In liberal cultures, women equally contribute to the overall well being of the society and are considered no lesser in capacity than men.
However, the situation is totally different in society like ours. Although, we see women working in large cities in all different capacities, but the reality is different in the rural or less developed areas. Women are particularly lesser in number in the police force. This sometimes creates problems for the women complainants who are not comfortable going to the men dominant police stations. A number of civil society organizations are working to improve the citizen-police interaction with stress on the need for more police stations and an increase in the women police force, particularly in rural areas. The role of Shehri-Citizens for better environment is appreciable in this regard. This civil society group in collaboration with National Endowment for democracy (NED) has arranged a series of training workshops across Pakistan to ensure that the gap that exists between the citizen-police relationship is filled.
ZULFIQAR HAIDER
Islamabad
