private airlines Rs 100,000 for non-compliance with this law. Hopefully, this will encourage other organisations, who have not complied with this law in the last eight years, to institutionalise the mechanism given in the act. Compliance with this particular law ensures harassment free and a more dignified work environment.
Published in Daily Times, March 29th 2018.