By IANS
Islamabad : Pakistan will amend its laws to make workplace harassment of women punishable with dismissal from service.
The National Assembly's Standing Committee on Cabinet Affairs has decided to include gender harassment at the workplace in the definition of "misconduct" in the Removal From Service (Special Powers) Ordinance, 2000.
It has recommended that the National Assembly pass the ordinance into law, the Daily Times said Friday.
The amendment includes in Section 2 (b) of the ordinance a new clause 2 (b) (ii) that reads: "Gender harassment at the workplace causing interference with work performance and creating an intimidating, hostile or uncongenial work environment".
In the existing law, Section (2) (b) (i), "misconduct" is defined as "Conduct prejudicial to good order or service discipline or conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman or involvement or participation for gain either directly or indirectly in industry, trade or speculative transactions or abuse or misuse of the official position to gain undue advantage or assumption of financial or other obligations to private institutions or persons such as may cause embarrassment in the performance of official duties or functions."
The committee also decided to replace the words "officer and gentleman" with the word "officials" because, according to committee members, these words give the impression that it does not apply to junior cadre government employees.
The proposed amendment further reads: "Misconduct includes gender harassment, which is any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favours or other verbal, non-verbal or physical conduct of sexual nature, causing interference with work performance, is made a condition of employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment, or the attempt to punish the refusal to comply to such a request."