The attempted suicide by a woman sub inspector, close on the heels of the suicides of two serving Dy SPs has shifted the focus to women police in a male dominated force. Despite women constituting half of our population, there is only a 10 per cent reservation for them in the police department and even this quota has not been filled up.
Today women are found in all professions and there is no such thing as a male bastion in our society anymore as women are now also successfully qualifying as fighter pilots in the IAF. All posts of constables and PSIs in the police department should be thrown open to women just like the posts of gazetted officers like DySps are. It is a myth that women cannot perform some of the duties in the police force as many of them have proved to the contrary.
Once the constabulary, which constitutes about 95 per cent of the police strength, becomes a common cadre with no distinction between men and women, many problems of the women police such as gender bias, prejudice and alleged harassment by male colleagues will automatically diminish. A common cadre for the post of PSIs will have a similar effect. Once the ratio of women in the police becomes sizeable, greater attention will be paid to their working conditions not just in the police stations but also in other offices of the department.
Exclusive toilets and changing rooms for women personnel should be a priority. Allocation of duties to both sexes in an even- handed manner should be ensured by supervisory officers as it often becomes a bone of contention. Gender sensitization in the police department, in which Karnataka police is a trail blazer, should be taken up with greater vigour. These are some of the ways in which patriarchy and gender bias within and without the police department can be tackled without compromising on internal discipline.
Dr. S T Ramesh is former Director General & Inspector General of Police, Karnataka.
