Women and Child Protection Unit

Brief Description

The Royal Bhutan Police in collaboration with the National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC) established a Women and Child Protection Unit (WCPU) in May 2007 in Thimphu. The unit provides basic counseling services and facilitates referrals to non-governmental organizations (e.g. the NGO Respect Educate Nurture Empower Women - RENEW).  The WCPU has been very effective in addressing issues related to violence against women.  This unit acts as an enforcement arm of the NCWC and through this unit cases on violence against women were dealt separately from other criminal cases.  This increased the efficiency, effectiveness and promptness in responding to cases regarding domestic violence especially.

Similar units will be established in Phuntsholing, Samdrup Jongkher, Gelephu and Bumthang to provide quick and sensitive responses to children and women's rights violations, especially to deal with domestic violence and abuse cases. The WCPU in Thimphu is staffed with twenty people who are trained and educated on the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).