By Sophie Hardefeldt, Intern – Gender Training Institute.

The National Crime Records Bureau reported in 1998 that the growth rate of crimes against women in India would be higher than the population growth by 2010. As the 2011 census reveals, India’s population growth for 2001-2011 decreased to 1.64 per cent per annum, while according to the National Crime Records Bureau rape is the fastest growing crime in India.

In cities such as Delhi, which accounts for nearly one-fourth of all crimes committed against women in India, women continue to suffer from sexual harassment, rape and domestic violence. A United Nations survey found in 2010 that nearly 85 per cent of women in the capital felt unsafe and at risk of being sexually harassed.

Increased urbanisation, access to sexual content via the internet and television and the growing clash between urban and rural values are all responsible for the increase in crimes against women. However, inappropriate policing has also contributed to the growth in crime throughout the country. Current statistics show that only 1 in every 69 women who are sexually assaulted file an FIR and many still complain that police refuse to file an FIR or do not take their complaint seriously.

Women’s lack of confidence in the police has led to thousands of violence against women cases going un-reported and the perpetrators of gender based violence not being held accountable for their actions. The lack of sensitivity and gender knowledge within the police force, coupled with corruption and gender bias has further aggravated the problem.

Increasing the number of women police officers throughout the country will lead to more women feeling comfortable to report sexual assault and gender-based violence to the police and will decrease the prevalence of crimes against women from the grassroots level to the policy making level.

Women in the Indian Police
In a country of 1.2 billion people, having a strong police authority is crucial to keeping crime at bay. There are approximately 178 police officers per 100,000 people in India, which currently ranks 47th in the world for having the most police per capita. With the United Nations norm of 220 per 100,000, India is nearly 600,000 police officers short.

There is also a major gender gap in the police force. As of 2009, women made up only 2.8% of the nations police force. Therefore, the total women police for a 10,000 population is only 0.31. At the State/Upper Territory’s level, the maximum woman police force of 9,105 was working in Maharashtra, followed by 7,728 in Tamil Nadu and 3,580 in Delhi.

Of the 56,667 women police officers, 81% are constables and only 4,168 women are head constables. However, the lowest representation of women is in the highest police posts, Director General of Police, which is headed by only 7 women nationwide.

While many states have a reservation policy for women police, hardly any have a strategy for “recruitment, training, work distribution and promotions, or postings and welfare.” A survey of 1,000 women officers across 20 states, conducted by Uttaranchal Police, found that 64% of women joined the police on merit while 36% have been recruited on compassionate grounds. 25% of women police officers have not received even the most basic, mandatory training and 58% had only been given one basic training.

However, there has been some improvement and the number of high-ranking women police officers has more than doubled in the past decade. Furthermore, in 1992 Tamil Nadu introduced the first All Women Police Stations (AWPS). There are now over 188 AWPS in Tamil Nadu and 342 across the country. Each station has 15 women police officers. These stations have led to increases in the reporting of crimes against women.

Women Friendly Policing
One of the first major steps taken towards preventing crimes against women in India was the establishment of the Crimes Against Women Cell (CAWC) in 1986.

These cells, which were first established in Delhi and eventually spread to other states, provide additional manpower, infrastructure and responsibilities in order to focus on preventing crimes against women. One of the added features of the CAWC is providing counselling to the victim in domestic issues. The growth of CAWC’s around India have allowed for increased the presence of police.

The CAWC also act upon cases of sexual harassment, molestation and rape. These cells serve as places of legal support as well as non-police services where women can gain access to NGO’s and free legal advice which aims to help protect women from further abuse.

One of the most significant services created by the CAWC is the 24-hour helpline that assists callers in distress. The helpline number diverts the call to the nearest PCR Van that can assist women in need of help. These help lines have become increasingly popular and have helped prevent crimes and increase police presence.

In 2001, the National Policy on the Empowerment of Women was drafted and called for strong action to be taken by state level and national level police forces. The policy provides “enforcement of relevant legal provisions and speedy redressal of grievances with special focus on violence and gender related atrocities and measures to prevent and punish sexual harassment at work place.” It also calls for the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of crimes against women to be reviewed regularly at the Central, State and District levels and an increase in women’s cells, women police stations and mahila courts.

