46 Gender and Security Toolkit Box 20: Making training accessible for women in Pakistan Training for prison officers often takes place in a central location where staff from several establishments come together to learn about reforms and exchange ideas and good practice. In Pakistan the Legal Aid Office, a public–private partnership and a project run by the Committee for the Welfare of Prisoners, became aware that female staff consistently missed out on such training. They noted that in some parts of Pakistan it is seen as culturally inappropriate for women to be away from family or stay away overnight. This can lead to female officers missing out on key training opportunities, limiting their professional development and promotion opportunities. The Legal Aid Office therefore organized localized training in women’s prisons in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sikkur and Larkana, so that travel away from home was not necessary and female staff could access the training. The training focused on gender equality, rights under the constitution, probation, parole, prison rules, family law and criminal law procedures. Source: Legal Aid Office (2019) Lesson Plans 1–9, Karachi: LAO. Documents received in response to direct request for information to Pakistan Legal Aid Office. Support for long-term progress Some organizations have found ways of improving the situation for women in the short term and also advocating for long-term improvement of gender equality. Change does not happen overnight, and while this Tool does include examples of simple changes that can have swift effects to improve gender equality in places of deprivation of liberty, changing deeply ingrained beliefs requires a long-term strategy. State and institutional officials need to be engaged in the reform, but civil society can also be a driving force for change in wider reform areas. Box 21 presents an example of such a long-term effort. This was a combined effort of civil society, prison staff and politicians to introduce legislation to reduce SGBV in prisons.