Islamabad

Devolution Trust for Community Empowerment (DTCE) held a seminar on ‘Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010’, while celebrating ‘16 Days of Activism in Islamabad’ Tuesday, says a press release.

The day celebrated every year and aims to raise awareness about gender-based violence (GBV). Gender-based violence takes various forms including physical violence, emotional violence, sexual violence and economic violence. Whilst perpetrators of GBV are found among both men and women, recent studies undertaken in many countries have found a high prevalence of physical and sexual violence against women by male partners. Statistics from the United Nations Population Fund indicate that 95 per cent of victims of domestic violence are women, while 99 per cent of perpetrators are men. GBV has devastating consequences, not only for victims, but also for society as a whole.

The programme seeks to facilitate behavioural change in society by enabling women to access information, resources and institutions, and improve societal attitudes towards women’s rights issues.

Azhar Bashir from DTCE said that violence against women is a persistent and universal problem occurring in every culture and social group. Around the world, at least one in every three women has been abused in her lifetime — most often by someone she knows, including a member of her own family, an employer or a co-worker. Violence against women has been called “the most pervasive yet least recognised human rights abuse in the world.” Gender violence occurs in both the ‘public’ and ‘private’ spheres.

Ms Fauzia Saeed, Executive Director Mehragarh and chief guest of the seminar, said in Pakistan different forms of violence against women prevails including domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, sexual harassment, stove-burning, dowry related violence, honour killings, ‘Karo Kari’, ‘Vani’, ‘Swara’ and ‘Watta Satta’, trafficking of women and girls and harassment at the workplace.

The seminar focus on raising awareness on gender-based violence, provide a forum for dialogue and information sharing, lobbying with the public sector stakeholders regarding the national and international commitments on gender, expressing solidarity with survivors and victims of gender-based violence and celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of the women of Pakistan.

Ms Seemi Kamal from Gender Equity Programme (GEP) and Justice (r) Amjad Ali Legal Expert, DTCE, also addressed the seminar.

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