Harvard University held a talk on the Punjab Women Protection Act and the Violence Against Women Centre in a larger discussion on addressing Violence Against Women in Pakistan on the 20th of February, 2017. At the talk, Mr. Salman Sufi, the Director General of Chief Minister Punjab’s Strategic Reforms Unitrepresented Pakistan and briefed the attendees regarding the reformative reality of the Act for women in Pakistan. Ms. Rana Abdelhamid, an MPP candidate and founding member of Women Initiative for Self Empowerment(WISE) moderated the talk. The discussion also included Dr. Nafisa Shah, Member National Assembly who furthers works as a social anthropologist and has conducted extensive research on honor killings in Sindh. Dr. Shah shared her experience regarding the passage of the honor crime bill.
Mr. Sufi held a discussion on the contours of Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2016 inclusive of all forms of Violence Against Women including verbal, physical, economic and psychological abuse as well as stalking and cybercrime. He further lead the discussion to explain the implementation mechanism of the Act i.e. the Violence Against Women Centers (VAWCs). The pilot Centre being constructed in Multan will be a one-stop shop mechanism for all justice delivery services for victims of violence including FIR lodging, medico-legal, forensic, psychological aid & prosecution. The faculty and students at Harvard University lauded Punjab Government’s efforts towards initiating groundbreaking women empowerment reforms.