From The Hindu, 5 March 2007

Police urged to protect rights of women

Staff Correspondent

BELLARY: A three-day workshop for police personnel on gender sensitisation, with a focus on prevention of violence against women and children, began at the District Police Office here on Sunday.

Superintendent of Police Arit Paul, who inaugurated the workshop, said that the police were the visible face of the Government, and appealed to them, therefore, to make efforts to ensure that women were not discriminated against and the rights of children were protected.

The workshop was organised as part of the Karnataka State Police-UNICEF Gender Sensitisation and Peoples’ Friendly Police project, which is the first of its kind in the country.

Mr. Paul said there was need to prevent the exploitation of women, many of who were leading lives of “slavery” even after working hard and supplementing the family’s income, and child labour.

He said that while there were enough laws to tackle these menaces, what was lacking was the willpower to implement them.

“There is need for a change in the attitudes of people, and this change should begin at home,” he said.

He urged police personnel to take maximum advantage of the workshop to gain knowledge on laws against exploitation of women and children.

He hoped the workshop would help the participants change their attitudes so that they would become more people-friendly.

Project coordinator Anusuya Sengupta said the project was being implemented in eight districts of north Karnataka and also in Bangalore, and focused on preventing trafficking of women and children and violence against them.