ISLAMABAD: A user-friendly mobile app ‘Humqadam’ was launched here on Tuesday with an aim to assist more than one-third of the country’s women who face physical and emotional violence.

Developed by a civil society organisation Shirkat Gah — Women’s Resource Centre in collaboration with the National Commission of Status on Women (NCSW) and with the technical support from Lums, the app connects survivors with legal and other services. The project has been funded by the UN Trust Fund.

The speakers at the ceremony appreciated the launch of the app, terming the move “timely and much needed”. They, however, lamented the lax implementation of relevant laws, the absence of integrated data, and persistent negative cultural norms that allow impunity for violence against women.

Speaking on the occasion, NCSW Chairperson Nilofar Bakhtiar said there was a need to re-prioritise policies concerning women, which had been on the backburner for quite some time. She said Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did not have the NCSW chapters while the commission itself was working without a regular board for more than one year.

“A woman who is a victim of domestic violence cannot look towards her family for support and this is where this [mobile] app helps,” she said, adding that the initiative would also help in the capacity building of law enforcers and the health authorities.

Former MNA Mehnaz Akbar Aziz stressed the need to raise awareness to make this initiative successful by introducing this app in universities, among women lawyers, and influencers which she termed the “pockets of change”.

Her talk was followed by a detailed presentation by Shirkat Gah coordinator Sana Raza and Dr Salman Shahid from Lums, who played a key role in the development of the app.

Ms Raza said the platform was developed to create awareness from the “grassroots to the very top” in a bid to engage the whole society.

Addressing the participants, UN Women’s Portfolio Manager Saman Ahsan said over the time, funding for gender inequality initiatives had decreased and cited the example of Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, she said, 56pc of the women did not even share it with their families, then how could they approach the authorities?

MNA Huma Akhtar Chugtai noting that the mobile application provided a comprehensive referral mechanism as well as credible data crucial for policy-making, stressed the need to train judges, civil servants, and the police to bring about reforms which would facilitate the journey towards ending the violence against women.

PPP MNA Sehar Kamran emphasised the need for the enforcement of such policies for which all stakeholders must be taken on board and existing laws reviewed with a focus on their execution. She underlined the need to make police stations safe for women through proper training to encourage survivors to lodge complaints and advocated reforms in the criminal justice system for deterrence and for more women in the judicial system.

MNA Sabeen Ghauri said women were often silenced by their families despite incidents of violence but this app would give them the confidence to stand up for themselves.

In her video message, Secretary Women Development Department Punjab Sumera Samad said the app raised awareness among gender-based violence survivors, particularly psycho-social counselling.

Amna Waheed Durrani from the KP Commission on the Status of Women said the platform would help break the taboo about gender-based violence, as usually it is “not considered unacceptable”.

Naseem Hasan Mastoi, the deputy director Women’s Development Department, Benazirabad, said the app would reduce their workload as the integrated platform provided survivors with relevant information with just a click.

Zarghoona Barrech of the Balochistan Commission on the Status of Women said the stakeholders in the province would get data to make the application effective.

Executive Director Shirkat Gah Farida Shaheed said the victims of the gender-based violence rarely knew to whom they should call and where to go or what services existed to ensure their rights.

The Hamqadam app, she said, provided the answers, detailing national and provincial resources and details of existing services in 16 districts.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2024