HYDERABAD: Speakers at a seminar on Wednesday have said that whether it is sexual harassment or any other form of annoyance, it is a crime; there is no need even to think about it at workplace and institutions of higher learning.
They said that the youths in educational institutions instead of involving themselves in issues like harassment should focus on their education and research along with getting skills so that they could seek employment in the national job market after passing out.
This they said while addressing the seminar titled “Awareness about harassment”, which was organized by Sindh University’s Anti-Harassment Committee (AHC) at SU campus Thatta.
In his presidential address, Sindh University campus Thatta Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Rafique Ahmed Memon said that the Harassment Act 2016 should be fully implemented and said that Islam taught Muslims to keep away from all kinds of harassment with the women, which needed to be followed in letter and spirit.
He said that the University of Sindh had control over the incidents of sexual or other kinds of harassment on the campuses, while the students were aware of the consequences of harassment and they always desired to study and progress. He said that students the University of Sindh and its campus should play their role in creating awareness regarding the harassment at the educational institutions and workplaces in the province.
Speaking on the occasion, the chairperson of SU’s Anti-Harassment Committee (AHC) Professor Dr. Naseem Aslam Channa said that there was an urgent need to launch an awareness campaign against the incidents of harassment in order to stop such practices in the society. She termed the seminar as a step forward to create awareness among the masses specially youth about the issues pertaining to harassment and added that the government should implement the laws available in this regard to curb the menace of harassment and eradicate double standards and discrimination in the society.
Director Institute of Gender Studies and member of AHC Dr. Misbah Bibi Qureshi said that the responsibility of the educational institutions was significant for strength, for which she said that students studying on the various campuses must raise awareness among others so as to end the discrimination with women and harassment issues in the society. “Awareness should be created among youth that they should behave decently with women everywhere in the society”, she said and stressed that support structures should be strengthened to prevent all forms of harassment.
SU Registrar and Member of AHC Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Bhutto said that it was imperative to take care of women to prevent harassment, because in Islam he said a great dignity had been given to women. “A woman is stunning in every relationship, be it a mother, daughter, sister and a wife”, he said.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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