ROUGH ROADS TO EQUALITY

vii.
Women’s Experience of Direct Bias/Harassment
Respect from Male Colleagues
Considering that for several years, women’s representation in the Bangladesh Police stood below 2% and the
fact that no women at the cadre ranks were recruited for a ten-year period from 1988 to 1998, it is hardly
surprising that a male culture exists in the service. This is evident from the experiences of the women police
officers who participated in this research as well as in external research which examined attitudes of male
police officers towards their female colleagues.
Both mid-level personnel and Constables were asked whether they felt that their seniors treated them in the
same way as their male colleagues.
One-third of Inspectors and more than a quarter of Sub-Inspectors, nearly a quarter of Assistant Sub-
Inspectors and Constables reported that they felt they were not treated like their male colleagues.
Worryingly, in Chittagong, a majority of Sub-Inspectors (57.14%) and Assistant Sub-Inspectors (70%)
said they did not feel they were treated equal to their male colleagues. The one Inspector who participated
in Chittagong said she felt equally treated.
Fortunately, we did not find the majority of women personnel in all ranges feeling that they are treated
unequally compared to men. Still, these numbers are much too high. The fact that so many women perceive
that they are treated unequally serves as a strong indication that differential treatment is routine among police
personnel.
Unfortunately, past surveys carried out among police officers by the PRP also contained some worrying
findings regarding the attitudes of male police towards women police officers, which may well lie at the heart
of the differential treatment our participants reported.
In a survey by the PRP in 2011, 55% of male police officers said that women police officers were not as
effective as their male counterparts in preventing crime, and almost 40% felt they were not as effective at
investigating crime. While many expressed the view that this was because women officers needed more
training, subsequent questioning revealed a more deep-seated prejudice against women. For example, 56.1%
of male officers disagreed that women police officers made the police service stronger. 76
These indications of biased attitudes – and women’s direct experience of disparate treatment some years later
– reveal that gender bias is a stark reality within the police department. The necessary response requires the
police department to recognise that gender bias is a reality among its male officers, and that adopting the
Gender Policy is a clear priority.
76 Police Reforms Programme (2011), “Baseline Survey on Personal Security and Police Performance in Bangladesh”, p. 21: http://
prp.org.bd/downloads/Baseline%20Survey%20on%20Personal%20Security%20and%20Police%20Performance%20in%20Bangladesh%20-Summary%20Report.pdf
as on 2 December 2015.
Survey Findings
WOMEN POLICE IN BANGLADESH
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