Police want resources to address violence

Main Stories, National
Source:

The National, Thursday 24th November 2011

By DULCIE OREKE
POLICE lack resources to properly address family and sexual violence, a symposium heard in Port Moresby yesterday.
Frontline policing improvement Chief Sgt Peter Yakopa highlighted some of the challenges they faced.
He said some of the provincial stations which set up units to address family and sexual violence had limited or no resources at all.
He said there was a lack of safe houses for survivors of violence in certain provinces while police mobility to investigate was a problem area as well.
Yakopa said capacity development for family sexual violence unit staff was a real challenge, with police lacking basic training.
He said officers were often abused by clients and perpetrators of violence when they were taken in for questioning.
He said police officers gene­rally had a stressful and demo­ralising environment to work when dealing with such cases.     
The symposium yesterday was for stakeholders to share new research, good practices and ensure continued collaboration on family and sexual violence.
Organised by the family and sexual violence committee of the consultative implementation and monitoring committee and AusAID, participants included health technical advisers, representatives from the United Nations, police, provincial council of women, constitutional law and reform commission and other provincial family voice, development partners and educational institutes.
The purpose of the gathering was to gain more understanding on the government’s legislative and policy reforms on family and sexual violence.