London, April 15: A recent report highlights the severe gender inequality within Pakistan’s police force, where female representation is alarmingly low at less than three percent of the total workforce. This disparity is beginning to have negative repercussions on the country and its society.
The report reveals that the lack of women in the police force leads to numerous unreported crimes and other issues. Investigations into gender-based crimes often take a misguided approach, legal protocols are frequently ignored, resulting in a lack of justice and growing distrust in the police.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2024, Pakistan ranks 145th out of 146 countries, underscoring the deep-rooted gender inequality present in the nation.
A report from the UK newspaper ‘Asian Light’ states that Pakistan lags significantly behind other South Asian countries, with only three percent of its police force comprising women. This situation is comparable to that of Afghanistan. Current statistics show that Nepal has 11.73 percent female police officers, Sri Lanka 11.5 percent, Bangladesh 8.63 percent, and India 12.60 percent.
A policy brief document published by the Islamabad-based NGO ‘Accountability Lab Pakistan’ indicates that this low representation hampers efforts to address domestic violence, sexual harassment, and other gender-related crimes.
The document further states that with only three percent female representation, Pakistan not only faces disgrace in the region but also globally. The absence of women in the police force makes the prospect of justice for women in Pakistan seem unattainable.
The report details gender inequality across various provinces, revealing that in Sindh, the percentage of women in the police force is only 2.62 percent, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa it is 1.46 percent, and in Balochistan, it stands at 1.74 percent.
The situation is dire in Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB), where female representation is just 2.48 percent and 3.36 percent, respectively.
Despite having a slightly higher representation of 4.4 percent in the politically influential Punjab province, the ground reality remains concerning. The report references a tragic incident involving a 13-year-old rape victim from the Kasur area of Punjab, who self-immolated after the Pakistani court acquitted her attacker.
Expressing serious concerns over the declining representation of women in the police force and the lack of legal accountability in the judicial system, researcher Furqan Ali from Peshawar stated, as reported by Asian Light: “The conviction rates for gender-based crimes in Pakistan are alarmingly low. The rates for rape and honor killings stand at 0.5 percent, for kidnapping at 0.1 percent, and for domestic violence at just 1.3 percent.” The low number of women in the police force, at merely 1-1.5 percent, adversely affects investigations at every level.
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