Daily Times

LAHORE: Congresswoman Gwen Moore, who introduced bill to reauthorise Family Violence Prevention and Services Act, and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, who introduced International Violence Against Women Act, co-hosted a briefing on “Innovative Global Initiatives to address Gender Based Violence” in Lahore on Thursday.

The congressional briefing was co-sponsored by Vital Voices and CARE USA organisations.

Salman Sufi, Director General of the Chief Minister Punjab’s Strategic Reforms unit was invited to brief about Punjab’s comprehensive Violence Against Women Centers which were a project initiated by Shehbaz Sharif during his tenure as Punjab CM.

At the U.S Congressional briefing, Congresswoman Gwen Moore gave keynote remarks. In addition, Cindy Dyer-Vice, President for Human Rights, Vital Voices, moderated the discussion while other panelists included Gayatri Patel, Senior Policy Advocate for Gender and Empowerment CARE USA, and Carmen Pitre, President and CEO Sojourner Family Peace Centers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

During the briefing, Pakistan (Punjab’s) Violence Against Women Centers (VAWC) and their inclusion as an in-built implementation arm of the Punjab Protection of Women Against Violence Act formed an integral part of the discussion.

Salman Sufi said that Pakistan’s VAWC-one stop justice delivery model with police, prosecution, medical and rehabilitation services all under one roof was quoted as an effective and comprehensive model replicable by not only South Asian countries, but around the world.

The discussants including Congresswomen Gwen Moore greatly lauded the efforts of the Punjab government for the innovative measures it has adopted at state level to combat gender-based violence and expressed interest for a possible inclusion of the VAWC-one-stop justice delivery model as an implementation mechanism in the International Violence Against Women Act as well.