Closure of women crisis centres in KP worst example of governance: SC

ISLAMABAD: Closure of women crisis centres in KP is the worst example of governance, remarked the Supreme Court on Monday. The apex court ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government to reopen four women crisis centres in the province that were previously closed.

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Dost Muhammad Khan, upheld the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) verdict and discarded the KP government’s appeal against it.The KP government had appealed to the apex court against the PHC order.The PHC had given the order after women working in the centres had petitioned for the centres’ reopening.

Justice Dost Muhammad remarked that the centres needed to be reopened, as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had taken votes in the name of empowering women in the province but it was now extending them such treatment.

“They boast of being the party with the largest female presence but depriving women of their rights. It is time they did something for women in the province,” he added.Justice Dost Muhammad Khan remarked that reopening of the centres should not be a problem since the government had procured foreign funding for them.It may be mentioned that the KP government had shut the four crisis centres in the year 2010, citing lack of funds.