This article has been written by Rohaan Thyagaraju from Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad

The paucity of women in the Indian police force is a significant issue that must be addressed immediately. Women add a distinct set of talents and perspectives to the workplace, and their absence jeopardizes law enforcement initiatives’ efficacy and inclusion. While some efforts have been made to increase the number of women in the police force, progress has been slow, and more needs to be done to create an environment conducive to women pursuing careers in law enforcement.

Raising awareness of the benefits of gender diversity in the police force, offering specific recruitment and training programs, and eradicating cultural and societal barriers that prevent women from entering the field are all examples of such approaches. Finally, only by developing an only by having a more gender-balanced police force will India be able to achieve its goal of providing a secure society for all of its residents.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Touted to be among the pillars of the constitution the law enforcement agency is probably the most challenging and critical ‘service’ that requires robust mental and muscle power.

More than a profession it’s likely a service as the officers have to devote themselves to the benefit of the public at large which indeed every individual in this field does as this is every man’s dedication towards the nation. Requiring undiverted attention round the clock to tackle the difficulties that would crop in at any moment this profession has seen it all and has witnessed how women were frequently shunned when desired for this service and secluded by patriarchy fabricating compliance regulations for women.

Recent years have witnessed a gamut of changes concerning women’s empowerment in all fields yet the police field has remained untouched. Severe gender imbalance is prevalent in this law enforcement service that has always had a missing voice which is the women themself.

Critics point out that women were considered to be weak in this field as police service doesn’t have a fixed duty duration, unlike the rest. They have to contribute their presence even at midnight for national and state security threats be it due to sudden protests in the city’s centre point, threats to public personalities, or other criminal tasks that require immediate attention. subsequently, the patriarchal society deemed them to be unfit and called her too frail for this profession.

Perhaps this tragic mindset has finally seen a culmination, thanks to the landmark case laws such as Prakash Singh vs. Union of India (2006) mandated the government to implement several police reforms, one of which was to raise the proportion of women in the force to 33%.Moreover, significant criminal laws such as POCSO(Prevention Of Children from Sexual Offenses) have shaped and directed the state to look over these categories. It has been categorically stated that only a women officer must be in charge of such tasks as arresting women, in charge of juvenile criminals.

She is empathetic and can communicate with her mind to these juvenile delinquents who need to check their mental blocks and understand better their problems.

The Present Scenario

In a developing country like India, it is startling to note that only 10.5 cent of the police force consists of women which has risen from the previous times, and the state-wise distribution isn’t as proper as in the states of Jammu and Kashmir is a place that requires an intense amount of securities in the borderline it’s the least followed by Tripura and Meghalaya and in Tamilnadu its the highest number of women policemen this is as per the latest reports shared in the public domain by the ministry in charge when we see the number of women appointed keeping in view the SC, ST, and OBC standards then it’s Karnataka that has met the standards.

India Justice Report [IJR]

The India Justice Report has remained instrumental in the progress of enforcement of women in the police service. It highlighted various discrepancies in this field. Some of them have been incorporated while the rest have been conveniently defenestrated. The major aspects have been analyzed and discussed below.

Women Help Centers

It is one such component in the Indian justice report that recommended that the Indian police station must have specialised women’s help centres set up in the police booth.

This would only assist them in times of distress. Still, undiverted attention can be there to divert all the matters relating to women via this so that women can act immediately knowing the impact of such matters. However, every exiguous station has the centres, currently only Tripura tops the list, and other states are trailing.

CCTV Camera in All Police Stations

Apart from the such highlighted factors in the report, it highlighted the need for CCTV in all the police booths so that the accountancy factor can be built up keenly without any malintent carried by all the police force which again only one in every three statins have CCTV cameras.

In the state of Tamilnadu, the year 2019 witnessed the then ADMK government launching the AMMA PATROL brigade named after their late leader AMMA J.Jayalalaitha had taken intense steps to empower the women counterparts, This was an initiative that was created to make safety the priority for women. In the initial days, it had a great response due to the active participation of all the stakeholders, However by the passage of time the ecstasy plummeted immediately due to various factors, mainly the non-indulgence of the stakeholders and not prioritizing this like in the initial stages. Such measures are more likely seen as an election stunt than a step to safeguard women. Now all these vans have vanished in thin air. NO such vehicles are operational anymore

Sexual Offences Prevalence

One of the major reasons why in recent years the sexual offense reporting rates have spiked is due to the increasing presence of women in the frontier. Women policemen have made it accessible and comfortable for all the reporting of cases by their female counterparts compared to earlier. Females generally feel reticent while reporting a tragic incident which has she have encountered. Intense disgust is aroused when the policemen persuade her to narrate the whole incident. Therefore now when a marginal increase in the number of women police officers in the country has seen a minor spike in the reports of sexual harassment, a manifold increase can be witnessed if more numbers are deployed in the country.

Likewise, women to women have more connections and they can feel a sense of empathy and will act impulsively to preserve justice.

