Empowering policing: advancing gender equality for achieving sustainable development goals

Abstract

United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 5 emphasizes the eradication of violence, while Goal 16 underscores the need for robust and stable judicial institutions (Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, 2016). The effectiveness of a nation's police force in attaining these objectives is significantly influenced by its composition and culture. The inclusion of a diverse workforce, especially ensuring equitable female representation at all levels of the policing command structure, stands as a critical factor shaping the culture of a police force. Nonetheless, many law enforcement agencies persist as traditional, male-dominated hierarchical institutions (Rabe-Hemp, 2017). In India, only 10.5 percent of police officers are women (Chawla, 2022), a figure significantly lower than in countries like England and Wales, where women make up 36.8 (Clark, 2023) percent of the police force. Additionally, the upward mobility of women to top police positions has seen a decline.