The consultation brought together nearly 60 activists from Swabi, Haripur, Swat, Battagram, Mansehra, Mardan, Charsadda, Kohat and Peshawar. Senior representatives of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, the KP Child Protection & Welfare Commission, and the KP Ombudsperson for Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace attended the event.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Riffat Sardar, Chair KP Commission on Status of Women & Aawaz Provincial Forum in KP said: “mapping services is essential for improving access to them.” She also reaffirmed the commitment of the KP Government in reducing gender-based violence, and cited the passage of the Domestic Violence law as an example of this commitment.
Mr. Ijaz Khan, Deputy Chief of KP Child Protection & Welfare Commission said that Child Protection Units are staff and functional in 12 districts. Moreover, a Zumangkor for girls has also been established. He requested communities to use the Commission’s helpline 1121 to report child protection cases.
Ms. Warda Latif, Deputy Secretary, Social Welfare & Women’s Empowerment said that the Bolo helpline is operational in five districts and efforts are afoot to extend it across the province. Ms. Nuzhat Taskeen, Senior Legal Officer, KP Ombudsperson said that they have the mandate to focus on two areas: sexual harassment of women at the workplace and property matters.
An activist from Swabi shared a case of domestic violence in which the survivor was not aware of the procedure to file an FIR. Through the assistance of Aawaz II an FIR was filed and the perpetrator arrested. A short video on the prevention of early age marriage in Mansehra due to Aawaz-II efforts was also shown. From Charsadda a community activist shared that the FIA did not respond to their complaint about online harassment of a young girl. Many participants emphasized the need for behaviour change to ensure zero tolerance on gender-based violence.
Dr. Yasmin Zaidi, Team Lead Aawaz II – British Council said that prevention, protection and prosecution are the three P’s of GBV. Ms Maariya Rehman, Deputy Country Director British Council, Pakistan said that, "with the platform of Aawaz II, we are encouraging everyone to get involved: to amplify voices to reduce and prevent violence against women and girls and protect women’s rights."