The Centre for Social Research (CSR) has taken the initiative of conducting 6 trainings with the Special Police Unit for Women and Children. The participants of which are women constables who are managers of the Front Desks in the police station they are posted at. The workshops held so far have been attended by approximately 3 constables from each of the 11 districts in Delhi, thus making an attendance of 33-35 participants in each training.
The workshops begin with the orientation on the importance to hold a dialogue on gender issues. At the outset usually, the understanding of the workshop participants for the felt need to conduct the same, is to address the gender issue with the same zest as it is being spoken about in the media and society and to arrive at an ideological solution for gender based violence. CSR’s specialized gender trainers pick the participants’ train of thought and link it to redefining gender movement by adopting an inclusive approach. Since gender equality warrants participation of both the sexes to enable transformation of attitudes and practices at the societal level; the CSR gender trainers emphasize on the role positioning and importance of the legal stakeholders like the police force.
As part of the sensitization workshops, the participations are introduced to the conceptual difference between ‘Sex’ and ‘Gender’, bringing to light the misconceptions and stereotypes through fun activities such as ‘Hand Exercise’, ‘Imagining Obstacles’ and ‘Tangram’. The ‘hand exercise’ is to explain how sensitive and strained the spousal relationship can potentially become. The ‘imagining obstacles’ is to explain the fact that many of the problems are products of self-imposed limitations and ‘tangram’ is to convey how effective communication is in reality, a much complicated process than is usually assumed. These exercises lead to other discussion points in the workshop such as gender influenced power dynamics, varied manifestations of patriarchy, and violence against women that emerges right from the infancy of girl children and takes on damaging personality which is an omniscient presence in their lives.
Since the police force are implementers of the country’s judicial arm which ensures that law and order is maintained; the gender trainers sensitize and briefly touch upon Legislations / Acts which are specific to the issues of women, their safety and empowerment. Towards the workshop closure, the gender trainers conduct an interactive dialogue on Skill Development, usage of sensitive and appropriate language (verbal and non-verbal) while interacting with victims through critical thinking, self-motivation, time management and tactics to maintain comfort level with fellow colleagues. Feedback is solicited from the participants to not only improve the quality of the workshop but also to share it as data with the Delhi Police’s Crime against Women Cell.
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