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Towards Pro-Women and Child-Friendly Policing in Bangladesh:
Our Experiences
Prof. Ishrat Shamim
President
Centre for Women and Children tudies
!ha"a# Bangladesh
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$ntroduction
The concept of violence against
women is an infringement of human
rights of women.
Violence against women is on the
increase and there is a wide gap
between the number of actualincidents and the number reported to
the police.
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Police as a Force
Police have been entrusted with
power to maintain the rule of law and
social justice.
These powers given under the law
include powers to arrest the person
suspected to be involved in crime,
search premises and seize property.
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Police as a Force cont%%&
Unfortunately there have been repeatedmisuses of power and excesses committedby police leading to the violation of humanrights, particularly women and child rights.
eorientation of attitudes is the !ey for thepolice to transform itself into a "service" froma "force."
#nly that will enable the police to be"people$friendly" $ to serve the communityas is expected from them to gainacceptance in the larger society.
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Pre'enti'e (ole of the Police
There is some scope for preventive action
in cases of recurring or continuing violence
even in domestic situations.
%ection &'( of the )ode of )riminal
Procedure &*(*, +very police officer may
interpose for the purpose of preventing,
and shall, to the best of his ability, prevent,
the commission of any cognizable offence.-
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Pre'enti'e (ole of the Police
cont%&&&
Police should act within the
parameters laid down by law, in
absolute good faith and with
transparency.
good strategy in this regard will be
to enlist the cooperation of active
women"s organizations and socialwor!ers in the police effort.
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$n'estigati'e (ole of the Police
/irst 0nformation eport, popularly
!nown as /0 is the written
information relating to cognizable
offense given to the #fficer in )harge
of a police station shall be signed by
the person giving it under %ection &1'
of the )riminal Procedure )ode.
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$n'estigati'e (ole of the Police cont%%&
%ection &23 )ode of )riminal Procedure
empowers the 0nvestigating #fficer to
re4uire attendance of witnesses familiar
with the facts and circumstances of thecase under investigation.
/urthermore, %ection &2& empowers the
0nvestigating #fficer to orally examine such
witnesses and record their statements, but
such statements are not to be signed by
the witness as per %ection &25.
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$n'estigati'e (ole of the Police cont%%&
The next step in the investigation processis the interrogation of suspects, which isone of the toughest of the police tas!s.
%ection &16 of the )riminal Procedure)ode enjoins upon the 0nvestigating #fficerto find out the facts and circumstances of acase and +if necessary to ta!e measures
for the discovery and arrest of theoffender.-
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$nitiati'es of the Centre to Com)at
*iolence +gainst Women and Children
7omen and child rights $ enforcement
responsibility of police
nforcing laws relating to rape, dowry,domestic violence, traffic!ing and
prostitution
0n this bac!drop, the )entre felt the urgent need
for sensitizing police and members of the
community on issues li!e8
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$nitiati'es of the Centre cont%%&&
)ode of )onduct towards women andchildren $ guidelines for arrest, bail,custody, search and interrogation
%ensitizing the police $ gender sensitization
involves a process of unlearning genderbias, children sensitization to assume apro$active role in the best interests of thechild
%ensitizing the community leaders to act aspressure group, to be vigilant about the lawand order situation regarding violation ofwomen and child rights.
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$nitiati'es of the Centre cont%%&&
)entre for 7omen and )hildren %tudies too! thefirst initiative in &((* to wor! with the police andcommunity together to bring about attitudinal andbehavioural change of police personnel towards
women and children.The main goal was to combat various forms ofviolence against women and children by providingsensitivity training of the police and members ofthe community about women and child rights as
human rights and to achieve distributive justiceand gender e4uity.
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$mpediments to wor" towards
Pro-Women Policing
Police identified the following impediments to
uphold women’s rights in the context of
violence against women: 9ac! of proper implementation of the existing laws
7omen victims usually come to the police station
at night due to the fear that they will be seen bythe accused or community people
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$mpediments to wor" cont%&
%ometimes victims do not want to lodge/0 against the accused due to fear orshame or insecurity
%ometimes victims mitigate the problem orwithdraw the case as they are threatenedby the accused
%ome corrupted police officials demands
money from the victims for filing cases, assuch, poor women who are victims cannotget access to justice
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$mpediments to wor" cont%&
:edical treatment of the battered
women and the victim of rape cannot
be arranged immediately due to lac!
of female police officer and vehicle
;octors are not available, whilst the
victim is ta!en to the hospital for
medical examination
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$mpediments to wor" cont%&
Untoward political pressure on the
0nvestigating #fficer, if he
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,essons ,earnt
=oth police and members of the community feltthat the gap between police and community aswell as between the members of the communitythemselves have been narrowed than it was
before the training.specially during the interactive session of thetraining between the police and community, manyof the problems faced by women victims werethoroughly discussed and the concept of
community policing seemed to be a way out toprevent such violence.
