“Law Speak” Awareness Session On Pro Women Legislation
Human Rights Centre for Women, Lahore (under Punjab Government) arranged a legal awareness session “Law Speak” on different pro women legislation accompanied by an interactive question and answer session on Nikah Nama, on Friday June 3rd, 2016 at 10:00 am in Sanatzar Training Institute, Allama Iqbal Town, Lahore.
The program started with a welcome note and introduction of services of the Centre by Ms. Shamsa Ali, Advocate Supreme Court, senior member APWA, Member NGOs Management Committee Human Rights Centre For Women, Lahore.
It was followed by a briefing by Mr. Mohammad Usman, Secretary, Punjab Commission on the Status of Women on the introduction of services of Women Development Helpline by Punjab Government and its link with Human Rights Centre for Women. He emphasized that such awareness sessions should be conducted in male colleges too. Ms. Zahida Sadiq Legal Executive, Women Development Helpline gave a presentation on pro women legislation enacted by the government since it came into power in 2013.
A very interactive and interesting legal awareness session on the Nikah Nama was conducted by Barrister Fatima Shaheen, Anchor PTV programme Qanoon Bolta Hay, in which the girls enrolled in various vocational training courses in Sanatzar participated and voiced their opinions openly.
Ms. Rabia Usman, Manager Human Rights Centre gave an overview on the service delivery mechanism of the Centre. Since March 2005 the Centre has dealt with more than 9000 cases in various categories of violence. The Centre acts as a one stop destination for women in distress and provides services such as psycho-social counseling, legal advice and legal aid, shelter, conflict resolution, follow up and rehabilitation.
Services provided by Shaheed Benazir Bhutoo Human Rights Centre for Women, Lahore
Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Human Rights Centre for Women was established in Lahore in March 2005 with the nomenclature “Crisis Centre for Women in Distress”.
Currently 12 centres are providing services in Punjab to redress grievances of women (Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Muzaffargarh, Vehari, Multan, Sahiwal, Mianwali, D.G. Khan, Bahawalpur, Rawalpindi, Khushab).
The Centre works on the basis of beneficence (do good) and non-malfeasance (do no harm) to provide protection and dignity to survivors of violence, while ensuring confidentiality and independent decision making without any discrimination. The Centre provides the following services to women in distress:
- Counseling to develop survivors coping with stress and conflict resolution skills,
- Legal guidance and legal aid,
- Temporary/ immediate shelter,
- Free medical aid for victims of violence,
- Psychological assessment and counseling,
- Crisis management and safety planning,
- Creating financial literacy for ending cycle of disempowerment,
- Reintegration and rehabilitation into community and family,
- Family therapy for coping with communication difficulties and financial problems,
- Referral services connect victims to sources for self reliance,
- Follow ups to determine reliability and validity of service provided,
- Telephonic help line and counseling.
Since March 2005, the Centre has benefited 9051 women in various categories of violence. The Centre is open to public for complaints against all forms of violence. Any women can walk-in or call for information and services.
