Zambia Police Service: functions, mission statement, and strategic vision

Zambia Police is a department under the Ministry of Home Affairsestablished by Cap 133 of the laws of Zambia with the mandate ofenforcing the law as made by the people of Zambia first and fore-almost and of ensuring that there is peace and a crime freeenvironment in the republic.It has its roots in the colonialpolice force from ire land which was established under the IrishPeace Prevention Act of 1814 ( Kalombo T. M., and Mumba A. J.,1997). The Germany’s perceived intentions to occupy North EasternRhodesia and the hostile reception from some locals, where themajor disturbances which called for the establishment of thecolonial police force.

Functions of the Zambia Police Service are:

- Preservation of peace and order- Preservation of life - Protection of property - Detecting, arresting and prosecuting criminals.

(The constitution of Zambia Cap 133)

The mission statement is as follows:

“We the Zambia Police Service are committed toproviding high quality service, by upholding and applyingthe law fairly and firmly to all. We will apply proactivemethods to prevent crime, arrest those who break the law andtake them to court and assist victims of crime throughcounseling

We pledge to respect individual human rights whilerecognizing the community’s expectations and obligations.

We are committed and will review our role and areready to change our approaches to law enforcement methods

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where necessary, in order to facilitate democraticgovernance, while upholding our professional standards andethics” ( police news, Issue No. 006, 2010).

Strategic vision is as presented in the Zambia Police developmentplan reads:

“2.1 Provision of quality service by upholding andapplying the law fairly and firmly to all through reducingcrime, detecting, arresting and prosecuting criminals.Application of pro-active methods will be a prerequisite.

2.2 Creation of rapport by the police organizationand all stake holders in a bid to create mutual trust andconfidence by respecting individual rights and freedomswhile recognizing the community’s expectations andobligations.

2.3 Improving of police recruitment and trainingprocedure and methods in order to pick the best candidatescapable of interpreting the law efficiently andeffectively.

2.4 Improving the police officers morale byproviding them with the suitable accommodation, welfareservices and enabling environment in which they canprogress without due prejudice.

2.5 As per law established, crime preventiontechniques will encompass residential, commercial,industrial areas whose existence is backed by the ZambiaPolice (Ammendment) Act no 14 of 1999 on members of theNeighborhood Watch Association (NWA).

2.6 In order to satisfy public demand for the policeservice, human resources inventory will require utmostpriority as way of building upon corporate image of the

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Zambia Police with emphasis on professional attitudes,standards and ethics.

2.7 Provisional of professional counseling tovictims of crime and offering services to the vulnerablegroups.

2.8 Provision of traffic management through trainedpersonnel and improved traffic signs and informationtechnology.

2.9 The provision of radio and telephonecommunication services and computerized informationmanagement system.

2.10 Provision of reliable and adequate transportlogistics” (Zambia Police Service Strategic DevelopmentPlan 2001-2006).

Why should there be gender mainstreaming in Zambia Police

There is need for gender mainstreaming in the Zambia Police Service because of the gender gap that exists in the high echelons of power and the decision-making positions in the ZambiaPolice Service. There is a problem of inadequate representation of female police officers in high ranks. The high ranks in ZambiaPolice occupy decision-making positions meaning therefore that the women folk are underrepresented in decision-making positions.

Introduction and Background to why mainstreaming Zambia Police

After three decades of the formation of the United Nations, theresolve to address matters pertaining equality of women and menat all levels became at the centre stage of the global meetings(Hilka and Jeanne. 1995). Four world conferences on women wereconvened by the United Nations which has shaped the cause of

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gender equality in all member states in which decisive action toattain gender equality is given the attention which has to berecognized not only within the country but by the internationalcommunity as well. The conferences have united the internationalcommunity behind a set of common objectives with an effectiveplan of action for the advancement of women at all levels, in allspheres of public and private life. The first world conference onthe status of women was convened in Mexico City in 1975 (UnitedNations Decade for Women: http://findarticles.Com/.3/3/11).

