Under this initiative, trainers of police academies in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh will undergo year-long training in gender sensitisation. The training targets gazetted officers at the sub-inspector level.
"Our trainings aim to improve their understanding of gender within a human rights framework and help officers perceive themselves as active agents for women's human rights. We help police officers see how they can contribute towards equity in all areas of civic life by promoting gender justice," says Dr Ranjana Kumari, Director of CSR.
These programmes are designed to cover important elements like understanding the needs of victims, realising one's own capacity to help and their constraints, interpreting existing legislation with a view to correct application, awareness of judicial processes, awareness of policies and laws etc.
"Police needs gender sensitisation as they have maximum interaction with the public. These trainings will help the participant trainers further carry out the trainings," said J S Kochher, Joint Secretary at NHRC.
"As the society is moving forward, the family structures and the role of women are also changing. The problems that women face today have increased considerably. As a result of these trainings, our police officers will be better equipped to deal with gender related issues," said K K Sindhu, Director, Haryana Police Academy.