Islamabad - Inspector General of Islamabad police, Dr. Sultan Azam Temuri said on Thursday that women are an integral part of every society and no country can achieve its development goals without participation of women.
Expressing views in a ceremony held to commemorate Women International Day, the IGP said “Women have a diversified role in our societies. A woman is a mother, a sister, a housewife, a professional and a police officer. She achieves all these roles through sheer determination,” he told the gathering. He was of the view that there is no force more powerful than a woman determined to rise. DIG (Security) Waqar Ahmed Chohan, DIG Helena Iqbal Saeed, diplomats, women police employees from Islamabad police, Punjab police, motorway police, media representatives and others were also present on the occasion.
The IGP said that the constitution of Pakistan and different UN resolutions have tried to safeguard the rights of woman through various articles and resolutions. The percentage of women, according to UN, in police force should be 20 percent of the total police strength. Temuri said, “Pakistan needs to do a lot in this domain because it has only 0.89 percent women police officers. In Islamabad police, women constitute 2.5 percent of the total police force. Largest numbers are in operations and they are performing all the duties that their male colleagues perform, he added.
The IGP said that Islamabad police has taken various initiatives for the betterment of women in police force. Women police station was established in 1994 where all the staff from constable to S.H.O is comprised of women. They conduct all the investigations and other tasks relating to any case all by themselves, he added. He claimed that there is a separate hostel for women police officers in the police lines with satisfactory facilities. Transport facility, he said, is also provided to women police officers so that they easily reach their destination points.
The IGP said that a gym has also been constructed inside the police lines to take care of their physical fitness. We regularly conduct sensitization campaigns about gender awareness in police through media and seminars, he maintained. Temuri said women police officers are provided equal opportunities for promotion and no gender based bias has ever been observed in the police department. There is an action plan committee which is chaired by DIG HQ to immediately resolve any issue faced by women police officers, he said.
The IGP said that women police network comprising of women police officers of ICTP, Punjab, KP, GB, Sindh, Baluchistan, AJK, FIA, Motorways and Railways inspires women to collectively think and act. Women police councils are established under women police network in provinces and districts to enhance their role and recognition within the organization, he added. There is an anti sexual harassment committee as well to implement “the Protection against Harassment of women at Workplace act, 2010”.
This committee receives complaints, conduct inquiries and recommends disciplinary action, he said. He told the ceremony that Islamabad police was striving to increase the percentage of women from 2.5 to 20 and added that various campaigns have been launched to advertise the recruitment of female police officers. DIG Helena Iqbal Saeed said that women are important segment of society and progress of the country is not possible without their contribution. Later, lady police officials were also awarded shields for showing good performance and their contribution to win success for the force.
