Meet Rafia Qaseem Baig, The First Pakistani Woman To Join The Bomb Disposal Unit

Whenever women match shoulders with men in a primarily male-dominated area of work, there’s a great sense of pride in every human who roots for gender equality.

Pakistan just got its first woman to have joined the Bomb Disposal Unit. Hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region the 29-year-old, Rafia Qaseem Baig, is the first Pakistani woman ever to join the Bomb Dispoal Unit (BDU).

She joined the Police force seven years ago after a blast near sessions court motivated her to do so.

She would join BDU after completion of her 15-day training at Nowshera’s School of Explosive Handling, with 31 other male members. There she would learn about the different types of bombs and the ways to defuse them.

Rafia, who comes from a highly educated family, holds two master’s degrees – one in International Relations and another in Economics. She had also worked at the International Rescue Committee, which fuelled her passion for law. And now, she’s also pursuing an LLB programme.

Right now, there are more than 600 women in Pakistan serving the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police force.

The province where Rafia will be posted at, also known as Sarhad, frequently witnesses terror attacks and is considered one of the tensest areas around the North West Frontier.

Source: Hindustan Times