PESHAWAR: Workplace harassment remains widespread among working women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a new study shows. Researchers found that more than half of the doctors, nurses and teachers they surveyed had faced some form of workplace harassment on the job. However, fewer than one in ten ever reported it.
What the study found
Dr Tasneem Zara led the research team, based at MTI Hayatabad Medical Complex and Khyber Girls Medical College. The team surveyed 200 working women: 67 doctors, 67 nursing staff and 66 teachers. As a result, they found that 58 percent, or 116 women, had experienced at least one form of workplace harassment.
Nurses faced the highest rates of workplace harassment, at 64.2 percent. Doctors followed at 62.7 percent, and teachers reported 47 percent. Verbal harassment was the most common form. Psychological and emotional harassment, gender discrimination, bullying and online harassment followed close behind. Some women alsoreported sexual and physical harassment.
Notably, women who worked more than eight hours a day, or who regularly took night shifts, reported markedly higher rates. This suggests that long hours and workplace culture both fuel the problem.
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A global pattern
Workplace harassment is not unique to Pakistan. In fact, a joint survey by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and Gallup found that 23 percent of employed people worldwide, roughly 743 million individuals, have faced violence or harassment at work. Of these, 18 percent reported psychological harassment, 8.5 percent reported physical harassment, and over 6 percent reported sexual harassment.
Similarly, in the United States, a 2024–2025 report by McKinsey and LeanIn.Org found that 37 percent of working women had experienced workplace harassment. This rate has stayed flat for five years. Meanwhile, across the European Union, a survey of over 114,000 women found that nearly one in ten confirmed facing sexual harassment at work, despite strong legal protections.
By comparison, Pakistan’s numbers are far higher. According to surveys by Asha and the Aurat Foundation, 90 to 93 percent of women have experienced workplace harassment during their careers. Gallup Pakistan puts the rate at 70 percent in urban areas and 93 percent in rural areas.
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Since Pakistan passed its anti-harassment law in 2010, official complaint records have improved. For example, the Federal Ombudsperson for Protection Against Harassment (FOSPAH) recorded 1,290 complaints in a recent year. Of these, 769 (60 percent) came from women, while 521 (40 percent) came from men. This finding challenges the common assumption that only women face workplace harassment.
Why victims stay silent
Perhaps the most striking finding is not the scale of workplace harassment, but how rarely it gets reported. Of the 116 women affected, only 12 (10.3 percent) filed a formal complaint. So why did the rest stay silent?
The reasons vary. About 34.5 percent feared retaliation. Another 25.9 percent worried about damage to their reputation. Meanwhile, 20.7 percent simply did not trust their institution’s complaint system. In other words, silence was often a survival strategy, not indifference.
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Although legal protections exist, enforcement remains weak. Many employees still don’t know their rights. Additionally, in many institutions, harassment complaint committees exist only on paper.
What needs to change?
According to the researchers, the solution isn’t more slogans, it’s a functioning system. Four measures stand out: regular staff training, gender-sensitivity programs, confidential and impartial complaint channels, and clear consequences for offenders.
Still, the study also points to a shared responsibility. Anyone who laughed off an inappropriate remark, ignored a colleague’s complaint, or said “just let it go” becomes part of the culture of silence. Ultimately, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa findings raise a hard question: is the fault only with those who stay silent, or with a system that gives them no reason to speak?
