The police in Western Baher el Ghazal State with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are constructing a special police unit to deal with gender-based violence and juvenile crimes.
Acting Police Commissioner Major General James Simon told Radio Tamazuj on Thursday that the unit will be completed and operational in two months.
“In Western Bahr el Ghazal state, Wau, we don’t have Special Police Unit but with our cooperation with the UNDP, we are constructing the unit,” said Simon. “The construction will be complete within two months and the unit will be dealing with cases related to gender and juveniles. We are still mixing up cases now at police stations in Wau police station or Suk-Jow or Suk-al Hajar areas but after completing the construction, our question of separating cases will be answered.”
Gen. Simon said senior police officers have been trained to deal with gender-based violence and handle juvenile cases.
“We have trained our special officers which are more than 20 officers and they will be deployed at all the units for investigation, arrest, and protection in the jail,” he said.
In July, activists in Wau reported an increase in sexual gender-based violence and rape and called for capacity building of health care workers to handle the cases.