KARACHI: The Sindh police have announced to establish an anti-harassment unit (AHU) to address the rising cases of sexual assault on women and children.
The announcement came during a meeting presided over by Sindh Home Secretary Dr Usman Chachar on Saturday. AIG Hyderabad Dr Jameel, DIG Operations Maqsood Memon, senior female police officers and others attended the meeting.
On this occasion, DIG Operations Maqsood Memon announced to set up the AHU at the police facilitation center at Korangi Road.
Memon said it will help check cases of sexual assault and torture on women and children in the province and will improve the access of victims of such offenses to legal aid.
The meeting further decided to launch a campaign to curb the incidences of sexual abuse. Dr Jameel said the proposed campaign on social media will help control sexual abuse cases and foster harmony between the police and the public.
A female police officer on this occasion remarked that women represented over 50 percent of Pakistan’s population and needed to be provided a safe working environment.
She underscored the need for initiating awareness campaigns through print and digital media so as to sensitize the people about the anti-harassment unit in quick redressal of their complaints.
On June 3, the Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) had reported a 189 percent increase in cyber-harassment complaints registered with their helpline during Pakistan’s coronavirus lockdown.
In this regard, DRF had issued a press release and said, “As Pakistan entered its lockdown [in March] in response to the Covid-19 outbreak, we feared there would be an increase in cyber-harassment cases as well as cyber attacks in general.”
The organization reported a combined 136 complaints of cyber harassment in March and April — during the lockdown — compared to 47 such complaints, an increase of 189pc, before the lockdown in January and February.
The press release informed that 74 percent of the complaints registered in March and April were reported by women, whereas, men and non-binary persons registered 19 percent and 5 percent complaints, respectively.
“A majority of the cases that the organisation’s cyber harassment helpline received during the lockdown months “pertained to blackmailing through non-consensual sharing of information, intimate pictures and videos,” the press release added.
Following a massive bump in cyber harassment cases being reported to our Helpline during the lockdown (March and April 2020), we at DRF are written out a policy brief, which includes recommendations, keeping in mind #COVID_19.
Read our brief here: https://t.co/OHsnJ7Trz3 pic.twitter.com/JF44MwUaBP— Digital Rights Foundation (@DigitalRightsPK) June 3, 2020
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