67: Target 33% - Challenges for women in policing in India: Conversation with Meeran C Borwankar and Devika Prasad

67: Target 33% - Challenges for women in policing in India: Conversation with Meeran C Borwankar and Devika Prasad: The third episode of The Elephant in the Room podcast in partnership with the India Justice Report focuses on the status of women in policing in India. Despite the target set by the Indian Home Ministry in 2009 to achieve 33% women in the police force - representation has increased by a mere 5% in a decade. While many states have mandated 10% to 33% reservation for women in the police, not one of these States has met its goal. With one woman in every four police officials, the state of Bihar has emerged as the unlikely champion and the best performing state across India. With just 215000 women, just over 10% of Indian police is female. The share of women among the higher ranks is even lower at 8.7%. A significant share of policewomen suffer due to patriarchal prejudices, strong masculine work culture and are considered unfit for on-field tasks. Women personnel are usually limited to in-house tasks such as maintaining registers/data, filing FIRs and other complaints, whereas male police officers are engaged in more field-based tasks such as investigation, patrolling, law and order duties, etc. Most stations also lack basic infrastructure such as separate toilets , creche, changing rooms for women. My guests Meeran Chadha Borwankar and Device Prasad talk about the systemic issues that hold women back, and what actions can be taken to reach the target numbers. 👉🏾 What can be done to help creating a more inclusive culture where women can thrive 👉🏾 Reasons why women in police are clustered at the bottom, and what can be done to promote their rise through the ranks 👉🏾 What states can do to attract and retain women and meet the target 33% 👉🏾 The politics of it In a recent article Meeran Borwankar slammed the demand for all women police stations as a panacea to pervasive challenges. “An officer commented that they “compartmentalise women officers rather than give them the independence of work”. It is “a step in the reverse direction” because women officers are interested in all kinds of police work, not just in women-related matters.”

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The Elephant in the Room Podcast is a curated safe space to have uncomfortable conversations about the pervasive inequalities in society and our workplaces. The idea of the podcast was born from my sense of conflict about identity, self and the concept of privilege and fuelled by my own need to understand how my overlapping identities and experiences had impacted and would continue to impact my life chances. Two years ago I decided to ‘opt out’ to find my own purpose and focus on passion projects including learning about the systemic biases that are endemic in business and society. The Podcast is my very own listening project, a step towards being more intentional in my learning. The Elephant in the Room Podcast is for people who want to be a part of the change, for those who want to step up & speak out, for those who want to learn more about biases, barriers and best practice, for business leaders and for individuals, anyone who is interested in a fairer, more inclusive and compassionate society and workplace. Each week I will interview inspiring speakers from across the world on issues that are taboo and deserve to be mainstream including(but not limited to) systemic and institutionalised racism, discrimination based on further eight protected characteristics, poverty, mental health, climate change. The podcast will also talk about cognitive inclusion, culture, purpose, ethics and the importance of empathy, cultural intelligence and how conversations on identity and disadvantage would be incomplete without considering intersectionality. With the podcast I hope to share stories of people with lived experiences, stories that may have never been told, stories that galvanise us to take action for change and keep the conversations alive by raising the decibel on issues of inequity, inequality in our search for a fairer and more inclusive world.