There are crimes such as sexual abuses ,rapes , domestic violence etc which are faced and experienced by women. Due to male dominant police force and absence of any women cops in Police stations most of the crimes especially those associated with sexual harassment ,rapes etc are not reported at all.
|| DR. RAJA MUZAFFAR
The recent decision of Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti for the creation of four Women Police Stations across J&K is a seen as a positive development towards addressing crime against women. The cabinet has given green signal for creation one each police station in district Anantnag, Baramulla, Rajouri and Udhampur. This decision has come at a time when tall claims of the Government towards up-liftment of women has turned out to be a mere hoax. According to the report published last year by Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) a New Delhi based International NGO , J&K Police has meager 3.1 % of women in it. Out of 1 to 35 ranks Jammu & Kashmir ranks 32 vis a vis women strength in police force in various states and UT’s. Out of almost 73000 strong police force in Jammu & Kashmir ,there are mere 2252 women in it. The situation at national level is not good at all. The percentage of women in Police force is mere 6 % at national level.
The police which happens to be a fundamental link in the chain of access to justice for people becomes useless for the women folk. When women do not report crimes to the police, these crimes are not recognized at all and thus go unreported with the result these crimes are not dealt stringently through our justice mechanism.
The said report was released on August 19th last year in New Delhi by Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home along with Aruna M Bahuguna, Director National Police Academy, Hyderabad. In J&K 2 08 p osts h ave n ow b een created for four Women Police Stations. In each women police station there will be 52 posts. The 208 posts include two posts of Inspector, four posts of Sub-Inspector, 8 posts of Assistant Sub-Inspector, 24 posts of Head Constable, 136 posts of Constable and 32 posts of Follower. The creation of these Women Police Stations shall enable women to report offenses and bring visibility of women at the level of public interface especially in situations where aggrieved women face difficulty in registering the cases against sexual harassment etc.
It shall also be a step towards achieving gender equality. As of now two Women Police Stations are functional one each at Srinagar and Jammu exclusively run by women police officers . Besides four Women Cells are functioning, one each at district Anantnag, Baramulla, Rajouri and Udhampur on internal arrangement basis.
Crime against women :
There are crimes such as sexual abuses ,rapes , domestic violence etc which are faced and experienced by women. Due to male dominant police force and absence of any women cops in Police stations most of the crimes especially those associated with sexual harassment ,rapes etc are not reported at all. Thus the police which happens to be a fundamental link in the chain of access to justice for people becomes useless for the women folk. When women do not report crimes to the police, these crimes are not recognized at all and thus go unreported with the result these crimes are not dealt stringently through our justice mechanism.
There may be various reasons why women do not report to police after going through criminal ordeal, but there is not an iota of doubt that male dominant police stations and lack of response from police is the main reasons why women are reluctant to report to police stations. This has infact been recognized by the United Nations (UN) in its women report published in the year 2011. The report reads as “discriminatory attitudes of justice service providers, including the police, court staff, the judiciary, and health care workers can act as a major barrier to women’s access to justice”. In order to tackle this gender bias the employment of women in justice system, training justice providers and putting in place measures for fostering better accountability to women can make a change.
To approach a male police officer can be too difficult for women especially at a time when she has been sexually harassed or raped. It is a known fact through various reports and surveys that the presence of women police officers correlates positively with reporting of sexual assault, which makes it clear that recruiting women in police force is an important component of a gender responsive justice system. Chandigrah , Tamil Nadu and Andaman & Nicobar Islands rank 1, 2 and 3 with regard to better percentage of women in the police force. Chandigrah has 14.16 % of women in its police force , Tamil Nadu has 12.42 % and Andaman & Nicobar has 11.27 % women police force respectively .
There may be various reasons why women do not report to police after going through criminal ordeal, but there is not an iota of doubt that male dominant police stations and lack of response from police is the main reasons why women are reluctant to report to police stations.
National Police Commission’s recommendations :
Out of its eight reports, the 5th report of National Police Commission (NPC) has given special emphasis on women police. This report not only called for an increased women’s representation in the police force, which during t hat t ime s tood a t 0 .4%, b ut the report recommended an equal share in police work and more involvement in the police administration. The NPC’s 5th report recommendations include:
• Women police should be given a greater role in investigations work, performing a special role dealing with crimes against women and children and tackling juveniles in conflict with law.
•Women police need to be recruited in much larger numbers than at present, preferably in the ranks of Assistant Sub-Inspectors or Sub-Inspectors of Police rather than in the rank of constables.
• Women police should become an integral part of the police organisation and should not constitute a separate branch with recruitment and promotion confi ned to that branch alone.
• Generally, women should be given the same training as male officers with emphasis on special training in dealing with women and children in public order situations. MHA’s Advisory : To increase the number of women in police force the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an advisory to states for achieving the target of 33 % reservation to women. Although such advisories are not a binding at all on the state Governments. In 2013, the MHA reiterated the 33% target and recommended each police station to have at least three women sub-inspectors and ten women police constables to ensure women help desks are staffed at all times.
More recently, the Ministry has proposed creating Investigative Units for Crimes against Women (IUCAW) at police stations in crime prone districts across states. These units would be constituted on a cost sharing basis between the Centre and the states. Many states have acted on the MHA’s advisories to adopt a reservation policy for women in police forces. As on date 12 states – Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Orrisa , Bihar, Sikkim, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Tripura, Telangana, and Uttarakhand – and the Centre (for all seven Union Territories) have a reservation policy of 30% or more for women in their police force. Jammu & Kashmir having such a huge police force is yet to give due representation to women in police.
Conclusion :
We hardly had any woman DGP, zone IG or Range DIG in J&K’s history. Even the successive Government’s haven’t given charge of District SP to a women (except a few) , the SDPO , Station House Officers (SHO’s) also seems to be male dominant posts. We have several woman IPS & KPS officers in J&K, but all of them are posted at unimportant posts .
It is hoped that Chief Minister w ho herself i s a women will look into these issues and ensure women get due representation in postings in police force. More posts of women officers must be created in Jammu & Kashmir Police force so that women come forward to register their grievances which otherwise go unnoticed.
Author is Founder & Convener of J&K RTI Movement
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