A growing number of men in Pakistan are reporting workplace harassment with official data revealing that the number of complaints lodged with the Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment (FOSPAH) has increased significantly in recent years.
The documents released by the official papers show FOSPAH has received a total of 1,290 complaints of workplace harassment during the 12-month period.
Of these, 521 (about 40%) were made by a male and 769 were made by a woman, showing that men and women are equally affected by workplace harassment.
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Islamabad had the largest number of complaints lodged by male complainants with 231 cases, whereas Punjab saw 222 male complainants making a complaint.
There were 42 complaints in Peshawar, 24 complaints in Karachi and two complaints in Balochistan.
In the case of women Islamabad had the highest number of complainants with 496 complaints, followed by 154 complaints in Punjab.
Overall the regions with the highest number of complaints of workplace harassment are Islamabad and Punjab.
Of the 1,290 complaints received during the reporting period, FOSPAH disposed of 1,104, which is a high rate of disposal.
The relative frequency of complaints from Islamabad, the officials said, is attributed mainly to greater awareness among the public about the legal options that are available to a victim of workplace harassment.
They claimed that workers in the federal capital are more accustomed to the institution’s complaint system, and are more likely to report incidents.
Under the leadership of Federal Ombudsperson Fauzia Waqar, FOSPAH has also continued its nationwide awareness campaign and spread education on the legal rights of employees, officials said.
The institution encourages women, men and transgender victims of workplace harassment to seek legal remedies and that incidents of harassment are reported not ignored.
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