Reporting harassment a click away

App offers platform for victims to register complaints without getting exposed

PESHAWAR: With incidents of violence against women and harassment showing no signs of abating in the province, a digital portal - backed by the provincial government - has been launched which allows women to report such incidents to the authorities without exposing themselves.

Available as a website and a smartphone application, this portal can be accessed in eight different languages, including Urdu, English, Pashto, Chinese and Arabic.

The portal was developed by ‘Zamunga Jawandoon’, which is part of the Women Protection Wing (WPW).

WPW Chairperson Wafa Wazir told The Express Tribune that women, children and people who are transgender can register reports of violence through the app.

The complaints registered on the app will be reviewed by staff working at the agency who will then contact the complainant and forward it to the relevant authorities all within an hour of registering the complaint.

Wazir said that the wing has a special team which can contact legal experts, psychological experts, police and even the federal investigation agency (FIA) - for registering cybercrime.

“All institutions are informed once the complaint has been registered,” she said.

Earlier, the WPW chairman said women faced a lot of problems in filing their complaints, especially during the lockdown - imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2020.