KARACHI: Some 437 female police officers of the Sindh Police have been trained in different ‘capacity building courses’, including 46 in gender-based violence courses to get substantial results of the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021.

As per the official correspondence of the Sindh Police to comply with the requirements of the Anti-Rape (Investigation and trials) Act 2021, 46 female officers have also been especially trained for the investigation and trials of cases of rape.

In this regard, to fulfilling the requirements of the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trails) Act 2021 a ‘special sexual offenses investigation unit’ has also been established where the said trained female police officers will be posted.

According to the data of the Sexual Violence Response Framework (SVRF) 2020- 2024, an institution working under the Sindh Law Department and Women Development Department has been developed by the Sindh government with the technical support of the Legal Aid Society and the objective of the said framework is to improve responses of the Criminal Justice System (CJS) to sexual violence in Sindh and gradually eliminate its occurrence.

Sexual and gender-based violence is a widespread phenomenon across Pakistan and according to the data of police, cases registered in different provinces in 2020; 985 cases of sodomy, 787 cases of rape, and 89 cases of pornography had been reported from all over Pakistan. The number of cases had increased by 4 percent compared to 2019 data. However, the conviction rate in cases of sexual violence remains below 3 percent, highlighting the critical gaps in the responses of CJS actors and stakeholders to instances of SV.