Women empowerment: ‘Each police station should have one female official’

NGOs want society, government to stand up for women's rights

SUKKUR: Society cannot progress while ignoring women, who make up half of country's population, said speakers at a media briefing on Wednesday in Sukkur.

The event, 'Women Rights', was organised by Marvi Rural Development Organisation (MRDO) in collaboration with Insaf Network Pakistan (INP) and Enhanced Democratic Accountability and Civic Engagement (Edace). MRDO CEO Gulam Sughra Solangi said, "MRDO has been working for women rights since 1994". Funded by Edace, MRDO is working to create awareness among women, especially those living in rural areas, by initiating different programmes, such as seminars, workshops, community and school, college visits, she explained. The CEO called upon the government for strict implementation of women-friendly laws, which could lead to women protection and empowerment. She also urged civil society to stand up and fight for women's rights.



"Parliamentarians, especially female parliamentarians, have done a great job by passing women's rights bills in parliament, which, if implemented in letter and spirit, will create a congenial environment for women," she explained. Solangi said that they used to visit different villages, union councils and girls schools and colleges to make women aware of their legitimate rights but a lot has yet to be done, therefore she appealed to civil society and the media to join hands to further their goal.

"Legal empowerment of the poor is a new project of MRDO, under which an action month on women rights was observed in Sukkur district," said MRDO district coordinator Zulfiqar Ali. "Through various activities such as seminars, workshops, door to door visits and banners, awareness was created among 30,548 men and 10,202 women," he explained, adding that women's movements have resulted in women-friendly laws and female representation in parliament.

Female parliamentarians have always taken up issues of public interest and raised their voices against human rights violations, he added. "The INP is working in 13 districts to promote a pro bono culture in the courts through legal awareness, legal aid and legal advice," he said. Besides this, the INP has established women-friendly spaces in courts, Ali added. According to him, the awareness movements are focused on women's rights, ending violence against women, government and private support mechanisms for women, human rights cells, women's rights crisis centres, shelters, hazards of early marriages and women's economic empowerment.

Journalist Perwaiz Khan suggested that MRDO and other NGOS should hold meetings with the Sukkur police chief and demand a female police official be posted at every police station to facilitate female complainants. He was of the view that women often find it difficult to narrate their ordeal to male police officials, due to which their case becomes weak. Therefore it is important to post a female police official at every police station, so that the complaining women feel at ease, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17^th, 2016.