Despite these initiatives violence against women continues to increase. Between 2009 and 2010 alone there was 4.8 per cent rise in crimes against women across India.

There are several reasons for the failure of these approaches to reduce gender-based violence. Majority of the CAW cells designated for women are run by male police officers. One of the biggest criticisms of these cells is the counseling provided to the victims of violence. Many police officers are influenced by patriarchal stereotypes and values leading to the inappropriate handling of violence against women cases and women feeling victimised and blamed for being abused or assaulted. In many cases women do not feel comfortable approaching male police officers for fear of further harassment.

In addition, these initiatives are still unable to reach out to women who are not aware of their rights. Although there are Crisis Intervention Centres and Lawyer Collectives that aim to inform women of their right to seek legal help, only 1% of women ever report incidences of abuse.

Future Police Reform
Increasing the number of women police officers is central to achieving an increase in the reporting of crimes against women and a reduction in gender-based violence across the country. Studies have shown that women police officers often possess better communication skills than their male counterparts and often respond more effectively to incidents of violence against women. They also suggest that women take crimes against other women more seriously than men, and therefore work harder towards ensuring the safety of the complainant.

The benefit of having more women officers is evident in Tamil Nadu. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, since the inception of the AWPS, the conviction rate in Tamil Nadu has risen to 62%, one of the highest in the country. In addition, there’s been a 23% increase in the reporting of crimes against women. Increasing the woman police force will also lead to make police officers becoming more gender sensitive. In Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, where there is a rise in women personnel, police forces are becoming more women friendly.

Gender-sensitive policies and processes must also be developed and implemented to ensure that all officers respond appropriately to cases of violence against women. Current practices continue to be undermined by patriarchy and discrimination against women. Gender-sensitisation training is required throughout the police force to breakdown these structures of gender discrimination, to develop a women-friendly culture within police frameworks, and to educate police on women’s rights, laws protecting women from violence and abuse and appropriate processes for responding to cases of sexual assault and violence against women.

Increasing the number of women police officers, developing women friendly policies and processes, and ensuring all officers receive gender sensitisation training will result in a more open, aware, and women friendly police force which is able to respond to crimes against women in a more effective and gender sensitive manner.

By Amitabh Kumar, Head of Media and Communication at Centre for Social Research and one of CSR’s gender trainers.

When my colleague asked me to write about ‘what it feels like to be a man working towards gender justice’ I didn’t know where to begin. I thought to myself, I could write a series of books on this subject and yet so much would still be left out. For the past three years I have been working for this cause and it’s been extremely challenging. The prevalence of gender justice across most of India derives from a misinterpretation of the patriarchal structures in our country, and being an only child and a boy, I have grown up enjoying the luxuries such a patriarchal society provides for the male sex.

In the beginning when I first started running gender training workshops, I struggled with my own internal conflicts. I realised that although I had been brought up in an extremely socially aware, gender-just household, there was nonetheless room for gender sensitisation in my own life. I believe that external influences of modern society, media and culture have a tendency to programme us in such a manner that we pick up unnatural behavioural traits. I’d say that as a child and young adult growing up in an age of globalisation, I was greatly influenced by pop culture of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Like most other teenagers around me, the social stigma of being ‘cool’ was the primary objective of life, and looking back on it, we did the most irrational, unexplainable and primitive things just to be cool. Coming from a hip-hop inspired ‘gotta-be-macho’ mindset, the idea of breaking away from that scene and the notion that ‘girls are fancy accessories’ was really hard.

Barring this internal challenge to being a man who works toward gender equality, there is also an external challenge. A frequent remark and one that still remains the hardest to respond to is, ‘You are a man, you can never fully understand what women go through’. It’s very true: I cannot. But on the other hand, injustice, discrimination, fear and pain are all human feelings. Men can probably never fully imagine the extent of gender discrimination in this country, but we sure can do a lot about it.

