Difficulties faced by female police.....

Women in police station

 In Pakistan, women face major challenges in accessing justice. This has a long historical background and even recent efforts to mend the idiocies of past are affected by these deep rooted hitches. The women's circumscribed access to justice is not only due to archaic laws; rather it has resulted from multifarioussocio - economic, politico - cultural and legal convolutions and glitches which can only be comprehended and amended with inter-disciplinary analysis of the prevailing legal system. Besides these, the most significant impeding factors are police behavior, police station culture and discrimination which the women face; restraint them to visit police stations for reporting any incidence and seeking remedy “Women police officials do not have proper accommodations/hostels, they even do not get pick and drop service due to which they face a lot of problems,” he said. Motorway Police Officer, Asma Bashir said they used to get more salary some ten years back as compared to federal police but the government had now stopped special allowance equaling to one basic salary multiplying their problems. “Now we get less fuel which has affected our response time. We get 10 liters petrol for the patrolling of 8 hours shift. We should also get risk allowance because we face and arrest criminal but we don’t get it,” she said. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Headquarters Rawalpindi Tahir Sikandar said that women police officials get salary and facilities equaling to male officers so they should not demand relaxation. “Women officials always give their kids and house hold responsibilities as excuse for not doing their job properly. They get same training which is for men so they should understand that they have to give proper time to their jobs,” he said. The deputy director, National Police Bureau, Mehreen Bibi, said a database was being prepared to deal with the issues of women police officers. Traffic police officer Sherin Wahid said women police officials had been facing problems but with the passage of time they had been addressed. Participants were informed that majority of people did not allow their sisters and daughters to join police force. It was suggested that 10 per cent quota for female police officers should be implemented and masses should be given awareness of the importance of women police.

1.2 Women police and Human Rights declaration:

Pakistan has signed and ratified majority of the international covenants and declarations, such as, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Slavery Convention of 1926 as amended, Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic of Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others and Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). On the other hand, the empowerment process of women, initiated during Musharraf's regime in Pakistan, is still in process. After the declaration of laws of Zia's regime, like Hudood Ordinance, the movement of women's empowerment and equality of rights started in Pakistan and governments promulgated laws specifically for women to control and diminish discrimination against women in the country. Although, the process of execution and monitoring of different human rights and available legal provisions in their real sense still has a long way to go in Pakistan, but at least now some laws, such as Women Protection Act 2006, Protection from Harassment of women at the Work Place 2010; are available to protect the women rights and their legal status. Women in policing have increased steadily in the past 15 to 20 years; however, the struggle by female police officers to be accepted in police services parallels and, at the same time, represents an exacerbation of the difficulties experienced by women as they have made their way into the labor force in general. Despite laws forbidding discrimination, women in the workforce continue to be discriminated against and under-represented. Several researchers have concluded that, “women have gradually acculturated into the police subculture while still experiencing varying degrees of sexual discrimination, and harassment. Many departments, often under court order, have eliminated discriminatory personnel policies, yet, “women working in police services continue to face myriad barriers to full occupation integration” Police departments have come under increasing pressure from community groups, professional organizations, and their constituents to hire more female and minority officers

1.3 Insufficient legal provision 

Despite of all these efforts, majority of women in Pakistan are unable to seek legal protection due to the insufficient legal provisions and the behavior of police services agencies, significantly police, which is at the fore front of the legal system; becomes a major impediment in claiming and acquiring legal rights Peer Acceptance Peer acceptance is one of the greatest pressures operating within police organizations. The desire to be known as a “good officer” is a strong motivating factor, and failure to achieve that status can be very demoralizing and devastating. Unlike their male counterparts, women must overcome the societal prejudice. Many female officers also report feeling they have to work twice as hard to prove themselves and to be accepted, whereas male officers can just show up and gain acceptance.

