PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 21 (IPS) - Medical experts and women s rights activists are pinning hopes on the establishment of an anti-rape crisis centre for the provision of medical and legal aid to victims of sexual assaults in a timely manner will ensure convictions.
In the mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan, women become central to disaster relief scroll.in - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from scroll.in Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Shamim Bano, a middle-school teacher, has recently returned from a fortnight in Kabul where she taught Afghan women to do search and rescue work. The training “involved climbing mountains and gorges using ropes and harnesses, using ziplines and rappelling. Any wrong move and you can start a rock fall,” she explained.
Handling serious casualties, “with broken bones, head, neck and back injuries,” was also part of the training, she added.
As a young girl Bano was disturbed by purdah coming in the way of rescue. “Often men found it awkward to save purdah-observing women during a disaster, leaving them to die,” she said.