LAHORE: The Punjab Women’s Protection Authority in its maiden meeting on Thursday decided to establish special courts for hearing cases of crime against women in all districts in the province.

The meeting which was presided over by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif approved an amendment to the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act of 2017 so as to allow establishment of the dedicated courts for cases of crime against women. Such courts would be established in the centres for protection for women in all districts.

According to officials, the chief minister ordered that the special courts be established by the authority in its centres all over the province. The first would be established in the centre in Multan which has been operational since March 25.

They said the need to establish special courts for women’s cases arose because of lengthy procedures and slow pace of proceedings in civil and family courts. The cases of violence against women required to be decided quickly so as to provide justice to the victim women. That was why it was considered to establish special courts for them, an official said.

These courts would be presided over by women judges and prosecutors, specifically trained in the subject, and they would be stationed in the centres across the province.

The chief minister allowed the Punjab Women Protection Authority to open satellite offices in smaller cities to provide effective aid to women victims of violence.

Police and secretaries of the prosecution and home department agreed to voluntarily facilitate functions of the authority and undertake steps that could eliminate crime against women. They further assured that they would take measures to remove any red-tapism hampering quick justice to women.

Meanwhile, the dedicated post created in the Punjab police for elimination of gender crime, additional inspector general; of gender crimes, is going to be operational in one week. Created for the first time in the country, this grade 19 post would be given to a woman police officer.

A handout said the meeting approved the proposal of bringing all the district-level Darul Amman institutions under the control of Punjab Women’s Protection Authority. It also approved different steps to further improve performance of the Violence Against Women Center, Multan.

It was stated that divisional centres would be set up in Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi in the first instance.

Authority director general Salman Sufi briefed the meeting about the performance of the centre in Multan.

He said that out of the 1,088 cases received, 802 had been disposed of.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2017