Sexual Harassment at Workplace in Pakistan - Issues and Remedies About the Global Issue at Managerial Sector

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to assess the implementation of women rights in Pakistan and challenges confronted by women besides evaluating their contribution in raising their voice against harassment through the lens of working women. The phenomenological method was used for this study. The population consisted of all the public/private institutions in Karachi, where women are employed. Total number of n=200 was selected as a sample size through purposive sampling. Ten working women from ten public and private institutions each were interviewed to derive themes and sub-themes associated with the harassment of women at workplace. The results revealed that harassment is routinely practiced at workplace in Pakistan and has genuinely impacted the working women to carryout work effectively.

They are mostly harassed in private sector than in public institution. Harassment mostly takes place in the form of verbal abuse, mental torture and threats. To secure job, most of the working women, particularly those who are the sole bread earners are unwilling to take any action; as a result, culprits are misusing women. Most of the respondents were aware of women rights but were unaware about Protection against Harassment of women at the Workplace Act, 2010. The research suggests strong interventions to provide training to women and to scrutinize disturbing factors at workplace for women.

Keywords: sexual harassment, Pakistan, workplace harassment, harassment in Pakistan