It is a court composed entirely of men.
asserted
It → compose → men
At the time of the 27th Amendment, various unconvincing justifications were presented: the amendments would reduce pendency of cases; “activist” judges had brought these changes upon themselves; the FCC would hear important cases of constitutional interpretation that consumed too much of the Supreme Court’s time.
asserted
that → present → time
The courts were being stripped of their independence.
asserted
courts → strip → independence
This threatens far more than political cases.
asserted
This → threaten → cases
Once judicial independence is destroyed, no fundamental right is insulated from the consequences.
asserted
right → destroy → consequences
Decades of legal advocacy have sought to strengthen protections for women.
asserted
Decades → seek → women
Regressive jurisprudence is undoing that work.
asserted
jurisprudence → undo → work
The roll back of hard-won protections for women should concern everyone.
asserted
roll → win → everyone
Protections that took years to build are being dismantled.
asserted
that → take → years
In its latest judgment, the FCC has restricted the scope of the workplace harassment law.
asserted
FCC → restrict → law
The judgment was authored by Justice Ali Baqir Najafi.
asserted
judgment → author → Najafi
Justice Najafi is the same judge who wrote an additional note in Noor Mukadam’s case stating that the murder is a result of a “living [sic] relationships”, and that “the young generation must note its horrible consequences”.
asserted
generation → write → consequences
A judge who brought victim-blaming reasoning into the judicial treatment of a brutal murder has now authored a judgment that restricts the protections available under the workplace harassment law.
asserted
that → bring → law
Restricting the definition of ‘harassment’
The FCC has adopted an interpretation of the workplace harassment law that undoes its very purpose.
asserted
that → restrict → purpose
The FCC has held that only harassment that is “sexual in nature” is covered.
asserted
that → hold → nature
The immediate consequence is that unless it can be shown that the conduct had a sexual element, it falls outside the protection of the law.
asserted
it → show → law
This interpretation removes an important category of protection expressly included by parliament.
asserted
interpretation → remove → parliament
The definition of harassment includes “sexually demeaning attitudes” when it interferes with work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment.
asserted
it → include → environment
By reducing harassment to conduct that is “sexual in nature”, a wide range of gender-based abuse is placed outside the protection of the law.
asserted
range → reduce → law
Humiliation, degrading treatment, intimidation, and a hostile work environment will no longer be recognised as harassment unless a sexual element can first be established.
asserted
element → degrade → harassment
Justice Ayesha Malik previously held that reducing harassment to conduct that is sexual in nature “takes away the essence” of the harassment law, and ignores that harassment is often less about sexual interest and more about reinforcing existing power dynamics.
asserted
harassment → hold → dynamics
Justice Ayesha held that the very “purpose of harassment laws is to address gender-based discrimination at the workplace and not to limit it to sexual forms of harassment”.
asserted
purpose → hold → harassment
Separately, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, in Muhammad Din’s Case, made clear that harassment is not confined to conduct that is overtly sexual in nature.
asserted
that → make → nature
Speaking for the Court, Justice Shah held that “sexual harassment is not about sex.
asserted
harassment → speak → sex
It is about power”, and recognised that discrimination on the basis of gender (whether sexual or non-sexual in nature) may constitute harassment where it reflects a discriminatory mindset and results in a hostile workplace.
uncertain
it → recognise → workplace
However, post the FCC judgment, a victim may be humiliated, degraded, intimidated or subjected to a hostile and discriminatory workplace, and yet be left without the protection of the workplace harassment law simply because the conduct cannot be characterised as sexual.
uncertain
conduct → humiliate → law
In 2022, parliament amended the federal law, expressly broadening the definition of harassment to include “discrimination on the basis of gender, which may or may not be sexual in nature”.
uncertain
which → amend → nature
Sindh has adopted the federal law.
asserted
Sindh → adopt → law
To the extent the amendments apply, the judgment will only impact claims arising from conduct that occurred before the amendments came into force.
uncertain
amendments → apply → force
The practical consequences of the FCC judgment will be most significant in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan where the 2022 amendments do not apply.
asserted
amendments → apply → Punjab
The responsibility now vests with the provincial legislatures to act without delay, and amend their respective workplace harassment laws to ensure that the protections parliament has recognised cannot be narrowed through regressive judicial interpretation.
asserted
parliament → vest → interpretation
A legal framework that tells victims that gender-based abuse falls outside the harassment law unless it has a “sexual element” reinforces the culture of silence and impunity that the law was enacted to overcome.
asserted
law → tell → that
In a society where there is already severe underreporting, this judgment will deepen the silence.
asserted
judgment → be → silence
Increasing the evidentiary burden for victims
The FCC held that to prove a sexual harassment, “a bare minimum requirement” is that “it must be reinforced with convincing/independent evidence”.
asserted
it → increase → evidence
The FCC seeks to impose a standard of proof that is detached from the realities of how harassment occurs.
asserted
harassment → seek → realities
Workplace harassment often takes place in private settings through verbal comments, gestures, intimidation, or patterns of conduct that may not leave behind documentary or independent evidence.
uncertain
that → take → evidence
The reasoning suggests that a complainant’s own testimony is insufficient unless reinforced by independent material.
uncertain
testimony → suggest → material
The FCC’s approach creates an unjust hierarchy of evidence in which the direct testimony of a victim of harassment is treated as insufficient unless validated by independent evidence.
asserted
testimony → create → evidence
Requiring independent corroboration sends a dangerous message that conduct behind closed doors may escape accountability.
uncertain
conduct → require → accountability
In our jurisprudence, in cases of gender-based violence, the courts have held that the sole testimony of a victim is sufficient if it is confidence inspiring and consistent.
asserted
it → base → victim
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
