Woman and Child Protection Division.
Women and Children- the two of the most significant elements of the civic society is also the most vulnerable segment. A majority of them are exposed to violence at the hands of the strangers, family members and other familiar or known to them. Such abuse often occurs everyday in every places like home or at places of work and may be in the form of abuses, both psychological and physical gender based violence. In most instances, the victims cannot avail or take solace in the law of the land for variety of reasons including the attached social stigma and lack of awareness about institutions or organizations that could come to their rescue.

The Royal Government of Bhutan had ratified the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in August 1981 following the formal signing up with the convention a month earlier, and has also committed itself to the obligations and mandates of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in May 1990. Against this backdrop the National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC) was instituted in order to fulfill the entailed obligations and responsibilities as a signatory member nation of the two conventions.

The Royal Bhutan Police, as a core member of the NCWC, is the prime organization responsible for executing and implementing the mandates and in upholding the obligations and the principles on which the Commission is instituted. In October 2005, the NCWC organized the National Consultation on Women and Child Friendly Police Procedures, where more than 50 police officers, Representatives from the Judiciary and the Gender Focal Points attended the consultation.

A need to establish separate Units was felt necessary, entrusted with the sole responsibilities of attending to the needs of women and children. It was one of the sixteen recommendations drawn during the consultation on Woman and Child Friendly Police Procedures. On these grounding, the Woman and Child Protection Unit under Thimphu Division was established, with the aim to provide a safe and conductive environment for women and children.

The construction of the unit started, in 2006 with a little more than Ngultrum thirty four lakhs, mobilized by the National Commission for woman and Children from UNDP and UNICEF. The office was officially inaugurated by His Lordship, Lyonpo Sonam Tobgye, the Chief Justice of Bhutan on 25 April 2007, and it became operational on 01 May 2007.
The Mission and Mandates (overview)
1. Implement/enforce laws vis-a-vis the safeguarding of the right, interest and wellbeing of women and children.
2. Provide all kind of support to women and children in need in collaboration with civil society.
3. Assure the protection and non abuse of legal right of women and children.
4. Assist in implementing activities associated with the major mandates of RGoB's on Woman and Children Programme.
5. Advocate the need for an added care for the two foremost and indispensable components of our society amongst police personnel and others, and to liaise with other associated agencies NGOs in formulating necessary intervention strategies.
General Objectives
1. Intervene and encourage reporting of abuses, promote easy transport dialogue between victims and vulnerable sections of the populations.
2. Educate and inform vulnerable sections of the mass on their rights and opportunities available from the unit in confronting violence and abuses in various forms.
3. Help curtial domestic violence through effective policing and one-on-one counseling/support session.
4. Closely guard the identities of victims from the media and other forces in order to prevent social stigmatization and other associated implications.
5. Help protect juvenile offenders by;
  • Conducting proper survey of juvenile delinquencies and compilation of report on the gravity, occurrence, verities of offences etc.
  • Identify neglected/disregarded youth straying about through regular surveillance and monitoring.
  • Monitor and keep close watch on activities and movement of youth released from Youth Development and Rehabilitation Centre (YDRC) Tsimasham and other prison/correction centers
  • Help organize and conduct one-on-one discourse with concerned parents and assist in drawing up/charting management strategies.
  • Apprise collaborating agencies and associated NGOs on various status of juvenile issues and help seek timely intervention and cooperation.
6. Maintain reliable and consistent database on violence against women and children in various forms and carry out regular and scheduled reviews on the action or interventions under \ taken both at the Unit and other police stations.
Strategies
  • Education and Awareness program
  • Easy Access and Quick Response program
  • Forensic DNA Analysis support to enhance detection and prosecution of guilty to curtail violent criminal offence against women and minors
  • Counseling and Psychological support program
  • Integrated action through focal person embedded within the individual communities to address the needs at individual level.
The Woman and Child Protection Unit is collaborating very closely with the National Commission for Woman and Children in the establishment of a Complaint and Response Mechanism (CRM) with parallel IT applications, which is expected to facilitate lodging of complaints by the general public, and enhance the efficiency of the Royal Bhutan Police in responding to complaints.

Vision:

"To make Bhutan the safest place to live and work in South Asia."


Mission:

"Work in partnership with the Bhutanese community to ensure safety, security and protection of lives and properties."
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