Statement by Mr. Salman Sufi (Director General-Strategic Reforms Unit): “Chief Minister’s Strategic Reforms Unit has worked tirelessly to implement the contours of the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act passed earlier in 2016, through the pilot Violence Against Women Centre. The Punjab Government has pioneered the fight to eradicate Violence Against Women in the province and the launch of the first Centre is a testament to this promise.”
Chief Minister’s Strategic Reforms Unit has announced that it will be launching the first Violence Against Women Centre in South Asia in collaboration with the Social Welfare & Bait-ul-maal Department on the 25th of March, 2017. The Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act passed in 2016 ensures the provision of justice for women against physical abuse, verbal abuse, psychological abuse, economic abuse, cybercrime and stalking. The Act will come under immediate implementation with the inauguration of the first Violence Against Women Centre in Multan. The Centre, located at Matital Road, Multan entails a one-stop mechanism for comprehensive justice delivery mechanisms for all female victims of violence. These include FIR lodging, provision of psychological and legal aid, as well as forensic, investigation and medico-legal examination facilities. The VAWC will therefore provide all requisite assistance to empower victims of violence including their rehabilitation and access to an associated shelter home. To further emphasize the Punjab Government’s support of women-centric reform culminated in the form of the VAWC, the Chief Minister is set to launch the landmark VAWC himself.
The staff at the Violence Against Women Centre is all female-run and has received specialized sensitized training to effectively deal with all incidents relating to gender-based violence. To further strengthen the status of the Violence Against Women Centre as a provider of justice for female victims of violence, the facility has been officially declared as a Police Station by the Home Department. This ensures that all services to be provided by the police will be adequately accessed at the Centre. The VAWC is therefore a prospective revolution in the process of providing alternate justice delivery to the female citizens of Punjab.
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