Women Ombudsperson Punjab launches a Harassment Awareness Volunteer Programme

Lahore: Women Ombudsperson Punjab Dr. Mira Philbous has said that in order to empower and protect working women at the workplace as well as to create mass awareness about their rights under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Work Place Act 2012, the office of the Women Ombudsperson Punjab has launched a Harassment Awareness Volunteer Programme  (HAVP) and ADP scheme under the auspices of Women Development Department Government of the Punjab in all 36 districts of Punjab in collaboration with NGO and Advertising Agency, selected after a transparent process.

While talking to the working women, she added that the office is already successfully achieving its objective to disseminate information to working women of their legal rights and give them confidence to report their grievances of sexual harassment to the right quarters and inform the management of their responsibility for providing an environment free of sexual harassment at workplace. She told that HAVP has successfully completed its programme in districts of Layyah, Muzaffargarh and Okara with the cooperation of District Administration.

Dr. Mira Philbous has said that 20 volunteers in every district after training visited 30 different venues, such as Banks, Hospitals, Factories, Colleges and other workplaces to inform the working personnel of the Women’s Protection Act and management of their responsibility for creating an environment free of sexual harassment.

She said, it has been observed that numerous working women in the public and private sectors are still unaware of their rights or Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2012 or type of behavior at the workplace amounting to sexual harassment and they are totally unaware of legal mechanism and procedure available for them to get justice from the inquiry committees at the department, districts and organization level where they are employed.

Women Ombudsperson said that Harassment Awareness Volunteer Programme (HAVP) presently launch in Sahiwal Division where 20 trained volunteers with the cooperation of DCO and concerned departmental head are carrying out the outreach campaign of awareness across all sections of society to educator the general public. She informed that seminars will be held on 10^th January at Arts Council Sahiwal which will be attended by well known notables, civil society, the commissioner, all the DCOs of Sahiwal Division Headquarters and all stake holders.