It was learnt on Tuesday that there were only 19 women police stations across the country, a mere 0.86 percent of the police department.
Additionally, women police stations cannot register a First Information Report (FIR). The women complaint cells were no longer operative, and women police faced workplace harassment revealed a survey titled “Women police as a change agent and gender based police reforms” which used data from police stations across the country. It was an attempt to acknowledge the work done by the women police, and to highlight the issues and challenges they confronted.
According the survey’s report, the strength of women police on duty was inconsistent compared to the police’s data which shows that the record provided to the research teams had not been updated by the department regularly.
The report further said that the Police Order 2002 was the only attempt at reforms, and even that lapsed in 2003. Consequently, the police’s image has remained authoritarian, corrupt and politicized.
It also revealed that few women entered this profession due to the social stigmas attached to working women in general and the police’s institution in particular.
The earliest history of women police in areas which now constitute Pakistan can be found in the 1939 British Rules. At that time, seven constables and a head constable were recruited to counter protests.
