We need to appreciate that a lot of things have changed for women. Earlier, the police force was a male dominated space. This only meant that women had a tough time. But now, with the number of women in the force only increasing, the workplace is improving.
People who earlier had a hard time accepting women in supervisory roles are slowly changing. We even have a woman DG&IGP heading the State police force in Neelmani N. Raju today.
However, much needs to be done on the front in the lower cadres. We need to have more women in the field in executive postings – from constables to inspectors and higher ranks. Many seem to be pushed into non-executive postings.
We need more law and order police stations headed by women, more women handling crime and, generally, more women in the field. Women do have some special needs, like during and post pregnancy, which are being catered to. But they shouldn’t be shunted to non-executive postings. The force needs to encourage more women to be in the field.