Rough Roads To Equality: Women Police in South Asia

This report looks at the situation of women in policing in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, and Pakistan. It is based on the premise that gender equality, besides being a value to be upheld in and of itself, is a necessary element for the police establishment to demonstrate if law enforcement is to be seen as genuinely impartial. Beyond this, it champions the inclusion of women in policing on the utilitarian ground that today’s policing involves functions that can be performed by either gender and there is little to support the myth that policing is a “man’s work” alone. The report presents information on strategies and policies adopted by governments and police departments in the four countries to bring women on an equal footing in policing, and also analyses what more needs to be done. Most importantly, it draws on the experiences of women police personnel of different ranks in each country to give a glimpse of their realities, the challenges they face, and the larger institutional cultures and environments they work within.