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PESHAWAR, Sep 24 (APP):A day-long Training of Trainers for “Building the Capacity of Community Women Leaders to Promote Votes without Violence” was organized by PODA organization in Peshawar.
The master training was attended by 10 promising women leaders from the district Khyber including minority representatives, communities and women heading community based groups, ex-councilors, women journalists, social activists and students.
Dr. Adnan Arshad, Project Manager PODA shared the project overview and said that Violence Against Women in Election (VAWE) is a pervasive challenge in Pakistan that undermine women’s equal access to the democratic process as a voter, candidate, polling staff, polling agents and elected leaders.
He added it is not acceptable that millions of Pakistani women are still considered missing voters because they were not able to get CNIC or register as voters. He urged the trainee women participants to help women register as voters in their districts.
Ms. Raheema Sultana, project coordinator led a session on “Why are there missing women voters in Pakistan” and facilitated the participants to brainstorm on why women are not able to make CNIC and register themselves as voters.
Ms. Rahima explained that now NADRA has made it very easy for women to get CNIC. She shared NADRA website and also helped the participants to go through a sample NADRA form in the training manual and explained how we can make changes in our CNIC in an easy way.
She said if there are more women who know about the importance of peaceful election that will give more women the confidence to come out and vote and also run in elections as candidates.
Raheema also shared that the Election Commission of Pakistan has District Voter Education Committee (DEVAC) that is required to include women as members and to create awareness on how women can register as voters.
She encouraged the participants to become members of DEVAC in their districts to work closely with ECP.
Shahana Akhtar, First Female Election Officer to Khyber district explained that special measures has been taken by ECP to enhance peaceful participation of women’s in political process in the district. Election commission launched a CNIC/Voter Registration Campaign to decrease the gender gap in the Electoral Rolls by increasing registration of women as voters.
Advocate Ms. Nida Khan, Peshawar High Court Bar Association led the session and discussed the important sections of Elections Act, 2017.
She explained that Election Rules 2017 prohibit use of force and harassment of all voters and have a special section that says women should not be harassed as voters or candidates during the electoral processes.
Multiple sections of this act speak of women’s political participation as voters and candidates. She explained section 167, 170 & 171 stresses that prohibit harassment, violence and coercion in the electoral process and also explained what constitutes peaceful election processes. She shared that women have the right to vote freely without pressure from anyone including family members.
Regional Coordinator HRCP, Shahid Khan shared that the training encompassed not only the importance of promoting Vote without Violence but also delved into the growing concern of cybercrime within the electoral process.
Expert trainers, Ms. Raheema Sultana from PODA adeptly sensitized the attendees to the pressing issues surrounding women’s participation in elections, the threats posed by cybercrime, and the remedies to mitigate these challenges.
The participants showed special interest in the discussions on the Gender gap in the electoral process, measures that should be taken to reduce the gap, and identifying examples of Gender Based Violence in political processes, including related harassment types, reasons, affects, protection and legal remedies.
She also shared what steps women can take to challenge cybercrimes during electoral processes and shared the FIA email address to report cybercrimes including hate crimes against women and character assassination of women candidates.
The Master trainers will now start preparing to deliver this training in different parts of Khyber district to reach to women, transgenders and women with disabilities in marginalized areas where less than 10% women votes in the last election and those polling stations showed less numbers of women voters.