PAKISTAN: Exploring Ways to End Gender-based Violence

Steps should be taken to explore opportunities making police more responsible and responsive towards gender-based violence, said experts in inaugural session of a regional conference organised by Rozan in collaboration with Ministry for Human Rights and Islamabad police the other day.

The moot was titled ‘21st Century and policing in South Asia, Response towards Gender Based Violence: Challenges and Prospects'.

Experts from South Asian region were of the view that fresh legislation should be carried out to improve the situation of police in their respective countries and there should be proper arrangements for improving the situation for women and controlling gender-based violence.

Civil society representatives, police officials, students and government officials attended the event in large number. Speaking as chief guest, Federal Minister for Human Rights Syed Mumtaz Alam Gilani has said Islamabad police are very well trained and groomed but police in other provinces have been reduced to an instrument in the hands of feudal and tribal chiefs who misuse their power.

He said the public-private partnership was praiseworthy and he was looking forward to a positive outcome of this conference.

Gilani reiterated that his ministry would make utmost efforts to take forward recommendations of this conference to relevant ministries and department of the state.

In the keynote address, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Secretary General I A Rehman told the gathering that colonial system of policing that had dominated police practices in most South Asian countries needed to be changed urgently.

The secretary general said that steps had not been taken for gender responsive policing and measures taken in region were not enough and there was need of bringing issues such as increasing women representation in police force.

Norwegian Ambassador to Pakistan Roberk Kvile in his address said that Norway had been supporting the police department and civil society organisations for gender sensitive policing in Pakistan. He said that education, gender equality was essential for 90 million womenfolk of Pakistan.

Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Inspector General of Police Syed Kaleem Imam on the occasion said that the collaboration of civil society organisations and police was a good omen but a lot needed to be done.

Hina Jillani, renowned human rights activist said that police practice was anti women in South Asia as patriarchal values had been followed in the region. She also emphasised the role of political will to improve this institution as well as the vision of leadership of police with deep understanding of the roots of gender-based violence and issues around it.

During the first technical session in South Asia Ms Kishali Pinto-Jaywardena of Sri Lanka speaking on democracy, gender-based violence and policing in Sri Lanka said that there were tensions between ensuring ordinary democratic norms, preventing gender violence in the context of policing problems following from more than three decades of conflict in the country. Other speakers of the session were Nayyar Hasnian Hyder (ex-IG police) and Mukhtar Ahmed Ali of CPDI.

The last session was on ‘Implementation of Legislation and/policies on gender based violence and the role of police' and those spoke in the session included Ehsan Sadiq, AIG Operations Islamabad police, Naeem A Mirza CEO Aurat foundation and others also spoke at the occasion.