WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND WORKPLACE HARASSMENT: A STUDY OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS LITIGATION IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

Harassment at work is still a big obstacle to the attainment of women's constitutional rights, equality, dignity, and participation in Pakistan's labor market. This paper discusses how the issue of workplace harassment has been addressed in Pakistan through the constitutional, statutory, institutional and judicial framework, with a particular focus on the development of the rights of women. It specifically examines the interplay between fundamental rights guaranteed in Article 4, 9, 14, 25 and 34 of the Constitution and the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010 (amended in 2022). The analysis shows that the statutory system has provided for a number of mechanisms, such as the organizational Inquiry Committees, competent authorities, the Federal and Provincial Ombudspersons, appeals and judicial review. These protections have been reinforced by judicial interpretation, which has found workplace harassment to be closely related to the constitutional rights to dignity and equality. In particular, the dignity of Article 14 was highlighted in Uzma Naveed Chaudhary v Federation of Pakistan (PLD 2022 SC 783), and a wider definition of gender-based harassment was given in Nadia Naz v President of Pakistan (PLD 2023 SC 588). The data from the institutions show that this demand for remedies is continuing between 2011 and 2023. FOSPAH received 3,571 cases of workplace harassment, of which 2,716 were submitted by women. Underreporting and retaliation, institutional weaknesses, and slow procedures, along with unequal power relations in the workplace, continue to limit effective protection despite legislative and judicial improvements. Finally, the paper argues that constitutional guarantees of equality and dignity have to be translated into substantive protection for women in the workplace, which can be done through strengthening institutional independence, allowing for complaints to be voiced, ensuring proper enforcement, and having consistent judiciary and preventive governance in the workplace.