1.4 Impact Police work is inherently stressful.

 However, the traditionally male-dominated field of policing may create increased obstacles and stress for female officers. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine gender differences in the perception of gender discrimination and in levels of stress. The results indicate that male and female officers have conflicting attitudes about the amount and nature of gender discrimination within police work. The findings further suggest that female officers experience higher levels of stress. In addition, the results indicate a weak relationship between perceptions of gender-related jokes and stress levels for females. Interestingly, male officers who report that females are held to a higher standard experience lower levels of stress. Nevertheless, the most important stress for both males and females is the perception of job-related problems.

 2.2 Male uniform force 

many women of all ages and the general attitude lies in the fear of entering a police station, to face an all-male uniform force, drunk on their powers and who have the strength to do anything they wish to, whether it is physical harassment or mental torture. And it is not just police stations that scare women, it is also the response that they expect to come from the community in general. 2.0 deep rotted attitude Women instantly picture how people will look at them up and down if they ever even stand in front of a police station, they would be made to feel the shame as if they were doing something wrong. This attitude may be widespread and very deep rooted, but perhaps the only way to begin changing it may lie in revamping of the police force itself. Reporting Stabling blocks: For reporting or coverage of issue female observe surveillance from every catastrophic society. With family being the first place from where violence starts from, the woman is often under threat and especially where reporting the crime is concerned. In a two prong issue the first problem occurs at home when the woman is discouraged in many ways to stop reporting the crime but if in any case she does gather the courage and goes to report it, police, is often cause of dissuading the woman in reporting a crime, especially a gender-based crime.

2.1 Harassment without qualm 

Certain times in the all-male atmosphere of a police station, a woman is often openly harassed without any qualms. Often words of a complaint or FIR are changed around in order to minimize the impact of the litigation process. This is more common in rural areas as compared to urban, but not one woman is seen in a regular police station even within the city. Within the framework of community policing, the government has often neglected status of women police officers and resolution of cases pertaining to crimes against women.

 2.2 Shortage of female police station 

There is a serious countrywide shortage of female police stations. The first was set-up in 1994 during Benazir Bhutto’s second term as prime minister to support and protect victims of gender violence, giving them an alternative to registering such complaints in male-dominated stations. But the military government was indifferent to the concept. Very few such stations were set-up and the few that exist often lack even basic facilities such as telephones and adequate transport Female disempowerment In some cases, these police stations have actually become examples of female disempowerment. In Quetta, for instance, policewomen are not allowed to leave the station without the permission of senior male police officers. In fact, according to Dr Khola, women police stations do not have the power to even lodge an FIR in their station. The case must be first referred to a male police station of the area, and then the case be registered. Investigation Restrictions They also have no powers of investigation. Instead of preventing violent crime against women, female police today merely assist their male counterparts in maintaining order as and when required, their only gender-based role is restricted to detaining women in their lock-ups. No proper training centers: They have neither given proper training nor allocated sufficient resources, which explains why most women who join police do so only if they can find no other profession. No proper training center is device for female which could provide special; training regarding the rights of female citizens. Violence against female police workers: The term violence against women has been defined as the range of sexually, psychologically, and physically coercive acts used against women by current or former male intimate partners. Understanding violence against women is as complex as its process. Pakistan has been ranked as the third most dangerous place in the world for women. In many police station as well as during duty female police workers become victim of physical as well as mental torture in order to upgrade rank or other matters. Cultural restrictions Women in Pakistan must contend with a variety of strict religious, familial and tribal customs that limit their rights. In Quetta because of tribal system there are many cultural boundaries which restrict the female to work at atmosphere where the decision is take by male dominating norm. No legislative measure The Government hasn’t established police stations for women staffed by female police officers to offer victims of violence a safe place to register complaints and file charges. However, there should be few in number and should often under staffed. Furthermore, the police often lack the expertise to handle female rights cases Evidence collection after rape cases is particularly poor which often results in the perpetrator going free. Since 2006, National Police Academy’s curriculum includes a training module to increase gender sensitivity. This by itself is insufficient if it is not coupled with accountability for failure to investigate crimes.

