Policing in Purdah

This book looks into the status, role and working of the women police stations in the North-West Frontier Province, NWFP, of Pakistan and is based upon the fieldwork conducted for MPhil thesis. It sheds some light on the idea of establishment of women police stations in Pakistan and describes and discusses the data collected in two police stations in the NWFP. Women police stations staffed by only women police officers were established in Pakistan by the government of the former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. The objective was to provide a relief to those women victims of violence who felt reluctant to approach the male-dominated police stations with their complaints1. These police stations were also assumed to treat the female accused according to the law and to avoid the abuse of custodial power associated with policemen. The research findings show that the women police stations are misfits in the male-dominated police system of Pakistan. These police stations are not allowed to register and investigate cases. Most of their staff are untrained and some are even illiterate. They are without necessary infrastructure.