Education is of vital importance for female police Kabul, January 2015. For 1st Lieutenant Palwasha Amarkhel the recruitment of more women is essential to develop further civilian policing in Afghanistan. This is why the dedicated police officer has recruitment on her personal agenda: “I have encouraged 25 Afghan women to join the police.” A move certainly much welcomed by the Ministry of Interior who is still struggling with the lack of women in the force. Palwasha aims to be a role model and wants to change the cultural perception of the people about female police. She even had to fight with her own family to gain acceptance: “My relatives don’t like the idea of a woman being a police officer.” Palwasha knows all about the personal challenges a woman has to face when joining the police force. But it is the love for her job as the Head of Gender and Human Rights Unit in Police District (PD) 3 in Kabul which helps her to cope with the obstacles. Palwasha has a really busy life as she is also apart from her police job working as a medical doctor. A personal but deliberately and tough choice: “In the past, I worked at the Ministry of Interior’s clinic in the Ultra-Sound Section. Then I decided I wanted to become a police officer.” Now, after her studies at the Afghan National Police Academy (ANPA), she was later assigned as the Head of Gender and Human Rights. She is convinced that in her new position she “will serve the society even better.” One of the reasons she mentions is that it is easier for female police to deal and handle cases of domestic violence. A majority of the cases, she deals with in Police District 3 in Kabul are linked to domestic violence as well as harassment of women in their working environment. She explains why: “Due to economic problems, some Afghan couples face personal issues and fight. Then they end up coming to us. We take action immediately and make sure our decisions don’t result in the separation of the families where possible.” Palwasha knows about the sensitive nature of each case, and she wants to handle each one in a professional manner. To further educate herself, she has invested in her professional career: she attended a course on criminal investigation and human trafficking in Indonesia and Austria. More recently, she has attended an Afghan-led workshop which was organised by the Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI), Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), UNAMA and EUPOL. The workshop focused on realistic cases of women’s rights violations in Afghanistan, and the participants were provided insights on the rights of detainees, child rights, violation of child rights. More importantly, the responsibilities of the Afghan National Police (ANP) to protect children were highlighted. For Palwasha the workshop was an eye-opening and learning experience, commenting how “education is of vital importance for female police.” In her view, there are three key challenges of female police in Afghanistan: “First, the security of female police should be taken into consideration. Secondly, female police promotions should be merit-based and only educated policewomen should be assigned to higher positions. Thirdly, there should be significant plans inside the MoI for further recruitment of female police.” EUPOL has taken a very close interest in supporting the education and training of senior police officers since the mission began in 2007. Specific leadership and management training has been delivered at the EU funded Police Staff College since it opened in January 2014, and prior to this at a temporary location in Kabul. Both the Police Staff College and the new Crime Management College, now offer a variety of senior leadership programmes, which are now being effectively delivered by Afghan Trainers’ to ensure sustainability, following intensive ‘train-the-trainer’ courses delivered by EUPOL. In particular, under EUPOL’s revised mandate, strategic advice will continue to be provided to the Afghan General Training and Education Command, to ensure that educational reform is progressed, which is Afghan-led. EUPOL’s Head of the Afghan National Police Professionalisation and Training Component, Thomas Stabler, said: “There are now plans to build on the female leadership programmes already being delivered, but at a new female Police Staff College. Here EUPOL will be supporting the on-going professional development of senior female officers through the provision of strategic advice, to ensure institutional reform and capacity development, within the ANP.”
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 12:00:29 +0000
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