During the first conference, there was the International Women’syear which is observed to remind the international community thatdiscrimination against women continued to be a persistent problemin much of the world (ibid). The Conference along with the UnitedNations Decade for women (1776-1985), launched a new era inglobal efforts to promote the advancement of women by opening aworld dialogue on gender equality (Liana F., Ignacio F., 2000).To this end, the General Assembly Identified three key objectivesthat would become the basis for the work of the United Nations onbehalf of women.

- Full gender equality and the elimination of genderdiscrimination.

- The integration and full participation of women indevelopment.

- An increased contribution by women in the strengthening ofworld piece.

The Conference adopted ‘a world plan of action’, the documentthat offered guidelines for governments and the internationalcommunity to follow for the next ten years in pursuit of theabove three key objectives. This is what led to the establishmentof the International Research and Training Institute for theadvancement of women (INSTRAW), the United Nations DevelopmentFund for Women (UNIFEM) and the 1979 Convention on theElimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

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to provide the institution frame work for research, training andoperational activities in the area of women and development andgender responsive laws (1975 World Conference on Women in MexicoCity: http://www.org/Conference. 17/02/11 ).

Two other conferences were held to re- enforce the realizationsof pronouncements made during the first conference before theBeijing Conference. In 1980, about 145 member states met inCopenhagen for the second world conference on women whose agendawas to review and appraise the 1975 Mexico meeting (UnitedNations status of women:http://www.un.org/Conferences/Women.01/03/11). It was during asecond UN women conference that factors which are obstacles toachieving the three objectives identified during the firstconference and hindered the women’s ability to exercise theirlegal rights were discussed which included shortage of women indecision making positions (ibid).

The Movement for gender equality had gained true globalrecognition during the third world conference on women which washeld in Nairobi in 1985 (1985 World Conference on women Nairobi:http://www5wwc-org/conference. 03/03/11). It was during theNairobi Conference that Women’s participation in decision-makingand the handling of all human affairs was recognized not only astheir legitimate right but as a social and political necessitythat would have to be incorporated in all institutions ofsociety. At the heart of the conference was a series of measuresfor achieving equality which

- include Constitutional and legal steps;- Equality in social participation and;- Equality in political participation and decision making

However, it was the fourth world conference on women in Beijingin 1995 that a new chapter in the struggle for gender equalitycan truly be said to have began. Representatives of 189

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governments established a world agenda on equality of men andwomen during the last fourth UN women’s conference held inBeijing in 1995(U.N. Conference on Women:http://www.imow.org.30/01/11). The conference specified twelvecritical areas of concern which were considered to represent themain obstacles to women’s advancement and which required concreteaction by government and civil society which were called theBeijing Platform of Action (BPFA). This included women in powerand decision making(ibid).

The fundamental transformation that took place in Beijing wasthe recognition of the need to shift the focus from women to theconcept of gender, recognizing that the entire structure ofsociety, and all relations between men and women within it, hadto be re-evaluated. Only by such fundamental restructuring ofsociety and its institutions could women be fully empowered totake their rightful place as equal partners with men in allaspects of life. This change represented a strong affirmationthat women’s rights were human rights and that gender equalitywas an issue of universal concern, benefiting all (ibid).

This led to the adoption and execution of areas of concernincluding equality of men and women in decision- making atregional and sub-regional level by the African Union (A U) andthe Southern African Development Community (SADC) respectively(African Protocol on women rights ACDD:http://www.org/acgd/gender. 28/02/11, Southern Africa GenderProtocol Alliance: http://www.genderlink.org.za 21/02/11). Themillennium summit where the millennium goals which includes thepromotion of gender equality and empowerment of women (goal 3) isanother attention to the equality men and women at all levels.

Zambia has ratified declarations made by UN, AU and SADC and hasdemonstrated its commitment through the establishment of theMinistry whose mandate includes advancement of women

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participation in decision-making positions at all levels (GRZ2000) including the department of Zambia Police Service.

The Zambian government being a signed up member of the global,regional and sub-regional declarations and protocols put upmeasures towards gender equality as prescribed by the globalcommunity. These measures included the elevation and changing ofWomen in Development from the Ministry of National Commission forDevelopment Planning to Gender in Development Division at Cabinetlevel (Christina H., 2009) adoption of National Gender Policy topromote gender equality (GRZ, 2000) and the establishment of theMinistry of Gender in 2006( Christina H., op cit).

