KABUL - United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) organized a five-day training for senior staff at the Ministry of Interior on prevention and response to cases of violence against women in Afghanistan.

The objective of the training was to raise awareness among the senior officers on women’s rights, national legislation and religious provisions and help the police take proper and timely action upon receiving complaints of violence against women.

“We went through all national legal documents and discussed those articles through which the police can protect women and help victims of violence,” said Dr. Nigina Abaszadeh, the Gender Specialist at UNFPA.

One session of the training focused specifically on protection of women in Islam.

“On the ground, majority of the people are illiterate but they do care a lot about the religion. They don’t distinguish between religious and traditional practices. We tried to convey strong messages through this programme to clarify the religious and traditional practices separately,” said Dr. Abaszadeh.

One of the other sessions was on the police coordination with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and related NGOs while the last two sessions focused on skills that how police can deal with cases of violence including documentation of cases, interviewing the victims and the body language while interviewing the people.

“We had practical work during training and it will cast a very positive impact on police while discharging their duties,” said Zohra Daulatzai, a female participant and the Manager of Gender Complaints Registration Unit at the Ministry of Interior.

All the participants were trainers in the Ministry and they will impart the knowledge they gained in the UNFPA training to their fellow policemen in the provinces and zonal headquarters in order to help reduce the cases of violence against women in the country.

“Reducing violence against women does not only relate to police’s responsibility but all other ministries, civil society organizations, media and the people of the society should play their significant role,” said Alhaj Sayed Umar Saboor, the Deputy Director of Gender and Human Rights Department at the Ministry of Interior and a member of national Commission on Violence Against Women.