 2.3 Shortage of female police station

 Despite the fact that women make up of almost half of the country’s population, their representation in Pakistan’s police force is appalling. Women make up less than 1% of the total police force, even though a quota of 10% is reserved for them. As there is shortage of female police station in Quetta district in fact it’s at 0 percent which encroach the rights of female police workers. the garishly low number of women officers in the many city can be attributed to the overall patriarchal mentality of society and the disconnect between a stated desire to have more women involved in policing and the ground situation. Low enrolment rate of female police force The situation in globe is the worst, with only103 female officers out of a total strength of 32,937 less than one third of a per cent. The situation in other provinces and departments are hardly better. In Punjab and Sindh, the number of female officers is 1,798 of a total of 149,719 (1.2%) and 902 of a total of 147,782 (0.61%), respectively. In K-P, the number of serving female police officers is just 438. However, the situation is slightly better in Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan but not satisfactory. The percentage of female officers’ enrolment in the police force in the federal capital and G-B is 1.55% and 3.01%, respectively. Reasons behind less female force in police station Harassment at the workplace is another reason behind the low enrolment rate of women in the police force. During the surveys conducted in 2013, out of the 17% of respondents who spoke about harassment at the workplace, only about half of them had the courage to complain. Of all the provincial and federal police departments, only the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is almost implementing the government’s order of reserving 10% seats for women, with 150 female officers, approximately 9.68% of the total force. Further, women on higher posts in police is also a scarcity, with only one serving as female senior superintendent of police, 19 superintendents of police and three assistant superintendents. Citing the “Women Police as Change Agents” report published in 2013, CHRI said while an overwhelming majority of male police officers believe women should join the police force and also recognized that there is need to increase the number of women in the police. However, only 46% of them said they would encourage a female member of their family to join the service. Although the majority (approximately 75%) of the respondents did not declare an unwillingness to work alongside or even under women officers, a significant 25% of those surveyed expressed reservations. Female police and gender discrimination; Throughout the history, the number one occupation for women was the position of secretary. There were other famous occupations like bookkeeper, teacher, cashier, waitress, registered nurse, typist, housekeeper, etc. But these trends started gradually changing in the mid 1980’s. Women began doing a broader range of non-traditional jobs, thus increasing the opportunities for promotion and higher income. Occupations that were considered non-traditional for women were and still continue to be law, dentistry, medicine, accounting, insurance, sales in manufacturing industries, engineering, brokering and police services. Even though police services is traditionally known as a male-dominated field, it is noteworthy that the amount of female police officers has increased in the last two decades. However, this growth is relatively slow, and women are still underrepresented in the field. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, women accounted 12% of full-time local female police officers in 2013. In 1987 it was 8%. Despite the fact that women face discrimination and are still underutilized by police services agencies, their status in this field has been gradually increasing. That’s because female police officers have demonstrated excellent performance in their duties. Indeed, the percentage of female police officers vs. male counterparts is still relatively low, but opportunities for women are now expanding. They are slowly and steadily approaching this male-dominated field, thus widening its scope. Nonetheless, the ongoing under-representation and discrimination against female police officers is a significant issue in police services today. Generally speaking, gender inequality is a universal problem and more specifically, gender pay gap is a major issue today. Women are more likely to face inequality in the workplace than their male counterparts. Female officers with similar work experience, often receive less pay than male officers. The number one obstacles women face in this field is the attitude of her male co-workers. Although gender discrimination is against any law, it is still a major issue in the workplace. It would be appropriate to remember the quote by a female police officer, that said, “When you’re in uniform and you’re a man, people see a cop. If you’re a woman and you’re in uniform, people don’t see a cop, they see a woman.” In a research study conducted, 17 out of 27 women reported that they faced discrimination. Furthermore, those who reported that they didn’t feel discriminated, knew of other female police officers who had experienced discrimination. The ongoing lack of representation of women in police services leads to a huge number of incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination. For helping to reduce the discrimination against female police officers, we just need to increase the number of women in this field, treat them equally and give them fair hiring and promotion.

