ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Dr Mohammad Farogh Naseem on Tuesday told the Senate that the Federal Ombudsman for Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace had registered some 378 cases during the last four years.

Replying to a question by Senator Mohammad Azam Khan Swati, he said 145 complaints were received from Islamabad Capital Territory, 153 from Punjab, 53 from Sindh, 22 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, four from Balochistan and one from Fata.

He said 220 cases were received from government departments. Inquiries in 50 cases were being carried out by the respective departments while penalties were imposed on the culprits in 49 cases.

In two cases, culprits were removed from services while censure letters were issued in seven cases.

In 15 cases, penalties include stoppage of increment, withholding of promotion and compensation to the complainant were imposed.

The minister said 20 cases were received from various organisations in 2014, six of them from universities, including Quaid-i-Azam University, Lums and Virtual Kohat University.

Five cases were reported from Postal Services, two from Pakistan Science Foundation and one each from hospitals, Lok Virsa, Gun and Country Club, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2018