However, despite putting such measures Zambia failed to attainthe 30 % representation of women in decision-making position bythe set date 2005. Some countries in the region managed toattain the 30 % by 2005 such as South Africa (43 %), Angola (38%), Tanzania (30 %) and Mozambique (38 %) and their aim is to getthe 50 % target by 2015 (FEMNET 2010). Zambia with others whofailed ( Kachingwe, K., 2010), must get 30 % by 2015 the targetwhich has since been provided for in the current Sixth NationalDevelopment Plan (GRZ, SNDP. 2011).

The Zambia’s National gender policy 2000 highlights a number ofconcerns including unequal power relations between men and women.It has proposed the incorporation of gender mainstreaming in allministries and departments as a way of achieving equalrepresentation of men and women in decision- making positionsincluding the Zambia Police Service so as to attain the 30 % bythe stated period. In an effort to contribute towards thisnational cause of promoting gender equality, Zambia PoliceService made a provision in the 2001-2006 Zambia Police StrategicDevelopment Plan in which a chapter was set aside to specificallyattend to the progression of female police officers. A number ofactivities where outline to promote gender equality at all levelssuch as, “ exposure of female police officers to leadership and

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further training and retraining in managerial skills, promotionfor high ranks” (Zambia Police Service Strategic DevelopmentPlan. 2001, p35), with output indicators, “number of femaleofficers trained and number of female officers promoted to highranks” (ibid)

Situation analysis

The global approach on promotion of gender equality wasinfluenced by the overwhelming evidence from a number of studies(Zambia and Democratic Health Survey. 2007) which revealedstatistics which indicate that women are less privileged than menin most societies. Out of the worlds 1 billion poorest people 3/5are women and girls and, out of the 960 million adults in theworld who cannot read, 2/3 are women and only 16% ofparliamentarians are women (UN .2004). Equally, studies carriedout in Zambia on women’s participation in public sector reflectgender imbalances. In 2001, the participation in public sectoremployment was estimated at 65% males compared to 35% women(Ministry of Finance and National Planning.2002). Decision makingpositions are occupied by high ranking officers in Zambia Policewhich is dominated by men.

Despite measures put by the Zambian government coupled withdepartmental policies women representation in high ranks whichare decision-making positions in Zambia Police Service isinadequate. Women representation in high ranks is inadequate inthat, of the 859 superior officers in Zambia Police Service only106 (12.3 %) are women (2010 Zambia Police Superior Staff List),of the 13 higher ranks of the rank of Deputy Commissioner ofPolice to Inspector General of Police, none is a woman and of the6 Directors behind policy formulation in the Zambia PoliceService none is a woman (Police News, 2010. No 006. P 16-17),also, see table 1.0.

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From interview held with Moonga R., Chief Research Officer atHeadquarters, the rank of Deputy Commissioner of police (DCP) upto the Inspector General of Police has never been held by a womenpolice officer ever since the ranks were established ( Moonga R.,2011). This is a reflection of what is obtaining on the groundwhich is unequal representation of officers in higher ranksinstead of equal representation. The Inspector General of police,the commissioner of police and six directors make up the bodybehind major policy making and pronouncements in the ZambiaPolice Service (Police News, op cit). Meaning no woman isrepresented at this level which is regarded as the top command.At provincial level the fifteen Divisional commanders are incontrol of decision making and that level, and only three in thewhole country are women (Police news, op cit).

The Inspector General of Police with his two commissioners isappointed by the president. But the appointment of directors, whoare policy makers based at the Headquarters, is done by way of anin- house recommendation. Since there is no reflection of genderin the composition of Directors in Zambia Police Service therecommendation and promotions which were made to these officersis gender blind. Going by the above analysis, there is a problemof inadequate representation of female police offices in highranks. The fact that there is no woman in the command decision-making body of directors (the higher ranks) makes the problem tobe very serious to the disadvantage of women officers.

Studies undertaken before indicate that inadequate representationof female police officers in high ranks in is a problem the worldover. Barbara R P., in her study on female police officers in theUnited States indicated that “ in policing, gender integrationand the opportunity of women to participate in forming policy hasbeen strongly resisted (Barbara R. P., Female Police Officers inthe United States: http://www.ncjrs.gov/policing/fem635.htm.appeared on 27/02/11).

