ROUGH ROADS TO EQUALITY

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In answer to this question, 46 36 (53.74%) women police from the mid-level personnel category felt that the public treats them equal to men and 29 (43.28%) felt that they were respected more by the public. Only two (2.98%) felt that they were respected less than a man. The breakdown by specific rank is shown above. On the same question about public respect, of a total of 150 Constables who answered the question, 114 (76%) responded that the public respects them equally with their male colleagues. However, 15 (14%) responded that they felt the public respected them less and 21 (14%) answered that they felt the public respected them more. One interesting comparison is that, although only 6.67% of Constables felt the uniform gave them less power than their male colleagues, 10% of Constables felt the public respected them less than men. According to this, a greater proportion of Constables felt the public respected them less than their male peers, compared to their senior women colleagues. One possible explanation could be that Constables are the most junior rank and many of these respondents may not have the confidence that comes with longer policing experience. Further, members of the public may demonstrate different levels of respect based on a combination of the police officer’s gender and rank. Clearly, the variation in the responses could also be reflective of different individual experiences on the part of the participants. But it is telling that women Constables, as the most junior and arguably the most vulnerable as women police, feel the least respected by the public. Interviews with senior policewomen revealed additional information on public perception. In particular, they indicated that the public sees men as more aggressive and corrupt compared to women police personnel. “The public respect us more than men. The image of the police is bad because of men.” “The public respects us as we do not take bribes like men do”. 47 This view was especially reinforced In Sylhet. Respondents specifically stated that the public respects them more than their male counterparts because they do not solicit bribes. These views echo perspectives from other countries where women police officers have been shown to impact a reduction in corruption levels in the police. This is an indication that women are seen as less tainted by the image of corruption, further affirming the importance of recruiting more women into the police service to improve the image of the police and the public’s confidence in the service. Finally, we sought information on women personnel’s views relating to women in the police overall and in the future. 46 Six out of 73 mid-level personnel left the question blank, for a total of 67 responses. 47 It was also expressed that “the public respects us as much as they do male police officers, but the public is not afraid of us” during the focus group discussions with the researchers in April 2014. 12 Rough Roads To Equality WOMEN POLICE IN BANGLADESH Rough Road to Equality_Bangladesh Police_7-12-15.indd 18 1/8/2016 5:00:38 PM
100% of respondents 48 from the mid-level ranks agreed that more women were needed in the police department. 96.73 % of Constables thought that more women are needed in the police department – out of 153 who answered the question, only five answered “no”. Encouragingly, these results are paralleled by findings of public attitude surveys conducted by the PRP. In the first of these, conducted in 2009, 90% of households expressed support for women in the police service, while 42% felt that women should comprise half of the police service. 49 A 2011 survey found that the vast majority of the public (93.6%) believed that women were under-represented in the police. During our focus group discussions, practical reasons dominated for increasing the recruitment of women, including that this would lift the pressure and enable them to work flexible hours. Notably, some took this opportunity to point out that women who are serving currently need to be promoted. In that sense, recruiting more women, without providing opportunities for professional advancement, seemed to be of little benefit. These are very useful observations as they point to institutional gaps that can get neglected owing to an overwhelming focus on recruitment of women and getting the numbers up at intake, while not addressing other areas of concern. This is a reminder that genuine inclusion of women in the police must be approached systemically. ii. Women’s General Job Experiences and Satisfaction To get a detailed picture of women’s day-to-day experiences working in the police, we asked the respondents to describe their main duties, as well as what they liked most about their jobs and what changes would most improve their working situation. Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors, and Assistant Sub-Inspectors described their duties as: • Serving the people and country; maintaining law and order, peace and security • Guarding life, property and human rights • Serving vulnerable populations, including the poor, women and children • Behaving professionally in dealings with the public and avoiding corruption • Investigating cases, aiding victims of crime and bringing perpetrators to justice • Escorting VIPs • Following legal orders of superior officers • Dealing with situations of political unrest and dispersing illegal gatherings. Constables repeated many of the duties described above. Others that were expressed included: • In the police station: writing up the General Diary, 50 taking statements of victims, maintaining registers and summoning accused persons • Field duty during elections, strikes, festivals and sporting events • Guarding accused individuals and escorting them to court • Guarding victims of crime and escorting them for medical examinations and treatment • Assisting rape victims at the One Stop Crisis Centres 51 located at medical college hospitals and assisting victims of domestic violence, abduction, sexual assault, trafficking and other crimes affecting women and children at Victim Support Centres at police stations. 52 48 Four out of the 73 participants left the question blank, resulting in 69 total responses to this question. 49 Police Reform Programme (2009), “Police Reforms Programme-Public Attitude-Follow-up Survey Final Report”, p. 53: http://www. prp.org.bd/downloads/FollowupSurvey.pdf as on 25 November 2015. 50 The General Diary (GD) is one of the most important registers in a police station. It is a record of all incidents and suspected incidents occurring within and in the jurisdiction of a police station in a 24-hour period. 51 One Stop Crisis Centres (OSCC) are designed to deliver medical, legal, psychological and other needed care to victims of sexual crimes at one location to reduce the burdens, barriers and trauma they face: http://mspvaw.gov.bd/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=188&cmp=1&adfile=1&Itemid=143. 52 Victim Support Centres operate within police stations and draw on support from established NGOs to deliver gender sensitive, effective service for victims of crimes disproportionately affecting women and children, such as sexual crimes, abduction, trafficking, domestic violence, abuse of domestic helpers and missing children: http://www.prp.org.bd/menuvsc.htm as on 25 November 2015. Survey Findings WOMEN POLICE IN BANGLADESH 13 Rough Road to Equality_Bangladesh Police_7-12-15.indd 19 1/8/2016 5:00:38 PM
Page 1 and 2: CHRI 2015 ROUGH ROADS TO EQUALITY W
Page 3 and 4: Rough Roads To Equality WOMEN POLIC
Page 5 and 6: Contents Foreword iv Aim and Method
Page 7 and 8: Aim and Methodology i. The Aim of t
Page 9 and 10: Demographics Snapshot: Age and Mari
Page 11 and 12: is unsurprising given its heritage.
Page 13 and 14: women into the police - in this rel
Page 15 and 16: Survey Findings Our main aim in pre
Page 17: The opinions of family members impa
Page 21 and 22: In terms of infrastructure, women f
Page 23 and 24: There seems to be considerable vari
Page 25 and 26: Here, the majority of respondents a
Page 27 and 28: Mid-level personnel specified: •
Page 29 and 30: As the participants shared, some ne
Page 31 and 32: The majority of mid-level personnel
Page 33 and 34: It could also be that those who sai
Page 35 and 36: desk at every police station was ne
Page 37 and 38: vii. Women’s Experience of Direct
Page 39 and 40: from Sylhet 77 were overwhelmingly
Page 41 and 42: There are other institutional block
Page 43 and 44: Over 90% of Constables reported tha
Page 45 and 46: • Making insubordination of senio
Page 47 and 48: Annexure COMMONWEALTH HUMAN RIGHTS
Page 49 and 50: COMMONWEALTH HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIV
Page 55 and 56: Questions for Senior Women Police O
Page 57 and 58: Bangladesh Police Ranks Rank WOMEN
Page 59 and 60: CHRI Programmes CHRI’s work is ba

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