Call for capacity building of police, prosecutors to improve access to justice for women, juveniles

Stressing on the need for capacity building of officials, Sindh Deputy Inspector General-Training Sharjil Kareem Kharal has said that police and prosecution are the two main pillars of the criminal justice and should be sensitised to the special needs of women and children for access to justice.

Addressing the participants of a six-day-long Training of Trainers on Juvenile Protecting Laws, Women Protecting Laws and Behaviour Change, Kharal emphasised the importance of effective handling and response to issues relating to domestic violence, early child marriages, forced marriages, honour killings, juveniles, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) etc. to eliminate the violation of fundamental human rights of survivors.

The training had been organised by War Against Rape (WAR) under a GIZ project titled ‘Capacity Building of Sindh Police on Juvenile & Women Laws’. Officials of police and the prosecution department from Sindh government attended the training.

The police official appreciated WAR’s efforts to spread awareness and create sensitisation among police and prosecution officers on how to deal with juveniles and women’s complaints and prevent violence against them in order to improve the service delivery of justice.

Speakers at the training also called for capacity-building of key state actors of the criminal justice system – police and prosecution officers in Sindh province – on protective laws related to children and women keeping in view their special needs.

Iqbal Ahmed Detho, a prominent human rights activist, said that police need to safeguard fundamental human rights of the vulnerable segments of the society to ensure ther safety and protection.

He also stressed the effective implementation of Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) 2000, Child Marriage Restrain Act 2013, Domestic Violence and Prevention Act 2013, Anti-rape Law 2016 and other women protection laws.

Highlighting the objective of the training, WAR Coordinator Beena Hasan said that considering the severity of the increasing trend of child sexual abuse and increasing crimes of

sexual and gender-based violence on women, it is the need of the hour to build the capacity of police and prosecution officials in effectively handling, responding and preventing such heinous crimes for sustainable change.

Ghulam Ali, Technical Adviser Police Support GIZ and Sheraz Ahmed, Socio Legal and Mobilizing Officer at WAR, also addressed the audience about the importance of supportive behavior of police and prosecution to change the mindset and to eliminate the anti-women practices and juvenile justice access issues.