New Delhi, March 13 (AHN) While Pakistan has enacted important legal protections for women in the workplace, the real challenge is enforcing those laws, with many organisations failing to establish functional inquiry committees or treating them as formalities, a new report has said.

At an event organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) on occasion of International Women’s Day, participants highlighted that fear of retaliation, social stigma and lack of trust in complaint processes deter many women from reporting harassment, according to an editorial in Business Recorder.

Many organisations either fail to establish functional inquiry committees or treat them as mere formalities, it pointed out, adding that lack of proper awareness, training, and oversight makes even well-crafted legislation ineffective.

Participants at the event said women’s empowerment should not be viewed simply as a “women’s issue,” but a human rights issue and an essential element of social and economic development.

"Society, as a whole, benefits when women get equal opportunities to work, contribute, and lead. Workplaces that uphold dignity and equality tend to be more productive, creative, and cooperative. Conversely, harassment and discrimination not only undermine women’s potential but also hinder broader national progress," the report said.

Another report noted that Pakistan’s central government debt rose by over Rs 7 trillion in 2025 marking an increase of nearly 10 per cent — a trend that risks diverting resources away from private investment, job creation and public services.

At the current rate, Pakistan will become "a perennial contender for the world's worst-run country," without a quick resolution, the report argued.

Remittances now account for nearly 10 per cent of GDP and rival export earnings, masking failures of the system such as idle factories, high unemployment and underutilisation of productive workforce, it noted.