More Female Cops Finally Allowed Outdoors in Mumbai
Katie J.M. Baker
Last year, Mumbai's Police Commissioner promised the Bombay High Court that 33 percent of his force would soon consist of women constables. How's that going? Well, there are only about 300 women on the street right now — about 10 percent of the entire force — but Vivek Phansalkar, the joint police commissioner for traffic, says they're planning to recruit 800-900 women ASAP. And while the current numbers may seem disappointing, women cops told the Wall Street Journal that the fact that they're actually working as traffic police is a huge step forward: in the past, women constables have mostly been consigned to desk jobs.
It's not all about equal rights: male colleagues are mostly pleased that the force is recruiting more women because they're prohibited by law from frisking or testing any women they pull over on Mumbai's famously hectic roads. "Earlier you could get away with anything just because you were a woman and the male cops wouldn't stop you," said one Mumbai resident. "But now there are women cops to keep a check."
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http://jezebel.com/5934615/more-female-cops-finally-allowed-outdoors-in-mumbai
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