n recent times, policing has undergone major transformations. So have police officers across the globe. Modern techniques, training and gadgetry have brought about a revolutionary change in the overall approach of the police towards maintaining law and order in many societies. However, in Pakistan, male-dominated policing is still in vogue. It leans heavily towards physical traits, such as height, weight and brute strength. Premium on these attributes has produced the infamous thaana culture.

Despite a decade of efforts by the government to enroll more women in various ranks of the police, policing in Pakistan remains an overwhelmingly masculine profession.

The state of affairs begs the question whether encouraging more women to join the police force can lead to a major change in the performance of the Police Department in Pakistan. If so, what proportion of female officers is required in the force to enhance its capabilities?

It is pertinent to note that women make up less than 3 percent of the country’s police force. Despite quotas in place, institutional barriers and societal prejudice have made career progression an increasingly uphill battle for most women.

Moreover, the police force lacks gender-responsive infrastructure, policies and processes. Many police facilities lack female restrooms, and there is little support available for women’s transportation when assigned to a field job.

Over time, the traits that were thought to make a good police officer, have shifted. However, the job still requires a better than average level of physical fitness.

Recently, a woman police officer saved the life of a woman threatened by a mob in Lahore. For this she has been recommended for the Quaid-i-Azam Police Medal.

Gulberg SDPO Sheharbano Naqvi was at her office when she was informed that a violent mob in Lahore’s Ichhra Bazaar had surrounded a woman dining along with her husband at a local restaurant and that she was being accused of blasphemy for wearing a dress allegedly carrying some Quranic text.

Naqvi rushed to the spot to control the situation. At great personal risk, she saved the woman from an angry mob.

Naqvi says that there is surely considerable evidence that women not only have a profound impact on the culture of policing, they also bring their own set of skills to a traditionally male-dominated culture, “and that is definitely very helpful.”

Talking to The News on Sunday, Naqvi said it was important to recruit women at various ranks in the Police Department to ensure better service delivery and performance. “Though there is now a healthy trend of more women joining the police force, the table is still full of men,” she says. In the Police Department, she says, women currently make up only 2 to 3 percent, “which is quite inadequate. There is a dire need to increase this number… women must not be less than 50 percent.”

As women make up half the population of the country, she says, more women are needed to provide necessary and equitable government services such as in policing, law and security.

The SDPO is of the view that women police officers are better administrators as they know how to manage in different situations for better service delivery in a male-dominated Police Department. “They also know how to derive strength from their seniors and male counterparts to establish their authority,” she adds.

She says there is considerable evidence that women not only have a profound impact on the culture of policing, but also bring their own set of skills to a traditionally male-dominated culture, “and that is definitely very helpful.”

“Women are better skilled at using communication to help defuse potentially volatile situations,” she says.

“The higher the women are placed in ranks, the better they can serve the society as well as the Police Department.”

She says there is now an encouraging number of senior lady police officers in the department. There are many ASPs and SSPs, she says, adding that “if the trends continue, in a few years you will see senior female officers everywhere in the Police Departments across Pakistan.”

Recalling the Ichhra incident, she says “Unfortunately, we are living in a time when common people have stopped raising their voices; the extremists, on the other hand, have gained strength.”

“As a society we have degenerated,” the SDPO says.

“When I was rushing to save the woman that day, I noticed that only five-minute walk away, people were behaving as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.”

She says another area where lady police officers can make a significant difference is in addressing violence against women and sex crimes.

The writer is a print and broadcast journalist