Every society needs a security network, in order to protect its citizens from any catastrophe. The police have the duty to protect their citizens from criminals and dangers around them. An effective police force can curb crime and provide security for life and property.
In our male dominated society, we need to give protection to the womenfolk as they are the weaker gender. It has become a practice that the police is controlled and run by corrupt politicians who use them as their personal minions rather than an autonomous entity of the state. This unbridled corruption has unbalanced the society, where we don’t seek protection from the police, we run away from their personalized grudges and power games.
The case for women who want to report crimes is even worse. They face a lot of abuse, (attitude) derogatory remarks and insults by the police force in general. As a female, living in a Muslim society, she needs to be respected and treated compassionately. The police force needs to be educated and trained on treating people from all classes with reverence. Their assumption that anyone who walks into a police station is a criminal, or a meal ticket, has to change, only then will we see a change or shift in our society on all levels.
For a woman in our society, the trauma of police harassment or abuse, at any level can have long lasting repercussions not only for her but for her family. The recent increase in crimes against women in Pakistan particularly the attack on Malala Yousafzai in Swat has shocked everyone in the civilized world. We need to take harsh steps to curb such atrocious crimes in our country. The police can play a pivotal role in helping females in distress rather than take advantage of the weaker gender. As a nation, we have to think on these lines where women are given equal rights as specified in Islam and our constitution. In order to make our future generations prosperous, we have to finish this barbaric practice of inequality from our society.
RASHMINA YOUSAFZAI,
Islamabad, October 8.