In a positive step for access to justice in cases of violence against women, Pakistan has established nine female police stations in Karachi, Larkana, Hyderabad, Peshawar, Abbottabad, Islamabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Faisalabad. The stations are staffed by female police officers to handle reported cases of violence against women, which have exceeded 11,000 since 2009, reports Dawn.com.
Alongside the development of preventative legislative and legal measures, the new stations will ensure more comprehensive measures of protection for women. For example, the female officers will provide a barrier against gender harassment by ensuring that a female officer is present during the interrogation of a woman in custody.
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Compiled from: Dawn.com, "Over 11,000 cases of violence against women registered since 2009", (21 February, 2011).