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Disaggregated data

Table 1.0 Indicating statistics of highly ranked officers fromDivisional Commanders up to the Inspector General of Police.

POSITION WOMEN

MEN

TOTAL

REQUIREDNO.

INSPECTOR GENERAL OF POLICE 0 1 1 1COMMISSIONER OF POLICE 0 2 2 2DIRECTORS 0 6 6 6DIVISIONAL COMMANDERS 3 12 15 15Source: 2010 Zambia Police Service Superior Staff list.

Table 1.0 indicates that there is no female represented in thetop decision or policy making body in Zambia Police Service whichis situated at Zambia Police Headquarters and which make policiesfor the whole Zambia Police. The Divisional Commanders is alsoreflecting a situation where out of the 15 divisions in thecountry only 2 are headed by female police officers.

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Table 2.0: Gender disaggregated data on superiors in Zambia Police Service

Male % Female %INGEPOL 1 100% 0 0COMPOL 2 100% 0 0DCP 10 100% 0 0SACP 21 75% 7 25%ACP 42 87.5% 6 12.5%

S/SUPT 103 91.96% 9 8.04%SUPT 153 84.5% 28 15.5%A/SUPT 411 83.4% 54 16.6%TOTAL 743 87.7% 104 12.3%

GRAND TOTAL OF SUPERIOR OFFICERS= 847

Source: Police News issue no. 006, 2010., 2010 Staff list ServiceHeadquarters. Lusaka. Zambia.

The high ranked officers in Zambia Police Service are reflected in Table 2.0 and runs from an Assistant Superintendent (A/SUPT) up to Inspector General of Police (INGEPOL). It is usually officers from this category who occupy most decision making positions in the Zambia police through out the country and as canbe seen the female police officers are underrepresented.

Table 3.0: Statistics of Total Number of Officers in Zambia Police Service (Disaggregated)

Male % Female %INGEPOL 1 100% 0 0COMPOL 2 100% 0 0DCP 10 100% 0 0SACP 21 75% 7 25%ACP 42 87.5% 6 12.5%

S/SUPT 103 91.96% 9 8.04%SUPT 153 84.5% 28 15.5%A/SUPT 411 83.4% 54 16.6%C/INSP 733 80.7% 175 19.3%

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INSP 4799 81.5% 1086 18.5%SGT 901 90.5% 95 9.5%

CONSTABLE 4322 76.3% 1341 23.7%TOTALS 11498 80.4% 2801 19.6%

GRAND TOTAL OF OFFICERS IN ZAMBIA POLICE=14299

Source: Zambia Police Service Strength, 2010, Lusaka Service Headquarters.

Female under representation is not only a problem in high ranksbut at all levels starting from an officer without any rank atall (constable) up to the last position in command as can be seenin Table 3.0.

Factors contributing to inadequate representation of femalepolice officers in high ranks.

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There could be a number of factors why there is inadequaterepresentation of female police officers in high ranks in ZambiaPolice Service. What are these factors which contribute toinadequate representation of female police officers in high ranksin Zambia Police Service? Is the criteria used to promoteofficers gender sensitive or are the attitudes from officersnegative not supportive of female officers promotion in higherranks or is it about the qualifications for such promotions?

Factors leading to inadequate representation of female policeofficers could be categorized as individual, institutional,structural and organization.

At individual level, the individual may opt not have interest tobe promoted and may not even complain or apply for any such highpromotions especially when under qualified. This could have beenas a result of a number of factors at play on the individual suchas type of society one is coming from. If it is patriarchy a mandominated structure one will be likewise, where a man would wantto be superior and do out- door duties for exposure, where as awoman would be sort of reserved and confine herself to in- doorduties missing on the exposure. From a matriarchy society theopposite takes place.

Structural factors include things like, the absence of a genderdepartment for instance and the focal person in such case wherepromotions and other policies can be without a gender face.Promotions made cannot be gender sensitive in that they is noinput from the gender expert to collect, process and advise ongender disaggregated data. Lack of role model where the femalecan be looking up to for inspiration can also be a contributingfactor.

