Picture a young woman stepping out of her house late at night, thinking of disgrace and abandonment. Her in-laws have just kicked her out and she does not know where to go. She feels lost. There is no one she can turn to. Confiding in her kin is not an option; they will only blame her. Besides, the shame is eating her.

She stands there, dazed, in the shadow cast by the lamppost not sure what to do but then a poster catches her eye; on it is inscribed the address of a place where women like her – women who have been beaten, abused or turned out – can seek help. She starts feeling a little hopeful.

Located just off Matti Tall Road, next to the Women’s University on the outskirts of Multan, lies Pakistan’s first Violence Against Women Crisis Centre. The Centre was established in 2017 as a one-stop shop for survivors of gender-based violence under the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act, 2016. The law is meant to protect women against various forms of violence, including domestic violence.

According to their official website, the Centre was established with the objective “to eliminate all kind of violence against women.” It is now functional 24/7. All its facilities are women-run. The website states that though the Centre initially intended to provide protection and rehabilitation services to 1,200 women annually, in six years, it crossed the 10,000 mark.

Muneeza Butt, the district women protection officer and manager of the Multan VAWC, tells The News on Sunday about the facilities offered by the Centre. “We have a medical wing, a fully functional mediation and rehabilitation facility, a pool of lawyers, a police station within the compound and a helpline, among other facilities,” says Butt. She was initially appointed as a senior psychologist, a position she still holds.

Butt says that the helpline, 1737, which was, until recently, being operated from Lahore, has now been shifted to Multan.

This is one of the five crisis centres initially planned under the PPWVA. The other facilities were to be established in Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Dera Ghazi Khan and Lahore.

Clause 13 of the PPWVA says, “The government shall establish Protection Centres, through a phased programme, for protection of the aggrieved persons.”

These centres were a part of the three-part protection system for women against violence laid out by the PPWVA, the other two being i) a protection committee at the district level and ii) a shelter home.

According to the policy brief on Punjab’s Violence Against Women Protection Centres developed by Shirkat Gah in cooperation with the UNFPA, the VAWC is now being treated as the main component of the system.

“The law under which this centre has been set up is drastically different from the violence against women laws applicable in the other three provinces,” says Sohail Akbar Warraich, a consultant for legal and policy research at Shirkat Gah and the author of some key studies conducted by the organisation.

He says that the violence against women laws in the other three provinces only address domestic violence. “Under the PPWVA, several forms of violence against women are being looked into.”

Three kinds of orders can be passed under this Act to facilitate the survivor: i) a protection order; ii) a residence order (the woman will not be evicted); and a monetary order (financial loss suffered by the woman has to be compensated by the perpetrator).

Another way this law is different is the power of rescue vested in the district women’s protection officer. The district women’s protection officer or anyone designated by her can rescue a woman under duress. If there is resistance, she has the power to break into a house.

“This is immense power,” Warraich says, “but, like all great powers, it’s also dangerous.” He notes that since the details haven’t been spelled out, most actions taken by the DWPO have been upon direct orders from higher authorities.”

Pointing to the gaps between the law’s intent and its implementation, he says the major problem here is operational.

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The VAWC helpline, 1737, which was, until recently, being operated from Lahore, has now been shifted to Multan.

“Let’s start from the very beginning,” says Warraich. He says that the protection committee, which is one of the three components of the protection system, is a supervisory body on the district level, with some government officials and some non-government members that the government appoints. “Now, the district women protection officer is required to enforce the PPWVA under the guidance of this committee.” That makes her in charge of the system, overseeing the shelter home and the protection centre.

Warraich says that the problem began when, instead of appointing a district women protection officer to oversee everything and follow the structure envisaged by the law, the provincial government opened only a protection centre in the style of a service delivery centre.

“According to the PPWVA, these protection centres have to be run by the Punjab Women Protection Authority. However, the authority’s composition never reached the design.”

Warraich points out another issue. “The relief provided by the PPWVA allows the VAW survivors to simply report to the centre. If a police case is made out, a police station is available at the VAW centre. However, there have been instances where the survivor cannot get an FIR registered without reporting to the magistrate because her complaint was considered non-cognisable.”

He says that when the offence is non-cognisable, the police will call the perpetrator and try to mediate to resolve the dispute. The law provides the option of mediation, but it is not mandatory. “You know it is a problem because around 25 per cent of these cases that are supposedly ‘resolved’ are relapse cases.”

Butt says that mediation happens with the survivor’s consent, i.e. only if she agrees to a resolution or mediation. “On average, we get around 2,000 cases annually. Each case is registered on our front desk. If police intervention is required, it is referred to the police station; if a resolution is needed, to the psychologist.”

She says that if the offence is non-cognisable, the police will try to resolve the case by summoning the perpetrator and mediating between the parties. “Due to our social structure, the woman usually prefers the option of resolution through reconciliation provided that violence is eliminated,” says Butt.

However, Butt says that if a case is ‘resolved’, the resolution needs to be documented. “That isn't happening. We can't consider a case ‘resolved’ without documentation. Had the police properly documented the cases, 72-80 per cent of the cases would fall in the category.”

Warraich says that the Dar-ul-Aman (shelter house) next to the centre is run by a separate superintendent. “While there is a goodwill relationship between the two centres, Dar-ul-Aman does not fall under the DWPO as required by the law. There is a functional clash here.”

Butt says that the primary reason behind such operational issues has been the political instability in the country. She says there has been no regular budget. As a result, the system is sometimes on auto-pilot.

“We are doing as much as we can with insufficient funds and the problems we have to deal with.” She says the system has suffered on account of late salaries and pending appointments. Butt also says that given the current economic conditions, the provincial government needs to ensure the protection of the rights of those working for the centre.

“If these people are under stress due to late salaries or delays in contract renewal, how will they be able to take care of those who need care? The budget gets frozen or cut with every change of government. There are so many vacancies. If the human resources are lacking, how do we provide the intended service? How can we ask the existing staff to work longer without extra payment?”

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The PPWVA was extended to the entire province towards the end of 2022. Since this was done on an emergency basis, existing facilities were converted into crisis centres. For example, the Benazir Shaheed crisis centres were transformed into VAW centres, with their existing managers appointed as district women protection officers. In districts lacking crisis centres, Dar-ul-Amans were designated as such. This is a problem, says Warraich.

“When this law was being drafted, we gave them a lot of input. It went through many versions. The main issue during its development was that the law minister at the time, as well as others, didn’t want ‘domestic violence’ included in the title.” Warraich says there was a lot of resistance from conservative quarters.

According to a policy brief developed by Shirkat Gah in cooperation with the UNFPA, improvements can result if certain measures are implemented timely.

For one, it says there should be proper regulation of affairs of the protection centres and shelter homes, including a clear framework for the protection system envisaged in the law. It should spell out the manner in which coordination is to be achieved with services provided by various departments. Job descriptions of the designated officials should have no additional charge. The Women's Protection Authority must have the requisite budget and full-time dedicated personnel to run the protection system.

The Violence Against Women Centres should not be taken lightly. These should be fair sanctuaries that inspire confidence in survivors.

“The implementation of the law is paramount,” says Butt. “We have a situation where the law exists, but even the judiciary isn’t aware of it.”

The writer is a staff member