Panel discussion on women’s participation in law-enforcement held

PESHAWAR: A panel discussion on “Promoting Women and Girls Participation in Law Enforcement” was held in connection with International Women’s Day here on Friday.

The event, jointly held by Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University and the UN Women Peshawar Division, was themed: “Women in Leadership: Achieving equal future in a Covid-19 World”.

The panellists included SP Raheem Hussain, DSP Shazia Shahid, Traffic and Awareness, DSP Anila, Traffic and License Department KP, DSP Rozia Altaf, Elite Force KP.

The aim was to enlighten female youth regarding the increasing number of career opportunities for females in different departments of KP police.

On the occasion, the serving woman police officers talked to the students about leadership and encouraged them to join police department.

They enlightened the students through their working experience about the changing perspective regarding women joining police services.

DSP Anila said that women were highly respected in the Police Department. She added that they fulfilled their household responsibilities along with their jobs.

DSP Rozia Altaf said that uniform eliminates discrimination between men and women. “We work equally in the field as men do. There is no difference between us,” she added.

She said the role of women is very important in the Pashtun society because keeping in view the culture of KP, it is more important to recruit female officers in police stations in order to better understand issues related to women.

SP Raheem guided the students about different criteria against different posts available for females in KP along with the entire selection process in each post.

DSP Shazia Shahid said the police were working on the front line and all the men and women are working together.

In the past, there were issues related to women working in such departments but now there are lucrative career openings for females, she added.

They are accepted not only in their respective departments but the community as well. “We need to join hands with different organisations to spread awareness among the females of tribal areas,” she said.

Zainab Qaiser Khan, head sub-office UN Women KP, said that nowadays women only want to go into the Education Department but there is a dire need for women in the security forces and especially in the police department.

People are changing their mind-sets, the culture is changing and every department is equally providing opportunities for females.

She elaborated that the purpose of the UN Women was to empower and support women and they play their part by joining hands with different organisations in different cadres to achieve this mission.

Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Razia Sultana said it was a general perception that only men could join the armed forces for being able to do tough fieldwork but the woman representatives from different departments in the police had proved that women could serve in the forces.

The session ended with a question and answer session.