Why police may find it difficult to fight for women’s rights

IN some states of the federation, Lagos and Oyo inclusive, there are rules provided to protect women from violence and abuse, but often, these rules are not effectively implemented based on various factors; there are many units involved in the process.

The chain has the police, lawyers, judiciary, social welfare, the civil defence, women affairs, medical practitioners, psychologists, counsellors and non-governmental organisations as well as the media, with each unit having specific roles to play.

But a key part of the enforcement process relies solely on the police. And over time, there had been complaints that the police do not take issues of abuse against women serious. Indeed, there are various cases of women that report abuse being sent away because the officers on duty believe it is a family matter and should be settled at home.

This attitude and belief rather than help the situation, make it easy for perpetrators to get away with abuse and violence, especially when it involves a man against a woman.

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But the issue seems to go beyond belief and culture; there are insinuations that the police as an organisation is structurally set up to put women at a disadvantage. If this is the situation, how then can we expect a police force that is gender biased to help in eradicating abuse by punishing offenders to create a deterrent for others.

The Police Act and Regulations Cap P19, L.F.N 2004, contains certain provisions that ensure there is no gender parity or equality between its male and female officers. Some of these provisions state that; “A female police officer needs to seek permission of the commissioner of the police in the state where she is serving if she wants to get married. A single female police officer that gets pregnant will be discharged from the force and a married woman cannot be enlisted as a female policewoman in Nigeria.

Investigations have shown that these provisions of the Act are true and they indeed reflect a strong bias against women. Is it not obvious that a force set up on a gender biased rule cannot effectively fight for abused women as it also creates a platform for female officers to face treatment that border on inequality?

If a single female police officer that gets pregnant is discharged from the force, what happens to the single male officer that impregnates a woman?

This may not be seen by many as a serious issue but there are many questions that need to be answered. If indeed, the police is supposed to be a major part of the system and saddled with great responsibilities in eradicating violence against women, can it support women faced with discrimination in the work place when it also discriminates against female officers?

Why would a female police officer attend to a woman complaining of violence or discrimination when she is faced with such daily at work and has been conditioned to believe it is normal?

The success of fighting any case of abuse lies solely on how the police handles such as their investigations and belief determine what is presented before the court, but with the perceived faulty structure in its act, can the Nigeria Police fight for women indeed?

This question must be answered sincerely before the fight for gender balance, parity and eradication of abuse can be said to be on the right path.