BE PROACTIVE TO COUNTERACT

According to news reports, from January to December 2020, 2,297 cases of violence against women (VAW) were reported in 25 districts of Pakistan despite a challenge of under reporting due to the pandemic. However, even before the pandemic, activists maintained that the recorded cases are only the tip of the iceberg, as most cases of gender-based violence go unreported in the country. In many instances, women do not come forward and report the abuse to authorities.

Unfortunately, the police sector is reflective of Pakistan’s patriarchal culture most of the times. Many male members of the family perceive it is an insult to them if a woman from their family goes to a police station to report a crime. Men believe that they can ‘settle this problem’ at home.

There is also a prevailing perception that the police are prone to bribery and corruption, unresponsive or slow to tend to the scene of a crime. Women in particular tend to go to the police as a last resort, as male officers can often be inept in dealing with physical and/or sexual violence against women, or at times perpetrate further abuse.

The first police station for women was setup in Rawalpindi in 1994 by Late Benazir Bhutto. Until recently, the building wasn’t as active as it faces the mighty Police Lines compound across the road. Fewer cases were reported in this police station because most women of the district preferred staying away from the police for as long as they could. Inspector Shahida Yasmeen, SHO of the women’s police station, shares some progress that has been made in this regard.

“For a long time, the police department observed that cases of crimes against women are reported in media far more than in police stations. It was found that the main problem is that brothers, fathers, husbands, fathers-in-law and even female elders of the family do not let harassment victims come to the police station,” she says.

Observing this trend, Deputy Inspector General of Police (Punjab) Ahsan Younas, a Harvard alumnus with a background in working with gender-sensitive institutions like the UK’s Department of International Development (DFID), introduced a helpline to deal with all cases of harassment on the basis of gender. “If they (subjects of gender-driven harassment) cannot access us, we can reach out to them. This is the concept for the helpline we introduced,” enthuses CPO Ahsan Younas.

“The CPO took us into confidence deciding that if a female faces any sort of harassment, she will simply call and the police will reach out to her. He wanted us to be proactive, and we liked this idea. Now that the helpline is working, the situation is improving but there is a lot that remains to be done. The response was not as we expected. The volume of crimes against women is very high but number of calls we are getting is very low,” explains Inspector Yasmeen.

“The helpline was launched during the pandemic and women can use it 24/7. We have the will and energy to help them using whatever resources that we have. So far, we have dealt with 60 harassment complaints of women.” – Inspector Shahida Yasmeen

Before CPO Ahsan Younas launched this hotline, women would come to the police station only in extreme cases; since cases would end up in an agreement between both the parties. Yasmeen also believes that the reason for lesser calls is the fact that most women in Rawalpindi are not fully aware of this facility; but those who do know, take benefit. The hotline was launched during coronavirus pandemic, but the police could not arrange gatherings of young women in universities and colleges to spread awareness about it. “Unfortunately, we could not hold awareness sessions with women at a large scale, but we want to tell every woman that she can use this helpline 24/7. We have the will and energy to help her using whatever resources we have,” enunciates Yasmeen. This hotline is specifically for women who face harassment in public, workplace or at home, however, for crimes other than harassment, Police Helpline 15 may be used.

“So far, we have dealt with 60 harassment complaints of women. In the most recent case, a woman called us on the helpline relaying how some boys were harassing her in posh Saddar area. Our squad went there and took the harassers in custody. The woman was not ready to lodge a case or come to the police station. We lodged the case on her behalf and booked the criminals,” she states.

Yasmeen explains that it’s not only women though, men also try to stay away from police stations. The main problem is ‘thana culture’ and it will take some time to change. “People tend to generalise if something bad happens at a police station. Changing mindsets is time consuming and difficult. The police station in which we are sitting now is the first such facility for women. Late Benazir Bhutto established it in 1994, and then the Regional headquarters of police in Punjab and Islamabad gradually followed and had police stations for women. Problems faced by women are rooted in our social attitudes, or you may call them our idiosyncrasies. To put it simply, women do not feel comfortable in presence of men, at least not in police stations,” laments Inspector Yasmeen.

At the station, two female constables manning the desk remained quiet. Inspector Yasmeen informs that they keep privacy of complainants, “This is a place where women from all over Rawalpindi can feel free to come and lodge complaints. If a woman has a complaint in rural area, we refer her to a woman officer there.”

Another neglected community

Apart from women, another group of people that is often subjected to gendered crimes and has been neglected is the Transgender community. They are often subjected to bullying, harassment and ill treatment, which also many a times goes unreported.

Adjacent to this first police station for women is the first facilitation centre for transgenders. It has been named ‘Tahafuz Centre’. These victims can also go to the ‘Tahafuz Khidmat Markaz’ for legal aid, crime reporting, character certificate and traffic related services. A board hung up on the centre states the internationally-acknowledged statement about their right to declare their gender and identity.

To counter the gender-driven discrimination, Rawalpindi Police have appointed Reem, a transgender herself, to look after this centre. Reem holds an MA degree in International Relations from Sargodha University. In an interview, she narrates the horror tale of a group of transgenders who were booked to perform at a marriage ceremony in Rawalpindi. “The incident became prominent on social and mainstream media. People know all the details but very briefly. The transgenders were abused in every sense of the world all through the night and guns were pointed at them at the time of abuse. Imagine the sight of guns and the psychological impact it leaves. We reached and consoled them. The criminals were captured,” relays Reem.

“No one understands trans problems better than a trans person, which is why I am here,” she shares.

Many trans people beg on the roads, others dance in marriages and for many, there is no place to fall back on. “Islamabad is populated by government and private employees. Normally, they leave this city on Eids as they want to spend these festivals in their hometowns. But even in those days, you will find trans people around traffic lights looking for alms,” laments Reem.

Due to their gender, trans people are tortured in public on a routine and in many cases, they are killed. However, they seldom access a police station to lodge a case against this abuse. Rather, it has been observed that police arrest them on minor suspicion of a crime. Since they cannot hire lawyers, they end up in police lockups and jails. Nonetheless, things are changing as educated transgenders like Reem are getting jobs. Seeing this, there is hope that other cities will also set up more facilities like such for them.

It’s time to be proactive

CPO Ahsan Younas highlights the main purpose behind these centres and the measure that are taken to ensure safety for women and trans people. “We have women in our police force at senior positions for better access. We did not sit around after setting up this helpline. There are special vehicles loaded with high-quality cameras placed at crowded marketplaces which are pockets of women harassment. With the help of technology, we catch the criminals. Recently, we even carried out a successful experiment for surveillance of the city through drones.”

When asked about the help of non-governmental organisations in gender-related policing, he said that they were well-equipped for now. “The government has given us enough resources to carry out our work. It is going great. We do not need anything else from anyone. However, there is a need to create awareness among women about this helpline. They can call 111-CPO-RWP (111-276-797) to report sexual, domestic or public harassment. A woman will listen to them and police will reach them. At no stage of the case, they will need to come to the police station. If she does not want to reveal her identity, police will lodge and pursue a case against her tormentor on her behalf,” he concludes.

The writer tweets as @furraat