NGOs, traffic police fight harassment in Peshawar with rickshaws

NGOs, traffic police come together to root out sexual harassment by pasting educational banners on back of rickshaws.


Riaz Ahmad March 26, 2012

PESHAWAR: Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) with the help of the traffic police launched a campaign on Sunday to create public awareness among the masses about sexual harassment of women through slogans written on the back of three-wheelers in Peshawar.

The campaign was inaugurated by Deputy Superintendent of Traffic Police Ifthikhar who also shed light on the importance of the topic and said that people were unaware of the fact that harassing women in the offices was a punishable crime under Section 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

He said that the banners would be pasted on the back of the rickshaws with attractive and educative slogans so as to create awareness among the masses.

“The rickshaw is a vehicle which reaches each and every corner of the city and is used by the masses, so the idea was to decorate these vehicles with banners and slogans to educate them on this topic,” he explained. He added that an FIR could be registered by victims of sexual harassment in local police stations.

The awareness campaign is a joint venture between NGO Mera Ghar, traffic police and PhD Students Federation.

NGO’s representatives Ayesha and Khursid Bano, and President PhD Students Federation Asif were also present on the occasion.

“People do not realize that the harassment of working women is a reality and those who are involved in doing so could end up behind the bars,” said DSP Iftikhar

He added that the law protects women's rights in this country, but it was “more than unfortunate” that no one cares about such laws.

Answering a question, he said that such campaigns were not sufficient enough and that practical steps were required to better equip and protect the women, but that it was the first step towards achieving the goal.

“No, it is not sufficient enough, but these organisations have the privilege to take a step in this regard and I would like to congratulate them for this,” he said.

On the occasion, around two dozen rickshaws were decorated with banners and slogans and the participants said that they were planning on writing slogans on at least 1,000 three-wheelers in the days to come.

Currently, there are at least 40,000 three-wheelers in the city.

COMMENTS (7)

Moise | 12 years ago | Reply

So you support bribery?

Pakistan politics | 12 years ago | Reply

@Moise: dont just criticize every time, hope for the best, if they are trying to do something good appreciate them

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