The cultural values of an institution can contribute toinadequate representation of female police officers. It could bethat the qualifications for promotion set by the institution are

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so biased to advantage the male officers or they are outdated toappreciate the input of the opposite sex. At the institutional ifpatriarchal values are so much ingrained in the work culture,female officers could be discriminated against in terms ofdeployments. The supervising officer deliberately can be sendingmale officers for outside operations while retaining the femaleofficers for in-door administrative duties there by denying themthe exposure of experience. See the problem analysis diagram inFig 1.

Here now is an outline of possible causes of the gender disparityor gender gap between female police officers and male policeofficers.

1. Lack of a female police officer at the very top level ofauthority the policy making position of the rank of DCP upto INGEPOL. There are 6 directors behind policyformulation and national decision making in the whole lotof the Zambia Police Service in the country namely,Director CID, Director Medical, Director Administration,Director Human Resource Development, Director Technicaland Director Operations and of all these directors none isa woman (Police News, op cit). The fact that the interestsof men and women are different and even conflicting lackof representation of female police officers at this levelmeans that there is no one to articulate the interests ofwomen.

2. The polices, strategic vision, programmes as indicated inthe Zambia Police Service Development plan for 2001-2006are gender blind.

3. Lack of a departmental gender policy or department tohandle gender issues such as gender awareness training andsensitization, gender analysis, research and provision ofgender disaggregated data.

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4. Rigid and unattractive recruitment policies and tests suchas upper body strength.

5. Too much dependence on physical force and presence in thebattle field as opposed to the use of strategy andelectronic as the only way to acquire experience requiredfor promotion.

6. Limited capacity and commitment within the leadership tosupport and implement real change with regards to genderreform.

7. Lack of on-job training for women.8. Lack of political commitment and will to appoint or cause

to be appointed on gender lines /equality.9. Hostile environment and systematic discrimination

especially when deploying to points of duty.10. Family responsibilities such as attending to the sick

and child care.11. Lack of operational equipment suitable for women such

as bullet proof vest which are designed in such a way thatlarge breasted women cannot use them and thereby denyingthem of the much needed exposure.

12. Negative attitudes and behaviors of male colleaguestowards female officers such as male officers anticipatingwomen officers failing. They doubt men can equal men inmost job skills.

13. Lack of female role models or mentors at the highestlevel of command such as Commissioner of Police orInspector General of Police.

14. Hesitation of NGOs and community groups to meet withpolice and government representatives to discuss reformprocesses due to high levels of distrust.

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-Figure 1. Problem Analysis diagram: Factors contributing toinadequate representation of female police officers in higherranks in Zambia Police Service.

Lack of role model Patriarchy Lack ofinterest

Lack of gender sensitization

Family responsibilities Negative Attitude

Lack of qualifications Inadequate representation

Of female policeofficers in high ranks Core Problem

Lack of on-job training

Lack of experience Gender blind promotions

Lack of gender policy analysis onpromotions

Lack of leadership courses Lack of gender focalperson Lack of gender policy

Lack of experience Lack of genderdisaggregated data

Discrimination on deployment Lack of gender department

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Recommendations or guidelines for gender mainstreaming

Planning or policy formulation level:

1. Promote an organizational value, stating that thepolice organization is committed to diversity and genderissues. Develop an organizational value statement.

2. There is need for senior- level commitment and supportto ensure that departmental commitment on gender issuesis reflected in all programmes, mission statements andobjectives. Any initiative needs to have senior levelsupport if it is to have a long-lasting impact onchanging the institutional culture of the police,including identification of senior-level gender experts.

3. Political will must exist to ensure that at least anappointment of a female police officer is done at thevery top echelons of authority of the rank of DCP toINGEPOL so as to not only serve as a role model ormentor to attract more female officers but to ensurethat policies are formulated with the female input atpolicy formulation level to who can articulate well theinterests and experiences of the female officers.

4. Recruitment policies and promotion criteria orprocedures to be evaluated so as to eliminate bias and

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to be formulated in such a way that the women candidatesare encouraged to participate.

