Fem Patrol (FP), a City police initiative to curb atrocities against women in the capital, is all set to up the ante against roadside Romeos.
A beginning towards this will be made on Friday at All Saints’ College here. Fem Patrol’s Facebook page, to encourage women to share incidents of harassment, will be launched on the day. A training programme in Krav Maga, a popular Israeli self-defence technique, for FP volunteers, women associated with Janamaithri police, students and other women who are interested in learning a few tips to keep troublemakers away, will also be inaugurated on the occasion.
K. Padmakumar, Additional Director General of Police, will inaugurate the training programme at 1.30 p.m. A seminar to be attended by around 600 women will follow.
S. Ajeetha Begum, Deputy Commissioner (Law and Order), said the objective was to create awareness of crimes against women, particularly misbehaviour and harassment on buses and public places. An insight into the advantages of knowing techniques such as Krav Maga too would be given during the seminar, which would be open to all women interested.
Training
Those interested can register for the training programme at the venue.
Those interested in Krav Maga would be trained by professional trainers from Krav Maga International and five women civil police officers who received training and held demonstrations during the India International Trade Fair in New Delhi last year. Women and girls who were trained could enrol as FP volunteers as well, with the police encouraging them to pass on information on incidence of misbehaviour towards women or harassment they faced or saw anywhere.
The Facebook page was to encourage women active on social media in the capital city, and not just FP volunteers, to share information, either on the page, via private messages to the page, or via numbers posted on the page. Confidentiality would be maintained, Ms. Ajeetha Begum said, adding that the complaints would be addressed immediately.
“There are many incidents that go unreported. We hope to encourage women to share them via the Facebook page,” she said, adding that police women were already patrolling 108 specified posts in the city thrice a week.
