President Dr Arif Alvi has said that society must act to stop harassment of women as the government and laws could not fix the issue alone.
Addressing a national seminar on protection of women against harassment today, President Dr Alvi said that society had a key role to play in discouraging women harassment at public places.
The seminar was organized by the office of Punjab ombudsperson, United Nations Women and Bargad, a youth development organization.
Referring to Punjab governor’s statement that laws should be implemented to ensure women security, the president said that law enforcement agencies could not be present at all places around the clock.
“The society should take stand as a whole when they see such incidents happening at public places; in buses, roads or parks,” remarked Dr Arif Alvi, while expressing regret over the fact that many people recorded the Minar-e-Pakistan incident but no one stepped up to stop the unfortunate event.
Calling upon all the men in the society to ensure that women feel safe around them, the president stated that societies were not changed by governments or laws, but rather through the conduct of the citizens.
Dr Arif Alvi also lauded the government’s efforts of activating institutions to protect women against harassment and to empower them by giving them rights of ownership and possession of properties.
He said that financial empowerment of women was a must for the progress of the nation. “Islam provided protection and property rights to women when it was unimagined 1400 years ago,” he remarked.
“Women are deprived of property rights due to harmful cultural traditions,” the president stated in his address.