2.4 Female problem during police force

 women in policing are less likely to use excessive and deadly force. They are also less likely than their male coworkers to be involved in fights or acts of aggression on the job. Female officers rely more on interpersonal skills than physical force. Women are known to deescalate potentially violent situations more often than men. This emphasis on communication goes a long way in the modern approach to policing known as “community policing.” Police departments are leaning more toward community partnerships and proactive problem-solving versus the “tough guy” reactive approach popular in years past. women do experience unique workplace stressors and issues, such as language harassment, sex discrimination and a lack of mentors/role models. Additional barriers that have been identified are double standards and the issue of balancing family with career. The primary deterrent to women entering the field of police services remains the icy welcome they receive from some of their male colleagues. Women face certain psychological pressures not encountered by men. Entrance exams for police jobs often require tests of physical agility, and some have been considered gender-biased. Some departments have required the scaling of a 5- or 6-foot solid wall, which requires great upper body strength and may keep many women from passing, no matter how strong or agile they are. Certain departments are revising their physical entrance exams, realizing that the 5- or 6-foot solid walls are discriminatory and in need of review. The women who could scale such a wall would be so drained of energy, they would likely find it difficult to complete the rest of the test in the allotted time frame. Some changes being made to the agility testing allow for two foot braces providing foot leverage, making it easier to scale the wall, as well as more realistic. Sexual harassment is also a primary area of concern and more prevalent in male-dominated workplaces. Police work remains a male-dominated field; however, many progressive police chiefs would like to hire more women but are finding a shortage of qualified applicants. In order for the pool of qualified women to increase, agencies need to send a clear message that women are welcome and will be valued. Some departments are going as far as specifically recruiting female officers. The most important step a department can take is to have a comprehensive policy regarding pregnancy made available to all female employees.

 2.5 Narrow Perspective regarding female police officers 

 Female gender is as duty responsible as the man but our patriarchal society keep the narrow perspective regarding female as police officer as it become a universal truth that female are for home and male is to earn in foreign countries female staff and ale staff has no difference regarding work just the difference of physical appearance, in china female are on their border to guard the countries of world power but in many cities it’s considered that those who work outside are specially in police force are of poor character or they are extremely lethargic that is why they are in police. The thought need to be alter as we want change the major change is the change of thinking.

2.6 Women performance in policing 

There is a controversy today over whether women’s policing style in many cities is similar or different from men’s style and whether this might be harmful or beneficial to policing. Many women in the police service itself are reluctant to discuss differences in styles because they believe this may push them back into specialist positions, which sometimes have considerable prestige but often limit an incumbent’s upward mobility. On the other hand, many feminist groups, particularly the U.S.-based National Center for Women & Policing, a project sponsored by the Feminist Majority, an activist feminist group in the U.S., believe that women’s difference is an advantage. Thus, they believe that, in many of the areas of police activity, women are especially adaptable and can even perform better than men. According to this view, policewomen are especially suitable for working for special police prostitution groups, dealing with migrants in prostitution and trafficking in women within the larger cities. They are gaining more and more experience concerning working with police groups dealing with domestic violence and juvenile affairs. Policewomen are generally more acceptable to women and children who have been the victims of the misdeeds of men. Girls and young children have more confidence in women. At the same time, the field of crime prevention is becoming more important to police agencies and here policewomen play their greatest role. They are usually assigned to the department’s juvenile bureau and their effectiveness lies in a couple of areas. Policewomen are very adept at evaluating parents and poor home situations which do not always meet the eye. They are also gifted in gaining the confidence of small children and in determining whether behavior is normal or antisocial. The employment of policewomen offers the best method of finding out the real problem, ascertaining what the runaway girl experienced while away from home, and then determining the best course of action to pursue.

