April 11, 2024
By Jemima Afridi
BARA:
In a positive development, a women’s desk has been set up at the Bara police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the immediate resolution of women’s complaints. Since its establishment earlier this year, the desk has handled at least 15 cases.
Shaista, a female desk officer from Bara, discussed with Voicepk how they tackle the challenges faced by women in her area. “With a population of 600,000, there’s only one desk to address women’s concerns. This is a tribal area, and women are not allowed to be mobile. We need to set up more such desks.”
She adds that for women who cannot visit the centre in person, “our advice to them is to call us, and we will approach them ourselves”.
Since this is the first women’s desk in KP, it has received a lot of attention, both negative as well as positive.
Gulalai, who is incharge of the women’s desk, talked about the challenges she has faced and how she overcame them. “The centre generated a mixed reaction from the locals, “leaving us uncertain about whether to join or not”.
But they decided to join and after joining, “we realised how safe this environment is for us. Our tribal people have started to respect us a lot,” she adds.
Another reason why these women working for the center are respected is because they perform their duty in purdah. ‘We face no problem. Many misunderstandings and negativity have been erased”.
And now, thanks to the Women’s Desk, women in Bara feel they have a place to seek justice. “Till August, we had received more than 15 cases involving women, and in most instances, we visited their homes as they cannot come due to the patriarchal society. They call us on the phone, and we go to their houses to help them,” says Shaista.
Salim Abbas Khulachi, DPO Khyber, felt the need for a women’s desk in his area. He told Voicepk, that he is working to establish similar desks in other parts of Khyber, namely Landi Kotal and Jamrud.