5. There is need for a gender assessment to take care ofgender and security issues at the ground level includingthe capacity of the police to implement changes. Thisdemands the engagement of a gender expert in thedepartment who should be do gender analysis, as well asadvising on gender sensitive policies, programmes orprojects and above sensitization and awareness of genderon all policy makers and key implementers.

6. A clear action plan based on an assessment made in 4needs to be developed and implemented.

7. There is need to review, revise and create new policies procedures that take into account the gender dimension when recruiting, promoting and deployment.

8. There must be a gender responsive budget to finance theimplementation without which it can be difficult.

9. Gender based research should be encouraged to enable theprovision of such information as gender disaggregateddata which is very important in not only planning but inevaluation as well.

10. Setting targets for women to accede to more seniorranks. There is need to establish measureable genderequity goals and tracking mechanism such as the numberof female police officers to be recruited, promoted anddeployed at any given time.

11. There must a deliberate programme to focus on thechange of police institutional or organization culturalvalues and attributes to make them gender friendly.

Implementation:

12. Institute procedural, structural and programmaticinitiatives, such as the creation of institutionalmechanism to advance gender issues such as genderdepartment, female police associations, mentoring

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programmes and women’s focal point or gender focalperson.

13. Provide opportunities for on-job training to femalepolice officers by ensuring that female officers areaccorded the necessary education and trainingopportunities that can qualify them for advancement.There should be a promotion criteria that take intoaccount the individual skills that women bring to theZambia Police Service bearing in mind that women’sexperiences are different from men’s experiences. Inplaces where women have unequal access to educationowing to entrenched societal gender biases, additionalinvestment in their training may be required to ensurethat their education and experience is equal to that oftheir male colleagues, and to enable them to meetprerequisites for promotion. The Zambia Police Servicemust deliberately adopt objective promotion criteriathat take into account a broader range of skills andqualifications such as rewarding problem solving,working with the community and referrals to socialservices contrary to military or physical experiencewhich has often been used as criteria for promotion tohigher ranks and which puts women at a disadvantage.

14. Take action to address past discrimination effects andthereby ensuring that there are no formal barriers tofemale officers attaining the highest ranks.

15. Ensuring that all members of the promotion boardunderstand and demonstrate a commitment to gender.

16. Develop a comprehensive internal and externalcommunication strategy in support of the goals of genderequity with the Zambia Police Service.

17. Commitment to implement gender programmes must bespear-headed by top command at and above the highestrank of DCP.

18. Create a permanent unit/body whose role is to ensurethat gender is an integral part of every aspect ofpolice policies and practices. Develop the mandate,terms of reference and recommended membership.

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Monitoring and evaluation

19. Implementation is one thing and a programme withoutmonitoring is difficult realize its objectives;therefore, monitoring continuously of all genderprojects is cardinal.

20. Evaluation which should be done to find out if at allthe set programme or projects are meeting the intendedobjective of narrowing the gap or of increasing thelevels of female representation of female policeofficers in high ranks and subsequently in higher ranks.

21. There is need to establish internal and externalmechanism to monitor and hold accountable individuals orgroups who are not line with the broader institutionalreform. Special attention must be given to the number offemale police officers promoted per turn.

22. There is need to establish measurable gender- equity goals and tracking mechanisms.

23. There is need define monitoring systems and allocate necessary resources required to develop a tracking systems and databases for data collection.

Implications of no gender mainstreaming in the Zambia PoliceService

The obvious implication of the inability to mainstream gender isthe continued existence of the gender gap or disparity in allareas of the Zambia Police Service between the female policeofficers and the male police officers. This is not only adversefor the promotion of human rights but will have a negativebearing on the performance of the Zambian government in as far asadhering to international and regional instruments of promotinggender equality is concerned. The country will fail again to meetthe UN, A U and the SADC declaration on gender and developmentbenchmarks of at least attaining 30% women representation indecision-making positions. The failure to attain 30% womenrepresentation in Zambia Police Service will impact negatively on

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the attainment of 30% representation everywhere and the wholecountry at large.

The other consequence is that the continuous gender gap in highranks will mean that a certain segment of the population willcontinue being deprived of the much needed service in that due toculture effects some members of the society especially women willnot report their cases due to shame or fear especially casesemanating from sex and sexual related offences such as rape, andgender based violence. The fact that female police officers areoutnumbered means that in situations where most women would wantto confine themselves to their fellow women they will just staywithout reporting, On the other hand, it is only women out oftheir intimate experience of such cases who can exhaustivelyhandle such cases. The same applies to men who are in the similarsituation if at all they were outnumbered.

