Every year, the World Customs Organisation (WCO) announces a unique theme for International Customs Day celebrations to spark debates, discussions, and focused initiatives. This year’s theme, "Commitment to Efficiency, Security, and Prosperity," aligns well with the significant threats facing Customs Administrations around the world. However, gender mainstreaming in the workplace is increasingly recognized as an important driver of efficiency.
Gender mainstreaming is a prominent concept today, and the WCO has been actively promoting it in recent years. It has sponsored workshops on gender mainstreaming and equality in Customs Administrations globally and developed training materials to help its Member Administrations implement gender equality, diversity, and inclusion in Customs effectively.
In Pakistan’s case, recent years have seen positive developments, including the greater recruitment of women officers in the Customs service. Despite this progress, cultural perceptions continue to limit the number of female officers assigned to anti-smuggling and enforcement activities. This issue is largely influenced by regional dynamics, as highlighted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in a 2021 report, which stated that "the percentage of female officers in law enforcement agencies in Southeast Asia is low." Furthermore, a joint study by UN Women and Interpol revealed a dismal 6% representation of women in law enforcement agencies in Southeast Asia.
Although no specific figures are available on the exact number of women in the enforcement divisions of Pakistan Customs, as of 2022, women collectively constituted only 2% of law enforcement personnel in Pakistan. However, this has not deterred serving female officers from proving their capabilities in anti-smuggling and border security roles. Female officers from all cadres have performed commendably in enforcement operations across the country, whether in Peshawar, Gwadar, Karachi, or Multan. Despite this commendable performance, challenges persist regarding women’s participation in Customs enforcement. These challenges include deep-seated cultural biases and a lack of gender-sensitive facilities in the field.
Ranging from inherent cultural biases to inadequate gender-sensitive facilitation in the field, women are generally not fully perceived as guardians of economic frontiers or as capable of handling drug-related crimes. These areas are culturally attributed to men, and this perception is so deeply ingrained in policymakers’ minds that women often miss out on opportunities to work in enforcement-related fields. For instance, in an emergency situation requiring immediate action through an anti-smuggling operation, the team constituted would more likely comprise men than women. A female officer would typically be added only as an afterthought, and often only in the case of a staff shortage.
As Laurel Thatcher Ulrich famously said, "Well-behaved women seldom make history," traditional tendencies of gender limitation rarely produce desired results or sustainable success. For effective Customs enforcement, positive societal visibility, and mandate-setting, it is essential for policymakers to create more gender-inclusive policies, particularly to enhance female representation in traditionally male-dominated areas such as anti-smuggling and border security management.
To make gender mainstreaming a part of Customs, decision-makers must formulate policies that enable female officers to maintain a good work-life balance, even when posted in operational areas. This would include provisions such as flexible working hours, remote work options, and facilities like day care centres at the workplace. Additionally, proper capacity-building training for female officers in enforcement is essential to bring their skills on par with their male counterparts, who already receive such training, including regular drills and weapon handling sessions. Moreover, mass awareness programs and social media campaigns can also yield positive results.
The New Zealand Customs Service (NZCS) serves as an excellent case study for gender inclusivity in fieldwork. Their Inclusion and Diversity Council implemented a five-year plan that emphasised increasing women in leadership roles, ensuring gender-neutral policies, adopting zero-tolerance measures for harassment, and providing flexible arrangements for effective work-life balance.
Human resource policies must not encourage the underrepresentation or intentional exclusion of women from enforcement activities. Instead, such policies should aim to create a conducive environment where the full potential of all genders can be realized and utilised. Pakistan Customs' enforcement division is making its mark with an efficient system for preventing and controlling smuggling daily. However, greater female representation in leadership roles and fieldwork is needed to fully leverage an inclusive human resource strategy and enable Pakistan Customs to truly fulfil its commitment to efficiency, security, and prosperity.
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