Many of the presentations, discussions and trainings I have been party to during my job in this sector tend to spiral off into a direction where men are regarded as the ‘enemy’. Trust me, it’s no easy task to reroute such a discussion back onto a more positive, less accusatory track. I must say, at times I feel I almost need to be a punching bag, to take one for the team. But that’s also where my motivation comes from. So many gender issues arise from miscommunication and misinterpretation, and the only way we can ever achieve a gender-just society is by working together to iron out these faults.

Despite the great work has been done by women and feminist groups in the past 40 years, I seriously think that while focusing so intently on the victim, they forgot all about the perpetrator and his role in making India a safer, fairer place to live. Providing justice is undoubtedly important, but an even more important task is to prevent injustice from materialising in the first place. The only way we to achieve that vision is by including men in the process.

Needless to say, faced by so many challenges, a normal day at work for me is pretty adventurous, and as there are very few men working for this cause, I consider it a privilege to be amongst the select few.

By Dr. Ranjana Kumari, Director of Centre for Social Research.

Despite the fact that the safety of women is an issue raised time and time again, for women in India fear is a constant companion. A recent survey by Trustlaw Women has re-affirmed those fears after ranking India as the fourth most dangerous country for women in the world. As they strike out on their search for economic and social independence, such a dangerous environment can become akin to terror on women.

Worryingly, Indian women are often treated as the catalyst of violence and sexual assault rather than the victim. Cases of rape provide a good example. For instance, rather than find out the details of the case or ask why the police didn’t arrive at the scene on time, blame is usually placed on the aggrieved girl herself – ‘why was she out in an unsafe place at night?’, ‘why was she alone?’, ‘why was she wearing provocative and revealing clothes?’. This reflects not only the attitudes of a few, but also the mindset of Indian people on the whole. Victim blaming exists within the general public, within families, and even within the institutions which are supposed to be keeping our cities safe. This kind of thinking perpetuates crime against women and is an obstacle in the road for organisations like CSR who are working to create a safer environment for women and girls within their own homes and their own country.

Statistics compiled by the National Crime Record Bureau show that the number of reported rapes across the country has increased substantially from only 
2,487 in 1971 to 21,176 in 2008. An incredible number of additional, unreported instances of rape are missing from this picture. And, while it is fair to point out that Indian population has risen during this period but so too has the strength and number of policemen deployed for citizens’ safety. The answer to these problems does not lie in the more old-fashioned approach of prohibiting the freedom of mobility of women, but in educating people about the wrongs of violence against women, and convicting the perpetrators who are unfit to live in our society. We must strive to ensure women’s freedom and make the streets and households of Delhi safer for all.

It is saddening that even in urban India, people do not feel safe. In a 2004 survey of 13,000 people for the Delhi Human Development Report (HDR), only 19% of those asked said that they felt Delhi is safe for women. The HDR recommended a shift from a more traditional, restrictive approach to women’s safety to one that concentrates on ‘women’s right to a life free from fear and violence’. This is exactly the kind of approach we should be promoting. Earlier this year the Delhi Police Commissioner outraged people by saying “you (women) cannot drive alone at 2am 
on Delhi roads and then claim that the Capital is unsafe”. Why did his comment tick people off? Largely because, instead of vowing to think up new and innovative ways to protect the city’s women, he advised them to do something which in fact impinges upon their freedom and only adds to their fears. This kind of attitude is detrimental to efforts being made to change conservative Indian mentality. While approaches to women’s safety in the past revolved around concepts of fear, restriction and self-preservation, we now need to focus on empowering women and giving them the confidence to walk the streets, ride public transport and enjoy everything that this city has to offer. This confident outlook will only be achieved by making the Capital a safer place for women, men, and children alike.

Ever wondered who is updating the CSR Facebook page, searching for the latest statistics on crimes against women, or assisting our core team in envisioning, coordinating and facilitating our projects and programs?

We are always very proud of our enthusiastic young interns in the CSR office. Over the years we’ve had interns join us from both across the country and across the world – from Punjab, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra in India to Scotland, Germany, Canada and Georgia. They’ve worked on a variety of projects such as Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, the I Stand for Safe Delhi campaign, Human Rights Defenders training workshops and numerous research projects. We’d like to introduce you to some of our current hard working interns!

Meet Prerna Dharni, Gender Training Institute Intern at Centre for Social Research, from Chandigarh, India.

