Title: Sensitive Policing Practices; Handling Women and Vulnerable Groups
1Sensitive Policing PracticesHandling Women and
Vulnerable Groups
- Humaira Masihuddin (Advocate)
- LLb Shariah and Law (Pak)
- MA Cultural Anthropology (USA)
- MSc Criminal Justice Studies (UK)
2Tenth United Nations Congresson the Prevention
of Crime and treatment of offenders Press Kit
- More than 50 of Victims around the world are
unhappy about the way police treat them and many
others end up severely traumatized by Criminal
Justice system according to the International
Crime Victims survey (ICVS) which has been
carried out in more than 60 countries over the
past decade.
3Cont
- Victims interviewed by the ICVS most commonly
stated that police did not do enough..Globally
one in five victims of domestic violence or rape
..said police were incorrect or impolite.
4Vulnerable Groups
- Determining Vulnerable Groups.
-
- Pakistani Police Training curriculums identify 3
major groups ,Women, Children and minorities, - Factors Contributing to Vulnerability
5Factors responsible for the specific
Vulnerability of Women.
- Twin culprits notions of Honor and Ownership
- All Cultures assign Gender Roles to Males and
Females. - These are expected patterns of thought and
behavior that are associated with gender
ideologies. - These gender roles are re enforced through
various channels like formal education, print and
electronic media, folk lore and songs.
6Cont
- In most cultures Males believe that they are
superior to Females and that Females are
dangerous, polluting weak and untrustworthy. - This particular type of gender ideology gives
rise to Patriarchy - Patriarchy is the political Control that men
exert over women right from the family unit up to
the state. - This Gender hierarchy leads to gender
exploitation.
7Manifestation of Gender Hierarchy The
First Dimension.
- Grief at the birth of a baby girl.
- Malnutrition through out life.
- Unequal distribution of Family resources and
assets.
8 Extreme Manifestations of this exploitation .
- Physical and psychological abuse.
- Burns.
- Acid throwing.
- Murder.
- Rape.
- Sexual harassment.
- Child marriages.
- Forced marriages.
9Types of Domestic violence.
- Assault/battering.
- Acid throwing.
- Burning.
- Vanni.
- Swara.
- Child marriages.
- Incest.
- Illegal Confinement.
- Murder.
10Honor Killings
- Individual murders. Family sponsored murders,
Jirga sponsored murders
11Manifestations of gender Hierarchy The
second dimension.
- Through the lenses of the Justice system the
following notions are bred. - Woman is a justifiable Victim. She was asking
for it. - Crimes against women are usually Victim
precipitated.
12The Response of the Justice system.
- The protection women receive from male violence
through recourse to the criminal justice system
is limited both in access and effectiveness,
(Morley and Mullender 1994)
13Domestic Violence
- The Perils of the word Domestic
- Group exercise.
- The word Domestic
- Trivializes the crime
- Distracts police from the seriousness of the
crime.
14Police Training
- Its most imp to understand that the sub culture
of police practice does not exist in vacuum. - It is part and parcel of the super culture of
society and is bound to be effected by it. - In order to neutralize the effects of harmful
cultural notions and to provide effective
protection and policing gender studies must be a
part of police training and refresher courses a
must every few years to off set the effect of
informal training in the field.
15Best policing Practices vis a vis victims
- Victims should be viewed as a special target
group for the services and attention of the
police and the criminal justice authorities. - Police response should be framed within a Service
model rather than a procedural rights model. - (Courtesy The Dutch Victim guidelines and their
impact upon victim satisfaction)
16- It is one of the first demands of VICTIMOLOGY
that In a case of a woman complainant (or any
other vulnerable group complainant) There must be
an assumption of Truth. - Police as first responders should be fully
cogmizant of Victims feelings and stages of
emotional reactions namely Denial, anger, remorse
and grief and should be fully trained to deal
with all or any one of them effectively.
17- The police must not only ensure protection of
complainants and witnesses but also reassure the
victims (Complainants and witnesses) of their
safety and protection. - The investigation into complaints by members of
vulnerable groups should be conducted keeping in
mind the imbalance of power between dominant and
subordinate groups. - Special emphasis on Communication skills.
18- Minority members might have communication
problems as well as different set of values and
beliefs , they need to be interviewed by highly
sensitive and professionally competent persons. - In case of blasphemy cases as in Pakistan an
allegation of blasphemy must be handled with
extreme care as the minority member is in most
cases a victim rather than a perpetrator.
19Minors/Children
- The United Nations guidelines on Justice .The
Child Friendly version is note worthy for its
exhaustive list of Protective measures for
children. - All policing rule, procedures and protocols
dealing with Juveniles must be within the
framework of the convention on the Rights of the
child. specially Article 37 and 40.
