Monitoring Desk
Police in Pakistan’s north-western province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has launched the Victim Support Services to take care of child and women victims of violence.
These services in the province will help the police to deal with these victims in a dedicated and specialised manner.
Initially, these services will be rolled out in 5 districts, including Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Abbottabad and Swat, with expansion to other parts of the province in due course of time.
These services will be provided by women police officers who have been trained in sensitive handling of vulnerable victims, with special emphasis on women and children.
The victim support officers trained by the Justice System Support Programme of DFID, will helop improve police response for crimes against vulnerable persons especially, children and women.
The Inspector General of Police, Sanaullah Abbasi awarded certificates to the newly trained victim support officers on the completion of their training in the CPO, in the presence of media, senior police officers including DIG Operations, CCPO Peshawar, RPO Mardan and Additional IG Headquarters and the representatives of the Justice System Support Programme funded by DFID.
The KP Police will also be recruiting 29 new Victim Support Officers and the Inspector General of Police directed his staff to expedite this process. This is an important initiative of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police to improve access to justice for women and children victims, increasing conviction in such crimes, a high level indicator of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rule of Law Roadmap.
Children are the most vulnerable group in society due to their weak level of mental and physical development and the investigation of cases of child abuse are the most complex investigations and require specialised skills. The IG committed that he will put special emphasis on building the capacity of the investigators dealing with these crimes against children and women.
An analysis of international best practices to deal and prevent cases of abuse of children reveals that no single agency has the resources, manpower or legal mandate to prevent abuse of children; it is a multi-dimensional problem which requires a multidisciplinary and multiagency approach. Such victims need support from doctors, therapists, social workers, police, prosecutors, lawyers and the courts. The Inspector General of Police committed that the KP Police will join hands with all the relevant authorities as well as the local communities to prevent abuse of children. The IG Police also stressed upon greater focus on providing such services to the victims in the Newly Merged Districts (fomrer tribal areas).
