Advocacy Program
There are laws and structures which discriminate against women. There are religious interpretations and cultural practices that force women to sub-human status. There are unfortunate incidents every now and then where women are subject to extreme violence and they need extra support to claim justice or at least for rehabilitation. Bedari does advocacy campaigns on issues related to women and girls’ human rights.
Bedari is founding member of Alliance against Sexual Harassment at Workplace (AASHA). AASHA drafted two bills: one was to amend the Pakistan Penal Code to enhance the punishment for sexual harassment in public places, and the other bill focused on an institutional mechanism for combating sexual harassment at workplace. Both the bills have been approved by the Parliament and have become laws. It took eight years of awareness raising, intensive advocacy and lobbying to finally have a law on sexual harassment for all Pakistani women.
