Problem Statement:

Women’s access to employment opportunities is restricted in Pakistan, particularly due to the high levels of harassment faced by women in the workplace. About 93 per cent of working women in Pakistan acknowledge facing workplace harassment. In 2023, Pakistan ranked 142 out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Gender Gap Report.

At the federal level, the Parliament of Pakistan enacted the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010 (and 2022 Amendment) to provide legal protection to women against harassment at the workplace. However, the passage of the Eighteenth Amendment to Pakistan’s Constitution in 2010 shifted many legislative subjects, from joint national and provincial authority to the provinces exclusively. This also includes the special law pertaining to workplace harassment. All provinces (except Sindh) have enacted their provincial laws on workplace harassment. Sindh with its 55.69 million population stands second largest Province by population in Pakistan. Therefore, it is essential for the Sindh Province to enact a law to provide protection to workers against harassment.

Target Group:

General public, policymakers, community leaders, businesses and corporations, stakeholders in the justice sector.

Proposed Solution:

In the project Musawat (translated to Equality), the Karachi Hub will collaborate with the Sindh Human Rights Commission, a statutory body established under Sindh Protection of Human Rights Act 2011, with a mandate to provide for protection of human rights in the province of Sindh.

The purpose is to raise awareness on the need to enact a special law in Sindh Province to protect workers from harassment. The hub will design a digital campaign shedding light on harms caused by workplace harassment, such as restricting women’s economic independence and how enacting a special law would enable safer workplaces for women and the marginalized. The campaign will consist of webinars, social media reels, posts, videos to sensitize the general public, policymakers, community leaders, businesses and corporations, stakeholders in the justice sector.

Hub Activities:

For the first two months, the project will primarily focus on engaging with the Sindh Human Rights Commission and different stakeholders working on sexual and gender-based violence, local policymakers, thinktanks and more such entities to General public, policymakers, community leaders, businesses and corporations, stakeholders in the justice sector.

Short-Term Goals/Results:

1. Generate research through a desk review on the laws enacted in other provinces in Pakistan on Workplace Harassment for introduction of similar bill in the Provincial Assembly of Sindh.


2. Write letter to the Chairperson, Sindh Human Rights Commission for a meeting request and discussion on the project’s collaboration with the commission to raise awareness on the need to enact a law on workplace harassment in the Sindh Province.

Long-Term Goals/Results:

1. Sensitize the community and justice sectors for the need to ensure safer workplaces so that women can have equal access to employment opportunities.


2. Table a draft bill in the Sindh Provincial Assembly on workplace harassment.


3. Enactment of a special law in the Sindh Province on workplace harassment.


4. Enhancing women's ability to make valuable contributions to the economy and society through their talents and skills.

Available Metrics:

To ensure practicality and impact, the project team has set the following target impact metrics for the project:

• #500 people sensitized through views on social media platforms


• #1000 people sensitized through posters that will highlight the harmful effects of workplace harassment.


• #2 meeting with the Sindh Human Rights Commission for advocacy and raising awareness on workplace harassments.


• If the hub manages to be successful, the impact could reach across the entire province of Sindh, affecting a population of 47 million.