LAHORE: The Gujranwala police have set up the Women’s Enclave, the first-ever general reporting centre, for the women requiring help in lodging complaints with the other state-run institutes, including the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), in addition to the police-related matters.

A salient feature of the centre, situated in Satellite Town, is that it is manned by the women police personnel and no male staff or visitor is allowed to enter it or interact with the victims.

The Gujranwala police department has given a log-in facility to the three main relevant departments, namely FIA, Social Welfare Department and the Women Ombudsperson Punjab, through a specially designed app to initiate complaints of the victim women and deal with them on a priority basis. Most importantly, the victim women would also be able to avail legal and other help in getting their dowry articles and the inherited properties back from their in-laws as the Women’s Enclave has engaged leading women lawyers to provide them with legal assistance.

Speaking to Dawn, an official says the facility has been established in response to the rise in the number of cases of violence against women while a majority of them avoid going to the male-dominated police stations where they are uncomfortable to share sensitive issues like sexual assault and domestic violence, which they can share with women officers.

Centre has only female staff to deal with women complaints

According to some reports, every month 400 to 500 women visit police stations to file complaints, mostly pertaining to the domestic violence, sexual assault, workplace harassment and property and dowry disputes.

The official said Gujranwala City Police Officer (CPO) Rana Ayyaz Saleem held meetings with the relevant departments, including FIA, the Social Welfare Department, Punjab Women Ombudsperson and the Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce, to address all the issues of women ‘out of the police station’.

The centre is likely to be replicated in other districts of the province as the inspector general of police has declared it one of the best facilities for women.

Quoting a report of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the official said around 91pc of women in the domestic work sector faced harassment while social media also contributed in multiplying the harassment cases where a large number of women were trapped by men through recording videos, misuse of pictures and blackmail.

The official said that the Women’s Enclave has been equipped with trained female officers who would fight for the victims to provide them with legal protection. For this purpose, Gujranwala police collaborated with the cyber crime wing of the FIA and the enclave would process complaints to the authority and follow up the cases.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2024