LAHORE: A provincial women’s police conference discussed the prospects of increasing women’s representation in the Punjab police force as well as enhancing the female recruitment quota to 25 per cent across the province.

The conference was organised by the Punjab police and the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) at Alhamra here on Monday.

Punjab police chief Aamir Zulfiqar Khan, chief secretary Abdullah Khan Sumbal, USIP country director Imran Khan, Punjab Council for Human Rights executive director Shafiq Chaudhry, female police officers attended the conference.

Inspector General of Police Aamir Zulfiqar Khan said that his department would increase the appointment of women in various districts against all the slots, from in charge of the investigation to the district police chief.

He said compared to high women population ratio in Punjab, their representation in the police force was desperately low.

The IGP said he had issued instructions to all regional and district police officers to identify the problems of women police officers and personnel, giving them a specific time.

He added that he himself would also interact with female officers and discuss their problems during his visits to units and districts.

“The appointment of women officers in supervisory positions in the field has achieved good results,” he said, suggesting that women police officers to prefer working in the field instead of offices because he wanted to see them on the front-lines in field postings.

A proposal was initiated to streamline the transfer/posting and matters related to the official leaves of women police personnel with directions to give them equal opportunities for professional career growth.

Mr Sumbal said programmes like women’s police conferences not only drew attention to the important problems faced by the force but also helped in formulating a plan of action to solve them.

The chief secretary offered his decisive role and cooperation in finding solutions to all the problems facing women police in Punjab.

SSP Nida Umar Chatha gave a presentation on the establishment, objectives and role of the Women Police Council, followed by a session to identify the problems and difficulties faced by women officers and personnel.

Shafique Chaudhry stressed the need to take affirmative action at the policy and operational levels to ensure effective and fair representation of women in decision-making at levels in the government sector and more specifically in the police.

USIP Country Director Imran Khan highlighted the importance of women policing in bridging the gap between police and community while explaining the objectives of Police Awam Saath Saath.

Inspector Rabia Nosheen, and sub-inspectors Ishrat Rashid and Mehreen Fatima spoke at a session, moderated by SSP Riffat Bukhari.

In the second phase of the conference, a session was held on gender-inclusive policing, which was chaired by the former chairperson of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women, Fauzia Viqar.

Sumaira Samad, Tanveer Jahan, Nida Usman, Zoe Richards and Amara Shirazi also spoke.

The purpose of the conference was to find a concrete solution to the problems and difficulties faced by women in the police force and a future action plan to solve them.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2023