lauding Retired Chief Justice of India JS Verma for introducing more stringent laws to curb crimes against women, Meenakshi Gopinath, Director, Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP) opined that the Vishakha Guidelines and the 600-plus page Justice Verma Commission Report are examples of the effort to improve the security of women.
On the second day of the workshop organised by KPS Gill the former DGP of Punjab and the President, Institute for Conflict Management and by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) saw speakers pointing out on issues, which are critical but often ignored. Meenakshi Gopinath further mentioned about the ‘culture of impunity and silence’ that led to women being constantly subjected to threat and violence. “Violence occurred in the gap between niti and nyaya, law and justice. In the multiple faultlines of Indian society, women are subjected to a continuum of overt and covert violence,” she said.
KPS Gill claimed that the policemen and officers often displayed exceptional heroism, but that was largely lost in the broadbrush negative portrayal of the police force in the public and by the media. However, he indicated that the senior leadership of the police was failing to establish and effectively implement standards. “Many police officers were spending too much time at their desks and neglected the real and difficult tasks of superintendence in the field,” he said.
Speaking on the issue of situational crime prevention strategies and the security of women, Rina Mitra, IG, Bureau of Police Research and Development spoke about initiatives currently being taken up under a special mission in the Bureau of Police Research and Development, which sought to make cities more secure for women. After assessments, this experiment would be spread to different parts of the country. Installing CCTV cameras, increasing visibility of women police officers, setting up more police stations, creating women’s help desks, creation of mobile woman commando squads and quick reaction teams (QRTs) were few of the suggestions made by her. “An android application for mobile phone called Safe Hands should be downloaded by women which would immediately send out distress calls in case of danger with a single click. The application also identifies the location of the caller,” she said.