A gender-responsive approach to policing

Today, on human rights day, I would like to talk about how police organisations in Pakistan continue to be insensitive to the protection of the women. Even with over 60 years of policing history, the forces in this land are still only touching bare minimum standards of gender-balanced policing. This write-up comes in the aftermath of a national consultation on gender-responsive policing, organised by the German Technical Cooperation Pakistan in collaboration with the National Police Bureau.

There are many reasons for the present state of affairs. Policies regarding the hiring of women police officers are inconsistent, with each province going its separate way. While a quota has been ensured for women to join the police service through what we call ‘affirmative action’, the actual hiring has been slow and gradual. Sons of police martyrs are automatically inducted to the force, showing overwhelming male dominance. Police training colleges have very few female instructors. The training syllabus makes no mention of important legislative mechanisms such as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 2004. No serious effort has been made to revise the curriculum. The average constable remains insensitive to the protection and security needs of women. Even though women police stations have been established in many districts, they remain understaffed. Many of these police stations, especially in Sindh, have no legal mandate which leaves the female staff at these units clamouring for a better workplace environment. Cases of violence against women including sexual assault, rape, acid throwing, domestic abuse and, most notably, honour killings continue. The response of the police has been far less than desirable.

Yet all is not lost. Despite the lack of coherent policy, some brilliant performances have also been witnessed. Many women in rural Sindh have been taken into protective custody by the police through well-coordinated, proactive action. Investigations of cases of honour killing have been professionally handled as far as the arrest of the accused is concerned. The Sindh police have partnered actively with the Gender Justice Unit of the UNDP and actively administered an anti karo-kari project last year, focused on creating a database and a training manual for police officers, showing them methods of handling and investigating karo-kari cases. However, much remains to be done. What we need is a central policy geared towards making police organisations more gender responsive from within the organisation and also for victims and their families. Police organisations should realise that security concerns for both men and women require different protection policies. They need to see women as beneficial of improving security and law and order, and only then will they be able to formulate policies that ensure the mainstreaming of women into the police. These steps could then ensure an effective strategy for properly addressing the issues of gender-based violence in which women are often victims.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2010.