GTI Intern Prerna Dharni taking part in the I Stand for Safe Delhi campaign 2011

What led to you joining the Centre for Social Research team?

I’m a single child and grew up hearing people tell my parents it was important to have a boy to “complete” the family. It unsettled me that people still thought like that. I’ve been interested in women and gender studies since an early age but it was really during my student life that my level of interest intensified. I graduated with a Masters in International Politics from JNU in 2010.

What does your role at CSR include?

I work in the Gender Training Institute (GTI). I mainly plan and execute workshops on gender sensitisation with college students, police, teachers and government officials. I am also the intern coordinator, which involves responding to applications and interviewing prospective interns. I also write articles for the CSR blog, work on awareness campaigns, and assist with our ‘Women in Democracy’ project.

What is the most interesting thing you have learned during your internship about women in politics?

I’m interested in the role reservation has played at the Panchayat level to empower women politically. These women exhibit confidence and provide hope for a more gender-inclusive political system in India.

What do you like most about living in Delhi?

I am a foodie and a history freak so Delhi is a perfect place for me to fulfill both of those passions! I love visiting old monuments and places of historical relevance, and trying all of the food that the city has to offer.

Photo credit: wn.com

The notion of justice for women—more specifically, women’s access to justice—in India heavily relies on constitutional mandates that entrust the police with the role of ensuring that crimes against women are reported and investigated. According to a Thompson Reuters poll from just this year, India is the 4^th most dangerous place in the world for women. Clearly, the extent to which India has attained success in guaranteeing the safety of and providing a sense of security to its women remains highly debatable.

Last week, Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee announced its plan to set up 65 all-woman police stations across 20 state districts. While the world’s first all-women police station was set up in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1985, India was not far behind in launching its very own all-women police stations in the state of Tamil Nadu under the Jayalalitha government in 1992. Yet two decades later, the lack of strategic and visionary thinking has stalled the creation of these police stations all over India.

Like in Tamil Nadu and following the creation of one such station in Chandigargh, the upcoming all-women police stations in West Bengal will make it possible for women officers to investigate crimes against women—and for victims of such crimes to be attended to by women officers. According to the Chief Minister, these police stations will deal with increasing crimes against women and encourage women to join the police force.

Police stations in India are notoriously hostile environments, leaving some victims feeling less secure than before their visit. In particular, victims of rape, sexual harassment and trafficking have reported revictimisation by the very police officers tasked with helping them. In the largely patriarchal Indian society, most women still consider discussing personal or sexual matters with a stranger—especially a man—improper.

For these reasons and more, the CSR team is excited to see the all-women police station initiative taking root in West Bengal. In a recent discussion, our Director Dr. Ranjana Kumari commented that as a “leading light,” Calcutta will hopefully inspire the Government of India to implement the same all-women police stations nationwide. These stations, Dr. Kumari said, “will lead to gender sensitised policing and also give confidence and a higher comfort level to women to come forward and share their grievances with the police.”

On the one hand, all-women police stations might seem like a short-term, top-down fix to deeper and more widespread gender imbalances—much like women-only metro cars soothe the symptoms of patriarchy, not abolish its root causes. Admittedly, CSR’s own Gender Training Institute works with Delhi’s South District Police Force in a more long-term, bottom-up approach to gender justice in law enforcement: implementing station-by-station gender sensitisation training courses for both men and women police officers.

However, gender sensitisation is an ongoing and gradual process, with the final product impossible to perfectly determine ahead of time. So while all-women police stations don’t address the root causes of inequity, they are likely one vital component of a more inclusive, long-term strategy toward ensuring women receive the justice they deserve. Not to mention that these stations, which basically effect a quota, will allow more women to pursue careers in the police force, still a deeply patriarchal institution itself.

It’s important to ensure that the police personnel in these all women police stations are well equipped to handle the magnitude of cases that could pour into these police stations and should be specially trained in tacking issues of violence against women. Hence providing women victims with comfortable environments via all-women police stations, equipping women and men in the police force with better facilities to tackle gender based violence, and endeavouring to make wider and more long-lasting change through gender sensitisation of police officers will have to go hand in hand to transform India into a country where crime victims of all genders access and receive justice.

