Pakistani human rights activists hold candles as they shout slogans during a rally in Lahore on March 7, 2011 on the eve of International Women's Day. Pakistan is a conservative Muslim country, where the United Nations says only 40 percent of adult women are literate. Women are victims of violence and abuse, and the country still lacks a law against domestic violence. – AFP Photo

KARACHI: Resident Director, Aurat Foundation, Mehnaz Rehman has urged for urgent sensitisation of law enforcers about the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Work-Place Act.

Talking to APP on Thursday, she said, "Sections of society including cops, lawyers and judges, who are expected under the law to provide assistance to the victims or complainants, must be sensitised about the issue itself and the relevant laws."

"This is extremely important as the rampant chauvinism and traditional approach are major hindrances for sufferers in need of justice. It is this very approach that many of the victims themselves could not gain courage to report their plight," said Rehman.

She said that social pressures and patriarchal paradigm are preventing women to report crimes, the commonest being the harassment, committed against them.

"Introduction of the law that has also been included in the Pakistan Penal Code makes it important that all stakeholders understand it and make it work," she added.

She agreed that there is a need to incorporate the law in the training packages for police, lawyers and judges.

There is also a dire need that every institution and organisation with women workforce, complying with the law itself, immediately develops a code of conduct.

Rehman suggested that workers, be they men or women, must be helped to understand the law so as to create   a safe and dignified working environment for both women and men workers.