A discussion about the Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2016 in Pakistan.
Event Details
On February 24, 2016, the provincial legislative assembly of Punjab - Pakistan's largest province - passed Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2016 (an initiative of Punjab Chief Minister's Special Monitoring Unit.
The Pakistan Club is proud to host a presentation by one of our own, Hafsah Rehman Lak, MPP 2017, who co-authored the historic bill.
The event at Harris School will focus on creating awareness about what this particular legislation and its implementation mechanism, Violence Against Women Centers (VAWC) entail, and their significance. In a nutshell, the legislation provides substantial protection to women against various forms of wrongful treatment widespread in the Pakistani society including sexual assault, psychological abuse, economic abuse, domestic violence, stalking and cybercrimes. The Act provides civil remedies to victims: residence order, monetary order and protection order (enforced through GPS tracked electronic bracelets), and states that Violence Against Women Centers and shelter homes be established across the Punjab province. These Violence Against Women Centers house all justice delivery departments under one roof to effectively change the dynamics of evidence collection, prosecution and case flow management of violence against women crimes in Punjab for good. Pilot VAWC is already under construction in Pakistan and will be made operational in the Summer of this year.
Registration
Register Online
Registration requested
Business Casual dress code
Deadline: 3/8/2016
Program
6:00 PM-7:00 PM: Social Hour and Networking
7:00 PM-7:45 PM: Introduction and Presentation
7:45 PM-7:55 PM: Remarks by the Hon. Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, Consul General of Pakistan
7:55 PM-8:30 PM: Q&A
Speaker Profiles
Hafsah Rehman Lak (Speaker)
After completing her undergraduate studies in Economics and Political Science, Hafsah began to work at the Punjab Chief Minister's Special Monitoring Unit (law and order unit) as an Analyst where she worked on several reforms including those on violence against women, Punjab Police revamp, establishment of model graveyards and establishment of restaurant grading system.
She pioneered the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence bill 2015 and the establishment of Violence Against Women Centers (VAWC).
She is currently pursuing a Master of Public Policy degree at University of Chicago, and is also interning at Cambridge Global Advisors firm, and at Senator Richard J. Durbin's Chicago Office. She is also involved with the Committee on International Affairs in Public Policy and Women in Public Policy organization at University of Chicago.
She pioneered the establishment of Violence Against Women Centers (VAWC) in Punjab Pakistan and co-drafted the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2016
Salman Sufi (Speaker)
Salman Sufi specializes in designing and implementing projects on Law Enforcement and has worked in several countries. Currently, he is head of Law and Order unit at Punjab (Pakistan) Chief Minister's Special Monitoring Unit, and is also Advisor to Punjab Chief Minister on law and order. He has successfully designed and implemented significant reform projects including Excise and Taxation reforms, Transport reforms, establishment of model graveyards, Punjab Police and Traffic Police reforms, establishment of model libraries and restaurant grading system, establishment of Violence Against Women Centers, Women-on-Wheels (WoW) campaign, and Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act 2016. He will be joining us via Skype.