FOSPAH Conducts Awareness Seminar At UET

Federal Ombudsman Secretariat for Protection Against Harassment (FOSPAH) conducted an awareness seminar at University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Peshawar said in a Press Release issued here on Tuesday

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Nov, 2021 ) :Federal Ombudsman Secretariat for Protection Against Harassment (FOSPAH) conducted an awareness seminar at University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Peshawar said in a Press Release issued here on Tuesday.

According to details, Vice Chancellor UET Peshawar Prof. Dr. Iftikhar Hussain, Regional Commissioner FOSPAH Regional Office, Peshawar Rubab Mehdi, Lawyers and the students attended the event. Federal Ombudsman Kashmala Tariq apprised the audience about the nature and significance of gender sensitivity. She also shared her vision of creating a harassment free environment at workplaces including educational institutes and the provision of an enabling environment which realize one's potential without intimidation and discrimination of any sort. She urged the harassment victim to collect strong evidence against the harassers before filing a complaint. In case of any misconduct, the audience was advised to share it with colleagues in order to create witness which can later be used as evidence. She also stated that FOSPAH is equipped with a swift and simple procedure, any victim either directly or through internal inquiry committee can register a complaint which does not require any lawyer and takes only two months to decide the case.

Federal Ombudsman further said that FOSPAH is also empowered under the "Enforcement of Women's Property Rights Act 2020" to protect and secure the rights of ownership of women in the property (inherited or owned). Federal Ombudsman elaborated about the FOSPAH's online systems which include Online complaint registration, availability of judgments on official website, latest activities through social media and hearing of the registered cases through video conference. In the end, she added that after the enactment of Harassment Act 2010, it is the responsibility of every employer of an organization to ensure implementation of this Act i.e. formation of the internal inquiry committee and display of Code of Conduct at conspicuous place in their organizations.

In his concluding remarks, Vice Chancellor UET Peshawar Prof. Dr. Iftikhar Hussain applauded the efforts of Federal Ombudsman Kashmala Tariq and her team for conducting this awareness seminar and presented a souvenir to the Federal Ombudsman.