Mr Salman Sufi, is the Senior Member (Law and Order) of the Special Monitoring Unit (SMU) within the Punjab Chief Minister’s Office.
In the first part of this interview Mr Sufi explains the role of the Special Monitoring Unit which has a range of activities related to Women’s empowerment. SMU drafted Punjab’s Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2016, and designed implementation mechanisms called ‘Violence Against Women Centres’ which are ‘one stop shops’ providing a range of services to women victims of violence. Mr Sufi also introduces the ‘Women on Wheels’ mobility empowerment scheme. SMU has also added chapters to educational curriculum to influence behaviour, and is collaborating with International organisations to ensure that practices meet international standards. SMU is also developing Punjab’s first Women’s Protection Authority, and has created a new post in the police to oversee all gender based cases in Punjab.
The first part of the video interview can be viewed below:
Mr Sufi now discusses workplace and sexual harassment, and outlines the ways in which SMU is working to ensure that the law is implemented. Clauses have been added in the law, to enable women to report withholding of earnings or property. He makes the point that addressing VAW is not just about policy but about social changes. Over the next 10 years the major focus is likely to be on implementation rather than developing new laws, so developing effective implementation mechanisms is viewed as very important to bring about change within society and provide victims with robust access to justice.
The second part of the video interview can be viewed below: