SAHIWAL:The office of the provincial ombudsperson plans to launch special awareness campaigns focusing on workplace harassment and the enforcement of the Women’s Property Rights Act by engaging district bar associations and other stakeholders across 36 districts of Punjab.

This was stated by Provincial Ombudsperson Ms Nabeela Khan during a seminar on women’s property rights held here at the District Court on Monday.

Ms Khan acknowledged that civil courts have historically failed to provide timely justice to women seeking their property rights in a patriarchal society like ours.

She regretted that often, court decisions regarding ownership, take decades, with some rulings arriving posthumously for the applicants.

She said even the social fabric of society did not encourage the enforcement side and mostly women withdraw from their property ownership rights one way or other.

This practice is common and thousands of pending cases are its vivid example, she added.

Ms Khan said that it is against this backdrop the provincial ombudsperson’s office has decided to initiate a dialogue and awareness campaigns with district bars and civil society to ensure the effective implementation of the Women’s Property Rights Act.

She emphasised that as a nation, we have taken far too long to address such critical issue, stating that the enforcement of women’s property rights must now be treated as a top priority.

The enforcement of women’s property rights is directly related to their empowerment in society, she added.

She said as a woman leading this office, she vowed to spread this message across Punjab actively.

“The enforcement of women’s property rights is not just a legal responsibility, but a moral imperative that must be upheld by all institutions involved,” Ms Khan stressed.

None can deprive women of her hereditary property rights under the Constitution, she added.

She said that the government plans to extend ombudsperson’s regional offices to the district and tehsil levels.

Earlier, Ms Khan heard 22 cases in the regional office.

The seminar was attended by a large number of lawyers, including female attorneys, representatives from civil society organisations (CSOs), and female police officers.

Those who addressed the seminar included Additional District and Session Judge Farukh Hameed, law officers Ghazal Yasmeen, Waqar Younas, DBA president Mian Rehman, and senior lawyers Tahir Bashir, Muhammad Hussain Sagla and Mahar Qutab.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2024