Insani Huqooq Ittehad (IHI), an alliance of rights organisations, on Thursday expressed great concern over the death of a girl in the state-run Darul Aman in Chakwal, as it questioned the state’s service delivery approach, which has failed to protect women against the threats that arise after raising their voices against the human rights violations.
In a statement, the IHI representatives condemned yet another security lapse at the Darul Aman Chakwal on Nov 22, which resulted in the killing of Faria Rubab, while the assassin, her brother Adnan Khan, was allowed to walk away.
They highlighted that the incident puts forth some serious questions for the government department responsible for looking after these institutions, which are suppose to provide protection to the women being victimised in society.
The human rights activists lamented that support services for women survivors of violence were already very limited and without any proper resources to perform tasks assigned to them. “Incidences like these further shrinks the spaces for women to seek protection from the violations committed with them at the levels of family and society.”
They pointed out that instead of utilising the existing structures (women centres and Darul Aman) and increasing coordination among them, the few institutions functioning in Punjab were supposedly to be shut down.
They also questioned the argument of the Punjab Government that the Darul Aman and crisis centres performed the same task were proved wrong by the very incident.
“Authorities have to separate the two functions of providing protection (shelter) from other roles, like arranging the meeting and reconciliation efforts. There should be limited access to the shelter facility and meeting should only be arranged by ensuring appropriate security measures and seeking the consent of the women.”
They were of the view that the institutions like Darul Aman were often criticised but the fact was being ignored that the staff had to work within limited resources, training and support from the government.
They were of the opinion that the larger burden of the incident should be taken by the government itself rather than holding inquiries within the shelter because it pointed to larger questions of having appropriate systems and procedures, outlining the protection for the staff and the women residents, who come to seek protection.
They questioned why the institutions of protection like Darul Aman were the least resourced and with outdated security systems and why the security at these institutions had not been among the top priorities.
They demanded including the Darul Aman facility among the agenda but warned that it did not mean that they should be reduced to mini jails or with a restricted mobility of women.
The IHI members demanded that the issue of security must be addressed at the policy level and called upon the state authorities to provide adequate resources and train the staff of these institutions to unable them working in line with ethical and human rights principles so as to minimise the chances of such incidents.