Gender Crime Units to be set up

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad police will set up a Gender Crime Unit at the Ramna Police Station and women complaint units at two police stations, the Inspector General of Police said.

These units will deal with female victims and encourage women to seek assistance from the police without fear. “The aim of these units is to give women a feeling of security. They will feel more comfortable talking to women rather than men,” Imam said, addressing a certificate distribution ceremony of the Training of Trainers (ToT) project. This project is funded by the Foreign Ministry of Germany and will be executed by the National Police Bureau and German Technical Cooperation.

A research department is also being created at the Ramna Police Station to collect data on gender-based crimes. The data will be regularly sent to the Gender Crime Centre at the National Police Bureau for analysis and research. The mandate of the police is to ensure security of citizens without any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, socio- economic status, sex and religion. He commended the Gender Responsive Policing (GRP) Project for organising a training course for the instructors of police training institutes from across the country.

Mr Hamid Zeb, Director General National Police Bureau, who was also present at the ceremony, said that ToT is part of a strategic set of capacity building activities of the GRP aimed at improving the training capacities of police, both men and women. Mr Thomas Schaef, Country Director of the project, appreciated the participants’ learning motivation and their eagerness to carry forward the training agenda. He said the GRP Project is a Pak-German bilateral cooperation project supported by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Batool Qureshi, Secretary Ministry of Women Development, said that it is commendable to see public institutions like the police working on violence against women. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Women Development will activate a toll free number, 0800-966-366, from June 1 for female victims.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 18th, 2010.