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Orientation of Police on Child
(ights
The )entre organized orientation sessionson child rights at >*( police stations of 1'districts of six divisions by giving a set offive posters to the police containingmessages on child rights issues namely?
%ecurity of children
)hild labour
Violence against children)hild traffic!ing
@outh offenders.
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$mpediments to phold Child
(ights
Ao separate cells in the policestations for children
0nade4uate number of policewomen
in the police station, which createsproblems to interrogate girl children
Police personnel identified the following barrierswhich create impediments to uphold child rights:
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$mpediments to phold Child (ights cont%%%&
0n case of sexual abuse, sometimes both partiesmutually come to an agreement to withdraw thecase as such police officials cannot proceedlegally
Political parties often involve children with criminalactivities as such police are bound to ta!enecessary action against the children
Police officials are overburdened with too many
duties to perform and they hardly have thepatience to be friendly with children, especiallychild offenders.
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Commitments of Police Officials
to phold Child (ights
Police committed to protect child rights
7illingness to behave well and be friendly
to children they meet, as well as towards
the distressed children who come to the
police stations for help
They emphasized the importance of
education and will try to ta!e initiatives so
that children can go to school.
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Community Policing to Com)at
.ender *iolence
)7)% initiated community policingprogramme in four Unions of Bessore C%at!hira districts to address variousforms of violence against women8
7ife battering
;owry
ape
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Community Policing cont%%
Traffic!ing
cid throwing
%exual harassment
through community policing
committees so that police andcommunity can wor! together tocombat gender violence.
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,esson ,earnt
)ommunity Policing )ommittee D)P)E of%a!hipur too! the initiative to organize ameeting in %ha!hipur ;ai!il :adrashaplayground which was attended by 133
people, among whom 533 were women.
The meeting was attended by ThanaAirbahi #fficer, officials from the;epartment of 7omen ffairs, )hairman of%ha!hipur Union who is also )onvener ofthe )P) to aware mass people about the)P), mainly their goals and activities.
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,esson ,earnt cont%%%
Thana Airbahi #fficer said that )P)s of %a!hipurand Parulia Unions formed 7ard )ommittees inevery 7ard of %a!hipur and Parulia Unions toexecute the activities of the )ommittee moreeffectively.
)P)s have arranged courtyard meetings in severalplaces to ma!e people aware of the )ommitteeFsroles and activities.
The )ommittees have solved many cases ofgender violence. ;ue to the formation of )P)s, therate of violence against women and children arereducing.
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uggestions )y Police for Child-
Friendly Policing
)reate child$friendly environment at thepolice stations
There should be sufficient number ofmale and female police force in thepolice stations to prevent and detect
violence against children, investigatesuch cases with patience and ta!eprompt action against the accused
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uggestions )y Police for Child- Friendly Policing cont%%
%ufficient logistic support should be
provided for the police to carry out
their duties properly
Proper implementation of the existing
laws should be ensured
ll police stations should have
separate loc!$ups for child offenders
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uggestions )y Police for Child-Friendly Policing cont%%
cadre of trained policewomen at all
levels, especially at district level should be
deployed to deal with sensitive cases
Police should be given incentives and
awards for their performance, especially in
cases of violence against children. t the
same time, they should be given exemplary
punishment for their misdeeds
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uggestions )y Police for Child-Friendly Policing cont%%
Police should establish networ!s withwomen and children organizations so thatpolice can use these as referralorganizations in cases of violence againstand children and also support in policeefforts to prevent such violence in thehome and community
%eparate monitoring cell should beestablished to monitor the activities ofpolice.
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(ecommendations
There should be specific orientation andtraining aimed at police, doctors,magistrates, prosecutors and women fol!to resist the criminals. 0n this regard, it wasimportant to establish networ!s of women"support groups
Police training is crucial to sensitize police
personnel from the senior managerial levelto field level Dfront line policeE on womenand child rights
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(ecommendations cont%%&&
Proper implementation of the national lawsshould be ensured
)orruption should be eliminated particularlyin regard to law enforcing agencies andother G# officials
ppointment, transfer, promotion, duties ofpolice force should be !ept above politicalinfluence, corruption and nepotism
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(ecommendations cont%
Police should be encouraged to serve thesociety during orientation and professionaltraining
The manpower of police force should beincreased including female police
9ogistic support should be provided totransfer the juvenile delin4uents frompolice station to the court and correctioncentre
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(ecommendations cont%
Police personnel should be provided
with standard salary pac!age along
with other facilities
separate independent agency
should be formed to investigate the
crimes committed by the lawenforcing agencies.
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T/+01 2O