Hot on the heels of our recent gender sensitisation training at telecom company Aircel, Centre for Social Research’s Gender Training Institute (GTI) also recently conducted a training entitled “Gender Sensitisation and Sexual Harassment at Workplace” at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Attended by RBI’s Grade 1 and Grade 2 officers, the training aimed to sensitise participants on gender-related concepts in order to bring about increased levels of awareness, knowledge and skills about gender relations in the workplace, especially focusing on sexual harassment.

Sexual harassment in the workplace first rose to national attention in 1992, when Bhanwari Devi, a Rajasthan state government employee, was fighting against child marriage and polygamy. After Bhanwari decided to openly discuss the matter with a local Panchayat (village council), she was brutally gang-raped. When Bhanwari’s rapists were acquitted in court, several women’s groups filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India under a collective platform named “Vishakha.” The court case (Vishakha and others vs. State of Rajasthan and others, 1997) demanded justice for Bhanwari Devi and included a plea for the court to address the sexual harassment that women face in the workplace. Eventually, the Supreme Court issued a judgment now known as the “Vishakha Guidelines.”

Our own anti-sexual harassment training at RBI was a two-way learning process for our GTI trainers and staff members, as we believe that sharing experiences can bring about changes in everyone’s attitudes and behaviours.  The training had three major objectives: understanding the concept of gender, understanding the importance of taking gender into consideration when making decisions, and promoting gender-friendly workplaces. Regarding sexual harassment, participants were exposed to the “three Rs” of handling unwelcome sexual advances, passes or comments: respond, record and report. GTI representatives also recommended adjustments to RBI’s current sexual harassment policies, including the organisation of a committed, made up of at least 50 percent women, which can handle cases of sexual harassment confidentially and swiftly.

Hostile or uncomfortable work environments often lead to emotional, psychological and physical problems on an individual level, as well as poor efficiency on an organisational level. CSR hopes to work with more organisations in the future to ensure that as few companies and employees as possible suffer the consequences of sexual harassment. For more information on booking a gender training anywhere in India, visit our website or call us at +91 (0)11 26899998.

While our Gender Training Institute (GTI) has been providing gender sensitisation trainings since the late 1990s, most of our trainings have targeted government agencies, police officers, international and national institutions and NGOs. This March 8, International Women’s Day, Centre for Social Research was proud to provide gender sensitisation training to telecom company Aircel here in New Delhi.

Niharika Puri, GTI’s programme coordinator, led the training. Nearly 30 Aircel employees, both men and women, participated in discussions and interactive presentations. To introduce the training, Niharika demonstrated just how common gender stereotypes really are: Asked to provide common names for doctors and farmers, participants overwhelmingly named men as farmers and women as doctors. However, the vast majority of Indian farmers are in fact women, and gender stereotypes cause all of us to make generalisations that are not always true.

Vikram Sheoran, CSR’s web manager and all around technology guru, showed off his acting skills in a series of role plays with Niharika demonstrating how women can react in situations where she she’s made to feel uncomfortable by the behaviour of a male colleague. Leela Khanna, an intern in our Media and Communication department, opened up a question and answer round by comparing gender portrayals within and across different countries.

GTI provides tailor-made training programs through close collaboration with each of our clients. Our trainings address designated issues within the context of gender, from deconstructing the basic concept of gender itself, to exploring how gender can be mainstreamed in organizational planning.  For more information on booking a gender training anywhere in India, visit our website or call us at +91 (0)11 26899998.

As part of our continuing efforts to address Violence against Women, we engaged with students and community members last week during an awareness generating and capacity building workshop in Delhi College of Arts and Commerce. During the workshop, CSR staff members discussed various types of violence and shared some of the lessons we’ve learned training Delhi Police in gender sensitisation throughout this year. Students also contributed to debates on increasing crime rates, harassment of women and the difficulties faced by lower class women in particular. One student argued that women are essentially treated like minors everywhere they go. We also discussed some examples of complicated cases involving Violence Against Women, helping students understand some of the difficulties and problems that arise with fighting abuse and harassment against women.

View more photos from this and other Delhi-area college workshops at Centre for Social Research’s Flickr account.