NA adopts resolution recognising gender discrimination as workplace harassment

The National Assembly of Pakistan recently passed a resolution affirming that workplace harassment extends beyond sexual misconduct to encompass gender-based discrimination, intimidation, humiliation, and other forms of mistreatment. Introduced by MNA Dr Shahida Rehmani, the resolution reaffirms the Parliament's dedication to safeguarding the dignity, equality, and rights of all individuals against all manners of workplace harassment and gender-based discrimination, in line with Articles 14 and 25 of the Constitution.

The resolution emphasizes that workplace harassment is not confined to sexual conduct alone, but can also involve non-sexual discrimination, intimidation, humiliation, degrading treatment, hostile behavior, and misuse of authority. It reaffirms the protections outlined in the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010, which recognizes both sexual and non-sexual forms of discrimination under the statutory framework of harassment under the amended 2022 version.

The resolution stresses that the absence of sexual overtures or demands does not lessen the gravity of gender-based harassment or discrimination. It states that an individual's dignity "cannot be subjected to narrow distinctions between different forms of harassment," and all behaviors falling within the law's purview must be addressed with equal gravity, fairness, and accountability.

The National Assembly called upon the federal government and relevant institutions to ensure the proper execution of existing legislation, preventing any individual from being denied statutory protection solely because the harassment or gender-based discrimination reported was non-sexual in nature. While the resolution did not cite specific incidents, it comes in the wake of recent concerns raised by lawyers and journalists over a recent Federal Constitutional Court ruling.

In that decision, Justice Ali Baqar Najafi overturned an Islamabad High Court judgment in a workplace harassment case filed by a National Bank of Pakistan employee in 2012. The Federal Constitutional Court's ruling adhered to the definition of harassment as outlined in the 2010 Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, which stipulates that the act, conduct, or attitude must be sexual in nature for it to fall under the Act's definition.