INDONESIA

Sexual Abuse Awareness Training for New Delhi Police

In India, the New Delhi police force has taken its sensitisation initiative to a new level.

They recently held specialist training on dealing with rape cases and the sexual abuse of children to senior officers.

The city's new police commissioner Bhim Singh Bassi is imparting special lessons on gender sensitisation and how to investigate rape cases to his senior colleagues.

Those attending the lectures and interactive sessions are district additional commissioners of police, deputy commissioners of police and additional deputy commissioners of police.

Some are in charge of specialised units like the special women cell, crime branch and economic offences wing.

“Capacity building is a continuous exercise and any officer who is in service cannot afford to be ignorant about what is happening around. This effort has to be made like a large force like ours which is assigned for law and order in the city. It must start from the top and then it can disseminate the same in their interaction with the subordinate officers.”

Training includes knowledge of new laws such as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences.

This law provides for very stringent punishments for sexual abuse, molestation and rape of children.

It also provides for a framework for protection to children who are victims of such heinous offences.

The aim of the police program is to improve general policing of the capital's streets.

With a total strength of more than 80,000 personnel, Delhi Police is one of the largest metropolitan police in the world.

S B S Tyagi, a deputy commissioner of police explains why these programs are important.

“Changes are taking place so often and so quickly.. we need to know what is happening on the ground. Because we are the people implement the law on the ground. People know the offences they need to report. Prior to the changes everybondy had the tendency to brush it under the carpet.”

Suman Goyal, an assistant commissioner of police agrees.

“It is very relevant and good also.. it is a good knowledge update, no doubt it will be good for our further working too.”

There has been a 16 per cent jump in the number of reported rapes nationally in India in the five years ending 2012, and a 902 per cent jump since 1971, according to police records.

In the first six months of this year, reported rapes in New Delhi soared to 806 from 330 in the same period a year earlier.

The rise reflects greater confidence in reporting assaults.

Coming in the wake of the sentencing of the four accused who were given the death penalty last week for the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old paramedical student, the police top brass have taken this program seriously.

Deepak Mishra is the special commissioner of police.

“With the changing society one has to keep up pace with everything because the system is dynamic so police can not presume to be static. We have to be responsive and sensitive.”

S N Srivastava, another special commissioner in charge of training says there is an urgent need for improving the skill sets of senior officers.

“There are new acts that are coming up and new amendments to the law; good work and investigation taking place. There are areas where officers need better understanding. These areas are important. Just as a doctor or advocate gets updated even tough he is 60 years old, a police officer needs the same.”

The government's plans to improve policing also include measures to recruit more women.

Today there’s only 6.5 per cent of female officers within the force, according to figures in the National Crime Records Bureau.

• India
• New Delhi police
• sexual abuse
• rape cases
• Radio Australia