 Cultural Constraints

 “Strong women takes a challenge dead it in eye and give it a wink” by Gina carry. Women worldwide face discrimination and subordination in the society. The subordination of women is even more pronounced in the developing countries of Asia and Africa. Rural women are discriminated against in terms of employment opportunities, access to social and productive resources, education, health status and family decisions, among others. In police stations they are prohibited to work as the culture bound the female to work in police station in the dominance of male.

 3.1 Cultural Restriction 

Rural women in world have been found to play an important role in agriculture and agricultural development, handicrafts, pottery but not in the field of Civil services. Social studies admit that throughout the world, the evolution of men and women is not the same and that they follow different ways in their access to the labor process.

3.2 What society will say? 

Living in 21st century where the world is imaging to have life on Mars planet, but at many cities we still it’s hard nut to crack for us when think about female at police station or at civil services. Its century of urbanization where rural system is neglected in many parts of world but unfortunately being citizen of Pakistan. before thinking about female police services they 1000 times think what the society will say? What will be impact of my police job in my personal life. Its sad reality if families gave permission to pursue job at police station or to job at DMG group. "Rather than waiting for external legislation, now is the time for employers to set voluntary targets for female representation at board and senior management level, police stations, civil services and hold people accountable for meeting them. Business leaders must take responsibility for building an effective talent pipeline, and make it a commercial priority to proactively identify, develop and promote potential leaders of both sexes." When gender stereotypes get attached to a job, it biases the authority that people attribute to the man or woman who happens to work in that position. In this way, men experience negative bias when working in positions that others associate with women.

 3.3 Follow the culture

 In a male dominated society, where traditionally women are supposed to take care of the family and look after the household needs whereas male members are supposed to look after the economic affairs. a number of women have to sacrifices their profession due to their family issues, organizational culture, gender discrimination and the lack in career growth in their respective organizations. The reason of high turnover of working women is non-supportive work environment; female employees intend to move to those organizations with opportunities and chances of career growth, high compensation, flexibility in work, and life commitment. Female police workers became victim of culture as they are dominated by male, their family background as well as their family does not allow them to work in police profession.

 3.4 21st Century and tribal rules

 The tribal women, constitute like any other social group, about half of the total population. The tribal women, as women in all social groups, are more illiterate than men. women vary in different societies. The conceptual framework to analyze women’s status comprise the seven roles women play in life and work: - parental, conjugal, domestic, kin, occupational, community and as an individual. Tribal system in World contains a half of majority where female is not allowed to work outside and in the profession of police is consider as the thought which no one could ever imagine. Living in 21st century but tribal system of Jirga’s and family oriental traditions bound the female not to think beyond the boundary. In rural and tribal areas of World there is no female police worker if there are its considered as abuse to society.

3.5 Icy welcome by male colleague:

 that women do experience unique workplace stress and issues, such as language harassment, sex discrimination and a lack of mentors/role models. Additional barriers that have been identified are double standards and the issue of balancing family with career. The primary deterrent to women entering the field of police services remains the icy welcome they receive from some of their male colleagues. Women face certain psychological pressures not encountered by men. 3.6 Peer acceptance: Peer acceptance is one of the greatest pressures operating within police organizations. The desire to be known as a “good officer” is a strong motivating factor, and failure to achieve that status can be very demoralizing and devastating. Unlike their male counterparts, women must overcome the societal prejudice of being known as the “weaker sex.” Many female officers also report feeling they have to work twice as hard to prove themselves and to be accepted, whereas male officers can just show up and gain acceptance. 3.7 Physical agility Entrance exams for police jobs often require tests of physical agility, and some have been considered gender-biased. Some departments have required the scaling of a 5- or 6-foot solid wall, which requires great upper body strength and may keep many women from passing, no matter how strong or agile they are. Certain departments are revising their physical entrance exams, realizing that the 5- or 6-foot solid walls are discriminatory and in need of review.