20Article 37
- Article 37
- States Parties shall ensure that
- (a) No child shall be subjected to torture or
other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life
imprisonment without possibility of release shall
be imposed for offences committed by persons
below eighteen years of age - (b) No child shall be deprived of his or her
liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest,
detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in
conformity with the law and shall be used only as
a measure of last resort and for the shortest
appropriate period of time - (c) Every child deprived of liberty shall be
treated with humanity and respect for the
inherent dignity of the human person, and in a
manner which takes into account the needs of
persons of his or her age. In particular, every
child deprived of liberty shall be separated from
adults unless it is considered in the child's
best interest not to do so and shall have the
right to maintain contact with his or her family
through correspondence and visits, save in
exceptional circumstances - (d) Every child deprived of his or her liberty
shall have the right to prompt access to legal
and other appropriate assistance, as well as the
right to challenge the legality of the
deprivation of his or her liberty before a court
or other competent, independent and impartial
authority, and to a prompt decision on any such
action.
21Article 40 CRC
- 1. States Parties recognize the right of every
child alleged as, accused of, or recognized as
having infringed the penal law to be treated in a
manner consistent with the promotion of the
child's sense of dignity and worth, which
reinforces the child's respect for the human
rights and fundamental freedoms of others and
which takes into account the child's age and the
desirability of promoting the child's
reintegration and the child's assuming a
constructive role in society. - 2. To this end, and having regard to the relevant
provisions of international instruments, States
Parties shall, in particular, ensure that - (a) No child shall be alleged as, be accused of,
or recognized as having infringed the penal law
by reason of acts or omissions that were not
prohibited by national or international law at
the time they were committed - (b) Every child alleged as or accused of having
infringed the penal law has at least the
following guarantees - (i) To be presumed innocent until proven guilty
according to law - (ii) To be informed promptly and directly of the
charges against him or her, and, if appropriate,
through his or her parents or legal guardians,
and to have legal or other appropriate assistance
in the preparation and presentation of his or her
defence - (iii) To have the matter determined without delay
by a competent, independent and impartial
authority or judicial body in a fair hearing
according to law, in the presence of legal or
other appropriate assistance and, unless it is
considered not to be in the best interest of the
child, in particular, taking into account his or
her age or situation, his or her parents or legal
guardians - (iv) Not to be compelled to give testimony or to
confess guilt to examine or have examined
adverse witnesses and to obtain the participation
and examination of witnesses on his or her behalf
under conditions of equality - (v) If considered to have infringed the penal
law, to have this decision and any measures
imposed in consequence thereof reviewed by a
higher competent, independent and impartial
authority or judicial body according to law - (vi) To have the free assistance of an
interpreter if the child cannot understand or
speak the language used - (vii) To have his or her privacy fully respected
at all stages of the proceedings. - 3. States Parties shall seek to promote the
establishment of laws, procedures, authorities
and institutions specifically applicable to
children alleged as, accused of, or recognized as
having infringed the penal law, and, in
particular - (a) The establishment of a minimum age below
which children shall be presumed not to have the
capacity to infringe the penal law - (b) Whenever appropriate and desirable, measures
for dealing with such children without resorting
to judicial proceedings, providing that human
rights and legal safeguards are fully respected.
4. A variety of dispositions, such as care,
guidance and supervision orders counselling
probation foster care education and vocational
training programmes and other alternatives to
institutional care shall be available to ensure
that children are dealt with in a manner
appropriate to their well-being and proportionate
both to their circumstances and the offence.
22Skillful and sensitive interviewing of
Minors/Juveniles.
- introducing themselves before the interview
- explaining the purpose of the interview
- explaining that it is acceptable to tell the
interviewer they don't know the answer to a
question - explaining to children that they should correct
the interviewer if he or she is mistaken - providing children with practice responding to
open ended prompts when describing their
experiences. (Courtesy National institute of
child Health and Human Development)
23Cont
- The police must recognize that a childs
vocabulary is limited so they might not be able
to fully describe their abuse. - A number of techniques are in use these days to
elicit information from Minors, for example - The use of anatomically detailed dolls.
- Figure Drawings.
24Understanding Women Offenders
- Violence is used as an expression rather than an
instrument. - Deep and in depth investigation might reveal the
Woman offender to be actually a victim. - Sensitization to The battered womens syndrome.
25Skillful interviewing the ultimate Skill.
- An interactive Exercise.
- Diversionary Questions.
- Empowerment questions.
- Incident related Questions.
26