Gender refers to the roles and relationships, personality traits, attitudes, behaviors and values that society ascribes to men and women. ‘Gender’ therefore refers to learned differences between men and women, while ‘sex’ refers to the biological differences between males and females. Gender roles vary widely within and across cultures, and can change over time. Gender refers not simply to women or men but also to the relationship between them.
Working Definition of Gender-responsive Community-based Policing
A working definition of gender-responsive community-based policing can be
formulated as a partnership approach between police and the public. It is building on strong trust relationships in which the police are seen as supporting members of the community. It is an organizational strategy, which allows the police and community to work together in new ways to solve problems of crime, disorder and safety, and it is a part of law enforcement and access to justice approach with focus on crime prevention and control mechanism.
Specific Objective
Gender-responsive community-based policing is implemented as prevention
strategy against violence and crime, by selected communities, in partnership with key stakeholders.
Existing community-based policing highlight the following issues:
_ Potential for gender-responsive community-based policing exists, though
further clarity is needed amongst practitioners on in what that constitutes or what its basic principles are.
_ It can be a powerful mechanism to promote basic citizenship issues and
achieve human rights of women, vulnerable and excluded groups of people.
_ Sustainability issues, particularly in NGO-led community policing initiatives, require considerable attention.
_ Baselines for assessing impact do not exist in a consistent manner in NGO-led community-based policing initiatives.
Gender-responsive community-based policing is:
· A partnership approach between police and the public built on respect of local diversity and context using mechanisms that ensure that the safety and security needs of the community members – especially the vulnerable groups – are addressed.
· Building on strong trust, relationships in which the police and the police
department are seen as supporting members of the community.
· An organizational strategy that allows the police and community to work together in new ways to solve problems of crime, disorder and safety.
· A part of law enforcement and access to justice approach with focus on crime prevention and control mechanism.
So, the ultimate goals of gender-responsive community policing are to:
· Make communities a better and safer place for all their members.
· Contribute towards making the police force a more professional, responsive and accountable institution.
Gender Responsive Policing and Pakistan
Today, circumstances witnessed that how police organizations in Pakistan
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 clamoring for a better workplace environment. Cases of violence against women including sexual assault, rape, acid throwing, domestic abuse and, most notably, honor 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 honor 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 organizations more gender responsive from within the organization and also for victims and their families. Police organizations should realize 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.
Opportunities for the integration of gender issues
_ National attention and financial support can influence the reform process to be sensitive to the needs of men and women, particularly provincial police forces acting as role models.
_ Altered gender roles and social structures provide a space for more women to consider the police as a professional opportunity.
_ Extensive reform of the police service provides the opportunity to set targets for female recruitment, vet recruits for GBV, and integrate gender issues into new policies and protocols, operational programming and training.
_ There may be an increased number of women available for employment with the police – including women heading and supporting households, and female former combatants.
_ Due to the high levels of GBV in conflict and post-conflict environments, there may be impetus to set up specialized units to address violence against women and children.
Representative police service
_ Creating a police service that is representative of the population it seeks to serve – in terms of ethnicity, sex, religion, language, tribal affiliation etc. – increases the credibility, trust and legitimacy of the service in the eyes of the public.
_ A representative police service increases operational effectiveness, through access to a broad range of skills, experiences, education and culture, which maximizes the ability to deliver local solutions to local problems.
_ Women often bring specific skills and strengths to police work, such as the ability to defuse potentially violent situations, minimize the use of force and employ good communication skills. In certain contexts, female officers are necessary to perform the cordon and search of women, widen the net of intelligence gathering and assist victims of GBV.
_ Globally, men are currently greatly over-represented in the police service. Specific initiatives are therefore needed to increase the recruitment, retention and advancement of female personnel.
Non-discriminatory and human rights promoting police service
_ Eliminating discrimination and human rights violations, such as sexual harassment and rape, by police personnel against civilians and co-workers will help create an effective and productive work environment.
_ Discriminatory attitudes of police personnel can prevent equal access to police services. In many countries, women report that the police are insensitive and may fail to adequately investigate gender-based crimes. Gender responsive policies, protocols and capacity building can increase police professionalism and access to police services.
Gender-sensitive policies, protocols and procedures
_ Develop and implement specific protocols/procedures to investigate, prosecute and support victims of GBV.
_ Establish gender-responsive codes of conduct and policies on discrimination, sexual harassment and violence perpetrated by police officers, and internal and external reporting mechanisms that can receive complaints.
_ Vet police recruits for histories of GBV, including domestic violence.
_ Create incentive structures to award gender-responsive policing along with respect for human rights.
_ Review operational frameworks, protocols, and procedures with:
a) Existing women’s police associations and other police personnel associations to identify the current situation and reforms required.
b) Community policing boards, civil society organizations, including women’s groups and survivors of violence, to identify needed reforms and to ensure that protocols and procedures are responsive to community needs.
Women’s police stations/domestic violence units
_ Consider establishing women’s police stations or specific units on GBV in order to encourage more victims to file complaints and improve police responses to GBV
Gender training
_ Integrate gender issues into the basic training given to all police personnel, including civilian staff.
_ Provide mandatory and comprehensive training on gender sensitivity and sexual harassment for all police personnel.
_ Offer in-depth, skill-building training on specific gender topics, such as interviewing victims of human trafficking and protocols for responding to domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault.
Recruitment, retention and advancement of female personnel
_ Consider establishing strategic targets for female recruitment and retention.
_ Update recruitment policies and practices to ensure they are attracting a full range of qualified individuals, including from under-represented groups.
_ Update job descriptions to accurately reflect the skills required in modern policing.
_ Revise and adapt human resources policies to ensure they are non-discriminatory, gender sensitive and family-friendly.
_ Establish female police associations and mentor programs
_ Review job assessment standards and promotion criteria for discrimination. Implement performance-based assessment reviews.
_ Ensure equal access to job training for career advancement.
Civil society oversight and collaboration
_ Consider community-based policing as an effective strategy for providing security and working collaboratively with the community, including civil society organizations such as women’s groups (e.g. through joint training and patrolling).
_ Establish referral systems for police to put victims in contact with community services including women’s organizations.
_ Create or strengthen civilian oversight mechanisms, such as community police boards, in order to increase public trust and establish formal channels of communication between the police and the community.
_ Build the capacity of civil society organizations to effectively monitor the police for human rights violations.
_ Police institutions are often suspicious of civil society organizations and are reluctant to work with them.
_ National police often work in difficult conditions without equipment and with poor pay, while still being expected to carry out their changing mandates, often resulting in a reluctance to prioritize reform processes, including gender reforms.
_ Commitment to gender-responsive police reform diminishes as crime begins to rise and police return to oppressive ways of addressing crime, disadvantaging certain groups in society.
_ The national police force are not the only agents involved in policing – private security companies, militias and armed non-state actors need to be included in gender-responsive security sector reform efforts.
References
1-Wikipedia
2-Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces
3-The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW, 1979).
4-The VIP Guide: Vision, Innovation and Professionalism in Policing Violence Against Women and Children, 2001
5-Promoting Safer Communities by Integrating Research and Practice, 2004.
6-Recruiting and Retaining Women: A Self-Assessment Guide for Law Enforcement, 2001.
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