In a move to enhance women’s safety in the city, an all-women police team called ‘Shakthi’ was launched on Thursday in Visakhapatnam. The initiative is part of a program called ‘Mahilalaku Cheruvaga’ (Accessible to Women), intended to make the police more accessible to women and make the city safer for them. The program was earlier launched in Vijayawada in December last year, with a Shakthi team of 70 women specially trained to deal with violence against women in the city.

The Visakhapatnam Shakthi program was launched by Andhra Pradesh DGP RP Thakur. The team currently has 35 policewomen, including ASIs, Head Constables, Police Constables and Home Guards. The team will work towards preventing and addressing crimes against women, like street sexual harassment, molestation, abduction and kidnapping, workplace harassment, rape, child sexual abuse, dowry-related violence, fraudulent marriages, adultery, and trafficking of women.

ACP R Srinivas said that the team is meant to be accessible to women who can reach out to them comfortably with their complaints. Apart from instiling a sense of safety in women in public places, the team members will also conduct sessions in educational institutions to create awareness around sexual violence against women. “The program is meant not only to respond to incidents of crime but to also work towards reducing and preventing them. Most of the members of the team are young women in their 20s. They will be visiting educational institutions, talking to children and adolescents about safe touch and unsafe touch, and creating awareness about gender-based violence. We also believe they will be seen as role models for young girls since they are financially independent young women who are successful in their jobs,” said ACP Srinivas.

The team members will also be in direct contact with the Police Control Room and other Shakthi MMCs within their cluster of the city, so they can respond to complaints as soon as possible. The policewomen are called Mahila Mobile Cops, as they will be patrolling the city in five cars and 20 scooters in a single shift from 8 am to 8 pm. The vehicles are equipped with VHF radio sets, tablet devices for GPS tracking, and pepper spray. The members will be seen patrolling the city in their special uniform of a blue shirt and khaki pants. “Although the city already has SHE teams to tackle sexual harassment, the Shakthi project is larger in scale with much more infrastructure. The team is also equipped to handle crimes like dowry-related violence and child sexual abuse apart from harassment,” said ACP Srinivas, adding that the program will eventually be implemented everywhere across the state, including rural areas.

The 35 members of the Shakthi team have undergone special training at the Police Training College, Vizianagaram, where they were trained in self-defence, driving 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler vehicles, and legal knowledge of crimes against women.