WHY INDIA REQUIRE MORE WOMEN POLICE ???

WHY INDIA REQUIRE MORE WOMEN POLICE ???

A new study by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) suggests that women constitute six per cent of the entire police force which is much smaller than other South Asian and also BRICS countries.

“Indian police as a concept was given to us by the British. An imperial force then, police were only males, which was also not the case in Britain at the time, which since 1857 had women in their force. So, Indian police has been recognised as a masculine body for a long time,” says Kamal Kumar, ex-DGP.

He adds, “In rape cases, we find it hard to depute women officers to interrogate and investigate since there are such few options. If during a rally or a protest people see women police officers around in as many numbers as they are used to seeing men, the population will not assume the police to be as a very authoritarian body.”

In a Home Ministry report released a few months ago, it was revealed that women make up just 5.3% of the country’s police force. Imagine: a society comprising of more or less an equal number of men and women being policed by a force that has 94% men. This abysmal figure is like a punch in the gut for women’s empowerment in India.

We’ve often heard people say, “But women aren’t suited for jobs in the police force,” even when women have been equipped with the right set of skills to become great police leaders. It’s high time we recognize this myth for what it is and debunk it with completely. So, here are 5 reasons why more women should be inducted into the police force.

Women police officers are less tolerant of illegal behaviour

Women are more likely to be tough on immoral or illegal behavior than their male counterparts. Several studies have come to this conclusion, but a notable one is the 2004 study on police brutality conducted at the University of Maribor in Slovenia. If more women are inducted into the police force, the crackdown on illegal activities will be a lot more effective than it is right now.

They possess the ability to defuse a situation non-violently

Women usually don’t react violently to potentially violent situations. They make sure that they don’t get to a point where they have to fight fire with fire. They instead rely more on their interpersonal skills. This is a desirable quality in any police leader, as the public would feel safer and the police officers under her wing would be more committed on duty.

 They’re better suited to dealing with cases involving women

Indian law states that a woman can be taken into custody only if a woman police officer is present all along, “as far as practicable”. We can eliminate this “as far as practicable” clause if we have more women in police. The women who are taken into custody deserve to be treated with dignity, and that’s more likely to happen in the presence of women police officers.

They’re more likely to earn people’s trust

Women are more likely to rely on empathy, care, and compassion to enforce policing duties. This, coupled with the fact that they’re tough on illegal behavior, makes them easy to trust — a crucial aspect in building a peaceful and friendly neighborhood.

A woman’s approach to decision making is invaluable

The biggest drawback of not having enough police leaders in the force is that we’re losing out on a woman’s perspective in the crucial policing decisions being taken across the country. Striving for a balanced approach is key, and that’s possible only if both men and women sit across the table to hammer out the security concerns ailing our country.