ROUGH ROADS TO EQUALITY

Here, the majority of respondents at all ranks felt that all personnel should be given flexible duty hours. This
means that women realise that flexible duty hours is important for both men and women, so that all can
contribute to the police department to the fullest.
An Eight-Hour Shift System: Recommendations from India
These results tell us that police officers typically work 12 hours or more a day in Bangladesh. The
police in India are plagued by the same problem. Some state police departments have experimented
by putting in place informal shift systems. Fixed eight hours of duty for certain ranks working in
police stations has been recommended numerous times in the police reform discourse, but a concrete
working system has not been designed or put in place anywhere. In 2014, the Indian Bureau of
Police Research & Development published a study by a retired senior police officer titled, “National
Requirement of Manpower for 8-Hour Shifts in Police Stations”, which gives clear workable recommendations
as to how to implement an eight-hour shift system, as well as a regular weekly day off,
for specific ranks working in police stations. The study acknowledged that the endemic shortage of
police must be addressed to fill the ranks to implement this and computed the exact number of additional
police needed to be recruited. Importantly, the study recommends that all new recruitment
into the police to meet the shortfall should be of women only, as a way to bring more women in. In
doing so, the police department would be able to increase the representation of women in the police
department and also introduce a shift system all in one go. 58 The Bangladesh Police can consider the
feasibility of these recommendations for their own context.
For the final question in this section, Constables were asked whether they prefer operational duties or desk
work. 59 From discussions with BPWN, we learned that male officers often accused women of wanting to take
“soft” jobs. The same accusations were evidenced during discussion in the focus groups.
Responses to the survey show that most Constables wanted both operational as well as desk jobs. Thus, in
contrast to the stereotype, entry-level personnel want a balance in the kind of work they do.
In focus group discussions, participants from Dhaka and Sylhet shared that desk jobs made it easier to
balance work and home life, because women are less exhausted. If, however, the length of shifts were better
regulated, field duty would probably become more manageable.
58 Government of India, Bureau of Police Research and Development (2014), Sponsored study on National Requirement of Manpower
for 8-Hour Shifts in Police Stations, pp. 127-128: http://bprd.nic.in/writereaddata/linkimages/5122897254-National%20
Requirement%20of%20Manpower%20for%208%20Hour%20Shifts%20in%20Police%20Stations.pdf as on 25 November
2015.
59 The duties of cadre officers and mid-level personnel tend to be set and structured, whereas Constables may be assigned to a variety
of administrative and field work. For that reason, only Constables were asked this question.
Survey Findings
WOMEN POLICE IN BANGLADESH
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