Sensitive Policing Practices; Handling Women and Vulnerable Groups

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Sensitive Policing PracticesHandling Women and
Vulnerable Groups

• Humaira Masihuddin (Advocate)
• LLb Shariah and Law (Pak)
• MA Cultural Anthropology (USA)
• MSc Criminal Justice Studies (UK)

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Tenth 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.

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Cont

• 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.

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Vulnerable Groups

• Determining Vulnerable Groups.
• Pakistani Police Training curriculums identify 3
  major groups ,Women, Children and minorities,
• Factors Contributing to Vulnerability

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Factors 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.

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Cont

• 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.

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Manifestation 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.

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Extreme Manifestations of this exploitation .

• Physical and psychological abuse.
• Burns.
• Acid throwing.
• Murder.
• Rape.
• Sexual harassment.
• Child marriages.
• Forced marriages.

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Types of Domestic violence.

• Assault/battering.
• Acid throwing.
• Burning.
• Vanni.
• Swara.
• Child marriages.
• Incest.
• Illegal Confinement.
• Murder.

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Honor Killings

• Individual murders. Family sponsored murders,
  Jirga sponsored murders

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Manifestations 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.

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The 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)

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Domestic Violence

• The Perils of the word Domestic
• Group exercise.
• The word Domestic
• Trivializes the crime
• Distracts police from the seriousness of the
  crime.

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Police 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.

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Best 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)

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• 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.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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Minors/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.

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Article 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.

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Article 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.

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Skillful 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)

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Cont

• 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.

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Understanding 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.

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Skillful interviewing the ultimate Skill.

• An interactive Exercise.
• Diversionary Questions.
• Empowerment questions.
• Incident related Questions.

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• Thank You!