On the hand, as police are responsible for the maintenance ofpublic order and protection of people, the police need tounderstand and address all security threats facing the communitythey serve, recognising that men and women are affected byviolence and discrimination in very different ways and todifferent degrees. For example, crimes against men arepredominantly in public areas, whereas crimes against women, suchas domestic violence, often happen in private spaces, a realmthat many state institutions do not consider themselvesresponsible for It is the duty of police officers to prevent,reduce and respond to these forms of crime, including genderbased violence (GBV) as it is one of the most common threats tosecurity in all parts of the world. A World Health Organizationstudy indicates that upwards of 69% of women reported havingsuffered physical aggression from a male partner at some time intheir lives. GBV is an act of violence – physical, sexual orpsychological – which is likely to result in harm to anindividual and is carried out due to their gender. This type ofviolence is committed against men and women, boys and girls, andis reflective of power imbalances that exist between men andwomen or between a child and her or his caregiver. GBV can becompounded by insecurities based on other factors such as ethnic

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background where people are raped as well as physically andverbally abused due to their sexual orientation. Men and womenare often reluctant to report these crimes to the police. Men whohave been subjected to GBV are often ashamed and unwilling todiscuss the incident for fear of being seen as weak oremasculated. Women are often reluctant to talk to the police dueto the social taboos and stigma associated with being a victim ofGBV. Within the police there is a need to ensure that allofficers – men and women – are adequately represented and trainedto respond to victims of GBV and possess the necessary skills toprocess and investigate crimes effectively.

Lastly, the police give a service to a wide spectrum of acommunity which is almost evenly distributed, therefore they needto understand and address all security threats facing thecommunity they serve and this can only be achieved when there isequal representation of female and male police officers at alllevels. Promoting the equality of female and male police officersat all levels is not just a matter of human right or moral thingbut it gives access to a broad range of skills, experience,education and culture which maximizes the Zambia Police’s abilityto deliver in a community which is not equal in terms ofrepresentation and the very fact that crime is committed againstall sections of society.

In conclusion, women account for approximately half thepopulation and therefore have the right to be represented as suchunlike the underrepresentation they are exposed to in ZambiaPolice Service and above all the equal representation of womenand men enhances democratization of governance. It is just rightthat women who know there interests and experiences participateat all levels of leadership so as enable their interests bereflected in all policies and programmes of an instititution.

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UN Conference on Women://http://www.imow.org. Appeared on30/01/11.

1985 World Conference on Women, Nairobi:http://www5wwc-org/conference. Appeared on 03/03/11.

The African Protocal on Women rights: http://www.org/acgd/gender.Appeared on 28/02/11.

Beijing +10 SARD: http://www.sard.net/widsaa/beijing+10/display-asp?vol=3&pubno=0. Appeared on 21/02/11.

Barbara R. P., Female police officer in the United States: http://www.ncjrs.gov/policing/fem635.htm. Appeared on 27/02/11.

Beijing +10. Regional Summit. 09284.audit2005-review-1pdf.

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Fourth World Conference on Women: http://wikipedia.org/wik.Appeared on 02/02/11

Beijing + 5- Women 2000: Gender, Equality, Development and Peacefor the 21st Century;http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/followup/session/presskit/hibt.htm. Appeared on 03/03/11.

Career trajectories of Women in Policing in Australia:http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/361-380/tandii370/view%20paper.aspx. Appeared on 10/02/11.

Status of Women in Policing: http://www.womenandpolicing.org/status.html. Appeared on 10/02/11

People interviewed

Moonga R.,(2011) Chief Research Officer , Research and PlanningUnit, Zambia Police Service Haedquarters. Lusaka.

Mr Mbuzi(2011) Officer-In- Charge, Research and Planning Unit,Zambia Police Service Headquarters. Lusaka.

Mr Fwambo (2010) Senior Research Officer, Research and PlanningUnit, Zambia Police Headquarters. Lusaka.

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