The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has finally appointed Rukhshanda Naz, a known women and human rights activist, as provincial ombudsperson under an anti-harassment law.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister announced the appointment of Rukhshanda Naz as the first provincial ombudsperson for dealing with the harassment cases at workplaces in the province.

The KP government made the appointment under the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2010. It is to check harassment of persons in public and private sector institutions.

Under Section 7 of the Act, the appointment of the federal and provincial ombudspersons has to be made by the relevant governments.

The government made the appointment after the Peshawar High Court (PHC) decision, on September 21, 2017, directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to appoint within two months the provincial ombudsperson under the law.

The petition was filed by a non-governmental organisation, Da Hawwa Lur (Daughter of the Eve) through Chief Executive Khursheed Bano. The petitioner sought the court’s orders for the provincial government to make the appointment forthwith.

Since 2010, the provincial government despite the protests and demands of the civil society organizations had failed in the appointment of the provincial ombudsperson under the law to deal the growing cases of harassment at workplaces.

The provincial government claimed that the appointment was delayed due to the amendment in the law. Under the Act, a person shall be qualified to be appointed as an ombudsman who has been a judge of the high court or qualified to be appointed as a judge of the high court, but later the criteria was relaxed through the Federal Ombudsman Institutional Reforms Act, 2013. After the amendment, now a woman with an experience of at least 10 years in the matters relating to the protection of women against harassment shall also be eligible to be appointed by the president as ombudsperson, under the Protection Against Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2010.

Rukhshanda Naz has done a master’s in Peace and Reconciliation Studies from Coventry University, UK, LLM in International Law from Coventry University, the UK and LLB from the Khyber Law College.

She remained provincial head of KP/Fata at UN Women Pakistan from September 2010 to November 2011.

Rukhshanda Naz also remained chief operating officer at the Aurat Publication and Information Service Foundation, Islamabad from February 2008 to October 2009.

She remained field officer for Afghanistan/Pakistan at International Human Rights Law Group from 2000 to 2002.

Rukhshanda Naz served as resident director, Aurat Publication and Information Service Foundation, Peshawar from 1993 to 2008.

She remained a consultant to Heinrich Böll Stiftung in 2018 and prepared policy paper on 5 percent women quota on general seats in Pakistan under the project “Making Gender Quota Meaningful”.