Training cops to be gender sensitive
Reeta Sharma

IT is a historically established fact that the Indian police was used by the British to ruthlessly torment and terrorise fellow Indians. The Indian police continues to display this British legacy along with their centuries-old male chauvinistic attitude.

While dealing with cases and crime against men, the Indian police is undoubtedly dominated by a psyche that is the outcome of their centuries-old grooming, which stresses on the belief that men are superior to women. To add fuel to the fire, we have laws, which further strengthen this notion. The law operating in the 21st century enables policemen to arrest a prostitute by sending their own decoys and stamped money. So in 53 years of independent India, cops have never bothered to arrest the main culprits — the users of the prostitutes. They arrest prostitutes, whom they consider bad women, but do nothing to mete out punishment to "bad men" who visit prostitutes.

The lawmakers, the police, the judiciary and, above all, society have never ensured that the users of prostitutes too should be tried along with the latter if punishment has to be given for this crime.

To substantiate, allow me to tell you the story of a 30-year-old woman, who was working as a helper in the house of a renowned family at Preet Nagar in Amritsar. This woman did not want to go to her mother for fear of getting beaten up and having marriage thrust on her. The police, however, forcibly took her away and handed her over to her mother.

Poonam Singh, the Editor of Preet Lari, decided to fight her case. The following conversation between Poonam Singh and a police personnel speaks volumes about the male chauvinistic and feudalistic attitude of the latter: Poonam: Oh kuri kithe hai? (Where is that woman?) The policeman: Os di custody, asin os di maan noon de diti hai. (We have placed her in her mother’s custody.) Poonam: Ki tuisin 30 saal de munde di custody os di maan noon dende ho? (Do you give the custody of a 30-year-old man to his mother?) Policeman: Eh koi Amrika nahin. (This is not America.) Poonam: Je main aapni maan kol nan jana chahan, ki tusin mainu zabardasti meri maan kol bhej sakde ho? (If I do not want to go to my mother, can you force me to?) Policeman: Tuhadi gal hor hai (Yours is a different case.) Poonam: Ki sade desh de do kanoon han? (Do two different laws operate in our country for two similar cases?)

From the above conversation it is amply clear that the policeman was convinced that while a 30-year-old woman has no freedom to decide about her own life, a man of the same age need not be questioned about his freedom. Secondly, our police is also of the opinion that while the laws must be enforced on the underprivileged, these can be brushed aside in the case of the privileged sections of society.

The Senior Superintendent of Police, Chandigarh, Parag Jain, who is known for his fair and sensitive handling of cases against women, conceded that the Indian police does have an orthodox and conservative mind-set. "You cannot prevent it under any order but you can give exposure to the police force during their training and provide them consistent interaction during their service period. After all, the police force is a product of our society. When our whole society has a feudalistic outlook, the police cannot be an exemplary force in isolation." Parag Jain frankly admitted that even within the police force, the attitude of men towards their female colleagues was questionable. "I remember while I was posted in Batala, a woman constable had committed suicide. A DSP was being held responsible for the crime since it was alleged that he had treated her as a woman of easy virtue. While the inquiry was still on, this DSP was killed by terrorists."

Jain said the need of the hour was to examine thoroughly the changes required in the training given to the police. "The majority of the police force is totally ignorant of the tremendous rise in the status of women. Indian women are not only making their presence felt in all fields but are also aware of their rights. However, our lower ranks, which are recruited predominantly from rural areas, are not aware of the rapid changes that have taken place vis-à-vis Indian women. The NGOs and the electronic and print media have brought a lot of awareness among women about their rights. the concept of women empowerment is, however, alien to the lower ranks of the police force. I personally feel that the right training is the only way out".

The Superintendent of Police of Panchkula district, Manoj Yadav, is yet another progressive police officer when it comes to handling women issues. The SP confessed, "The Indian police is certainly dominated by a psyche which is discriminatory towards women. In 12 years of my career, I have never come across any of my subordinates telling me that the character of a man is promiscuous. However, in the case of women, complainants frequently use the expression, ‘she is a woman of loose character’. ‘Mardon ke loose character ki baat, police walon ke dimag mein aati hi nahin. Per kisi bhi aurat ke bare mein, yeh baat sabh se pehle unke dimag pe chhati hai’ (The thought of a man having a loose character never crosses the minds of our police. However, in case of women this is the easiest allegation that they are willing to level without any inhibitions). Manoj Yadav is of the opinion that urban and rural values even in the 21st century are substantially different in India. In the rural India, a woman is still singled out for a crime even if it cannot be committed by her alone. "For instance, take elopement. Now, no girl can elope alone. But when it comes to meting out punishment, villagers, including panchayat members and parents of the girl, without any introspection, hold just the girl responsible. Girls are even killed to save the honour of the family and the community with the silent support of the entire village. If an incestuous relationship is discovered, it is the girl who pays the price. While handling such cases, the police invariably reacts the way the panchayats and villagers do. That is because the majority of the recruitments of lower ranks of police personnel are from the rural areas".

This young officer too is of the opinion that police training needs to be radically changed. "Gender sensitisation of the police force should be made mandatory. Besides, more women should be recruited into the police force. For instance, in Panchkula, among the 900 constables, we have only 1 per cent women. The visibility of women within the police force will certainly make a big difference and help change attitudes".