THE public has been urged to cooperate with the Police gender desks in combating Gender- based Violence (GBV) in the society.
The call was made on Tuesday in Dodoma by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Faidha Suleiman during training on GBV and reproductive health organized by the Marie Stopes Tanzania (MST).
ACP Suleiman called on the community to provide information on GBV so that they can be acted upon and perpetrators be prosecuted immediately.
She said gender desks operate 24 hours in compliance with various laws and guidelines thus people can access the service at any time.
“We work with social welfare officers to provide victims with confidentiality to ensure we protect the rights and dignity of the victim so it is very important for all Tanzanians to collaborate with us by disclosing any GBV incident in their respective areas, “said ACP.
She further called upon journalists to report sexual violence based on the values and norms of their profession, especially information that involve children.
“We urge journalists and the entire community to provide support so that we can protect the dignity and privacy of the victims,” she said
Furthermore, ACP requested journalists to expose GBV by collaborating with the gender desks as well as community officers by visiting the scene and find the perpetrators.
ACP Suleiman said children should be protected against violence and other forms of abuse in the community.
However, she said on top of having 24 hours service from gender desks, the police force has also set up a call center in Dodoma to facilitate service delivery. The placement of residential addresses has facilitated the delivery of services to reach the intended beneficiaries quickly and efficiency through the call center.
On her part, MST Advocacy and Communication Manager, Esther Shedafa said her organisation has supported more than 4,000 government clinical sites in the remote rural area and will continue to support the health sector, especially in rural areas.
“MST is partnering with the government in providing health services including reproductive health care and education in outreach areas,” Shedafa said.
The two-day seminar brought together editors and journalists from various media in the country, social welfare officers as well as police gender desks from Kinondoni, Iringa, Mwanza, Mara, Njombe, Zanzibar, Shinyanga and Arusha including the head of gender training from Moshi police college(CCP).