Not in safe hands

A recent video showing a lady traffic cop being physically attacked by a man has raised questions about the safety of women personnel in the force

What happens when the safety of our safe-keepers is on shaky ground After a recent video that shows a former member of a political party roughing up a traffic policewoman went viral, the issue has been drawn into public debate. The safety of women constables in the city has been a questionable matter for some time now. A recent survey conducted by Police Reforms Watch, a community forum on police reforms, has underlined a few concerns that need addressing immediately. The survey highlighted two key problems — inadequate facilities and equipment for women police personnel and the lack of their safety in general while on duty.

The survey was conducted with the help of students from St Xavier’s College. Speaking of the findings, Dolphy D’ Souza, the convenor of Police Reforms Watch, says, “The students examined seven police stations in the city and one of the most important findings of the survey was the state of women in the force. Some of the important issues concern the safety and comfort of women officers, such as lack of separate changing rooms within police stations and inadequate rest facilities. A surprising find was that several police personnel said that they only felt safe to a certain extent when in uniform, and that they were concerned about their safety when in plainclothes.”

SPI Sujata Patil, one of the senior most policewomen in the city, says that the picture is not as bad as it is made out to be. However, she agrees that a few concerns need to be addressed immediately. “First of all, it never happens that a woman police personnel is asked to go on patrol alone. There is always someone with her, either from her team or a driver. This is a government rule. But aside from that, there are a few safety concerns for which all policewomen are trained. So ultimately, it is just necessary to keep the training in mind.” She goes on to add, “But yes, no matter the training, it is a dangerous job at the end of the day. Sometimes a person might be under the influence of alcohol and at that time he might not think what he is doing. Or in cases when there is a group or a mob, it is necessary to exercise caution.”

Speaking of the viral video in particular, SPI Raksha Maharao of the Vile Parle police station, says, “That kind of incident doesn’t usually happen. Here the problem is with a person’s mentality. I am sure he would have done the same even if it were a male officer. Generally public places are considered safe because people do come forward to help. Here the issue was that the person thought he was powerful and could get away with it.” An international power lifter and an inspiring figure among women police personnel in the city, Maharao adds, “When you are outnumbered, even if it is two to one, it is a risky affair to deal with it alone. So one should wait for backup. The safety concerns are real, however, how to deal with them is something that only comes through training and more importantly experience. Ultimately, what we need to remember at all times as women police personnel is that we chose this job. A police person is a police person — their gender, caste or any other denomination doesn’t matter.”

But training is not always sufficient to tackle all kinds of hurdles, especially the hygiene and biological issues. A female police officer on condition of anonymity, says, “Biological challenges are some of the biggest hurdles that women police officers face. There aren’t as many separate toilets for women in police stations. And most importantly, when we are in bandobast, bio-urinals are provided but there are hardly enough for women. Another problem specific to women is that they still have to be on duty even during their menstrual cycle. And this has remained unspoken for a long time, but a lot of policewomen I know face many gynaecological problems because of this. It is not talked about, because menstruation is treated like taboo in the country. Even the policewomen themselves, especially during bandobast, feel shy about going to a chemist in uniform to buy tampons. This is a stressful and demanding job for men and women alike, but these issues make it a greater challenge for women.”

Taking this challenge head on is DCP Rashmi Karandikar, who recently installed sanitary napkin vending machines for women police personnel in her jurisdiction. She says, “I know that this is a genuine problem and I have personally installed dozens of sanitary napkin vending machines in my jurisdiction. It is very necessary, as many times our lady constables get their periods in the middle of their duty and may not have access to sanitary pads right then and there. That’s why we thought these vending machines might come in handy.”

Women form about 10.48 per cent of the police force. While this figure is better than the national average, for a metropolis like Mumbai, it is still a weak number, says D’Souza. “One of our primary demands to the government has been to increase the recruitment reservation for women. Although this year they’ve promised to increase it to 30 per cent for available vacancies, it is still not good enough. The best way to go about it would be to recruit only women for a set of vacancies once every few years, so that these efforts can bear fruition. The skewed male-female ratio has always been the underlying reason behind the issues faced by women in the force. Addressing this alone will make a giant leap in making the force a better place for women.”