JUL 04 -
In all human societies, few things are guarded as fiercely as a woman’s honour. That is why, in today’s Nepal and elsewhere, some families are still averse to letting their daughters (or daughters-in-law) work because, in the rich but conservative patriarch’s eyes, to let a woman work means losing the control to regulate her behaviour. Such families, fortunately, constitute a minority in today’s world. Gaining equal opportunity for employment—at least in theory—has been a major victory for the women’s rights movement. Societies all over the world changed in the twentieth century through women’s participation in the workplace. Today, more often than not, both women and men compete for the same jobs. While this is a positive development that works towards eliminating unequal power relationship between men and women, greater participation of women in the workplace also brings up a host of issues. One of the most discussed issues i s that of work-family balance that women have to find, often at the cost of sacrificing or slowing down their career, for there is no doubt that the modern workplace and job requirements are constructed around a man’s needs. Indeed, instead of finding balance, many women face a more fundamental problem—of sexual harassment that turns the workplace into a hostile territory.
The fact that sexual harassment of women is widespread in the Nepal Police, therefore, is doubly troubling, especially since the police has a constitutionally mandated task of maintaining law and order and protecting human rights. According to a survey carried out by the organisation itself, 40 percent of women in the police have faced sexual harassment of some kind. It is worth remembering that out of the 60,000-strong police force, six percent are women. The survey questioned 824 women in the police about sexual harassment at work. Their answers provide statistics which paint a rather bleak picture of gender relations within the force. Thirty-four percent of the women said they had to bear sexual innuendos. Three percent said their male colleagues had touched or tried to touch sensitive body parts, and two percent complained of attempted rape. Similarly, two-thirds of the respondents said they faced difficulties from not having separate changing rooms and 74 percent said t hey didn’t have separate toilets—two factors that increased risks of sexual harassment. Equally worrying is the fact that 40 percent did not report harassments they face. This perhaps could be explained by the fact that among those who dared to report, 58 percent were unhappy with the solutions and outcomes.
That the Nepal Police has woken up to the problem is welcome, but the real test will be in implementing the recommendations of the investigation to make the force women-friendly. Police officials say that a gender-policy will be implemented, and orientation on gender-relations will be given to the police nationwide. It is important that the police leadership understand the gravity of the problem at hand, something that could be guaranteed if there were women officers at the top echelon.
Source: http://www.ekantipur.com/2012/07/04/editorial/policing-the-police/356561/
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