LAHORE: A conference was held on Monday which prompted women police officers (WPOs) to start their own network and to carry it forward.

Women officers from all over Punjab were present at the event where Additional IG Sarmad Saeed and Sub Divisional Police Officer Aftab Ahmed Phularwan also spoke on important aspects of policing.

The event was organised under the project called Gender Responsive Policing (GRP), managed by the German foreign office funded GIZ, along with its collaboration with Pakistan’s National Police Bureau (NPB).

In his address on women in policing, AIG Sarmad Saeed said the representation of women was integral to ensuring effective policing. And this meant both on the desk and on field.

He described policing as a kind of ‘religion’ where one was paid to look after the public and their possessions. He said the quota for WPOs had increased recently from five to 15 per cent. He said WPOs must assume the task of a role model along with other duties.

Saeed said the police force was about 177,000, which was next to nothing, and this meant many more women needed to enter the field. “WPOs have globally and in Pakistan proven to be less inclined towards nepotism, financial corruption, and disorganisation.” He said it may be surprising for many but there were few sexual harassment cases within the police. He said he had received only two cases by now and had dealt with both the male perpetrators with an iron hand.

He advised the WPOs to do more training courses, and said that at the end of the day the mindset of the entire society had to change in order to incorporate gender sensitivity and to banish gender imbalance.

SDPO Aftab Phularwan explained the importance of women in police.

He said in his experiences both local and international, women police officers served as irreplaceable personnel and in the local context especially could do work that no male officer could. These WPOs should be deployed as security officers in VVIP movements (especially to ward off potentially threatening women, for example suicide bomber), at bazaars and crowded areas, Muharram processions, stadium duties, at examinations and to control law and order (for example nurses protest).

He said women could serve as excellent investigative officers especially where information gathering was concerned. In sexual harassment cases, rape survivors do not file cases fearing the male officers’ attitude or out of shame and WPOs could ease that issue.

Ayesha Subuhi, who is in-charge of the Ladies Complaint Unit at the Subzazar Police Station, said Lahore had four LCUs including Lytton Road, Shahdara, and North Cantt police stations.

She said since the unit had been established crime cases in all four areas had gone down considerably. “Women have become more confident of filing FIRs too. The staff is well trained, competent, and looks for good women police officers beyond caste, creed and religion. The biggest issue was hesitation of acceptance from the male staff but that too was now over.”

SP Shahida Nasreen, Inspector SB Saima Anwar, and Dr Khola Iram also spoke on the occasion.