Anti-Harassment Policy

Maahir prohibits all forms of harassment on our platform. We comply with The Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010 (Pakistan) and apply its principles to all users regardless of gender.

1. What Counts as Harassment

Under the 2010 Act and our community standards, harassment includes:

Unwelcome sexual advances — explicit or implicit requests for sexual favours
Verbal abuse — slurs, name-calling, derogatory jokes based on gender, religion, ethnicity, or disability
Cyberbullying — repeated threatening messages, doxxing, sharing private information without consent
Discrimination — treating someone unfairly based on protected characteristics
Retaliation — punishing someone who has reported harassment

2. Reporting Procedure

Use the Report button on any harassing content, OR
File an incident report at /report-incident selecting "Harassment" as the type, OR
Contact the Inquiry Committee directly at safety@maahir.io

All reports are confidential. The identity of the reporter is shared only with the inquiry committee.

3. Inquiry Process

Within 3 days of a report, an Inquiry Committee of three members (at least one female) is convened.
Both the complainant and the respondent are given the opportunity to present their case.
The committee issues written findings within 30 days, as required by the 2010 Act.

4. Penalties

Confirmed harassment may result in:

Minor: Warning + mandatory retraining + content removal
Major: Temporary suspension (7–30 days)
Severe: Permanent account ban + report to law enforcement

5. Protection of Complainants

No retaliation is tolerated against anyone who reports in good faith.
We provide temporary account protections (restrict DMs, hide profile) during an active inquiry.
Anonymous reporting is supported for those who fear identification.

6. Resources

Madadgar National Helpline: 1098 (free, 24/7)
Digital Rights Foundation Cyber Harassment Helpline: 0800-39393
Maahir Designated Safeguarding Lead: safety@maahir.io