Another major reason why women feel hesitant about reporting crimes to policemen or police stations is the delay by the justice system. They say Justice eternally fails the raped daughters of India as the predators though when arrested momentarily are often not detained but they come out freely on bail. Here if in this case a women’s policeman is stationed she would take this issue with more seriousness and not consider this as ‘yet another rape case” and take strict criminal proceedings would be undertaken by them.

Challenges Ahead

The disproportionate hierarchy: India is a country that prides itself on its diversity, culture, and traditions. However, when it comes to the representation of women in the police force, India is still lagging. The lack of women’s enforcement in the Indian police force is a significant concern that needs to be addressed urgently. When one closely eyes at the hierarchy of the policewomen force he may observe that women rather fall short at all the stages primarily however he would be unfortunate to note that only one cent of women is present at the top levels in positions such as IPS and other superior positions. This is tragic as critics deduce that there is a patriarchal approach as the hierarchy proceeds upwards.

There is also a trend which has been noticed that more and more women from the rural sects are applying for the police force that too only for the posts of constables rather than for many exalted posts in this service this is also one such disturbing trend as even though there has scope for improvement for women if they scale the heights of the ladder they restrict themselves to such positions as they consider that they just require a government job and go for less work. More than the society which is relegating them to a much lower position it is this mindset itself which rather hinders their development in such fields.

Police, in general, is a very demanding profession as the law and orders might erupt at any point in time hence when women are there in those higher positions they can much more easily comprehend strategies and prepare the course of action however, the situation seems non-conducive at the moment.

The family factor also has long played a negative instrumental role in not motivating women to take up professions in the police force s they think if the woman is outside the house who will be the family and look after the kids and the family,? when there is a lack of support from the family circuit it becomes challenging to proceed even if our sense of passion lies with the women.

Police: A subject in the state list: The major issue perhaps is that the police subject is on the state list which implies that it’s at the state’s discretion to make decisions about aspects such as recruitment, appointment, transfers, promotion, and other proceedings. Hence we may be able to notice the uneven distribution of the numbers of policewomen within the states of India. Say for instance when we compare between the states we can effortlessly analyze that states such as Tamil Nadu have a higher number of policemen and states like Telangana have fewer women.

Likewise, despite various efforts by the government and civil society organizations, women remain severely underrepresented in the police force. The main reason is that these regulations act as a subsidiary and are at their disposal without any compulsion to mandatorily amend. This will only exacerbate the differences without a collective goal.

Lack of Indian government measures: To address the issues discussed above the Indian government has implemented various policies and initiatives to encourage women to join the police force. The government has reserved a certain percentage of vacancies for women in the police force, set up women-only police stations, and provided special training programs for women police officers. Alas, all the efforts are in vain Since these efforts have not been sufficient to eliminate the gender gap in the police forcefully. More needs to be done to eliminate gender stereotypes and ensure that women are treated equally in the police force. This can include providing adequate support and resources to female police officers, addressing workplace harassment and discrimination, and implementing policies that support work-life balance for female officers.

Harassment faced by Women police officers: Several distressing statistics have been disclosed by the Bureau of Police Research and Development’s (BPR&D) 2018 research on women in police forces. According to this survey, almost half of female police officers admitted they had been the victim of verbal abuse or humiliation. The productivity and effectiveness of female law enforcement agents might be adversely affected by verbal maltreatment and humiliation. It may result in lower production, lower motivation, and higher absenteeism. In the end, this undermines the efficacy and efficiency of the police department as a whole.

Recommendations

Increase the recruitment of women: This is the primary step to address the shortage of women in law enforcement positions in the Indian police which is to increase the recruitment of women. This can be achieved by conducting targeted recruitment campaigns and offering incentives such as financial support, training opportunities, and better working conditions.

Implement gender-sensitive policies: Police officers should receive gender-sensitivity training to help them understand and deal with the particular difficulties that women face. This training should be required of all police officers. Moreover increasing the number of women in leadership positions can inspire more women to join the police force by serving as role models. It is crucial to increase the proportion of women in leadership positions.

Encourage community policing: Community policing refers to the community taking an active role in law enforcement. Representation of women in the police force can be increased by encouraging them to engage in community policing, which will also help build community confidence in the police.

Addressing gender bias: We must not prevent women from joining the police or climbing the corporate ladder. It is crucial to address these prejudices and promote gender equality within the police force. Policies such as flexible working hours, maternity leave, and secure jobs can help attract and retain more women in the police force.

Public Awareness: Raising awareness of the benefits of having more women in law enforcement can spur interest in hiring and retaining women. Awareness campaigns and awareness initiatives can help with this.

In general, recruitment, retention, leadership, and cultural issues need to be addressed to address the shortage of women in enforcement roles in the Indian Police Force.

Conclusion

To summarise, the paucity of women in the Indian police force is a significant issue that must be addressed immediately. Women add a distinct set of talents and perspectives to the workplace, and their absence jeopardizes law enforcement initiatives’ efficacy and inclusion. While some efforts have been made to increase the number of women in the police force, progress has been slow, and more needs to be done to create an environment conducive to women pursuing careers in law enforcement.