Sharma, Ishita  <br/><br/>
Empowering women through women policing: A quest for quality  

 - Indian Police Journal  
 - 69(4), Oct-Dec, 2024: p.120-137 
<br/><br/> Equity is an ideal whose fulfilment is the prime goal of every institutional setup. The same is also reflected in the Global Goals of the United Nations, specifically Sustainable Development Goal 5 which talks of Gender Equality. Gender equity is achieved through equitable participation as well as influence in decision making processes. The Indian Constitution also venerates the ideal through targeted affirmative action for women and children. Despite such positive constitutional prerogatives, women centric policy interventions are the need of the hour. The patriarchal Indian outlook has prevented the Indian female from resorting to legal refuge as a solution to violence and crime that she faces in the confines of her household. According to World Health Organisation, Violence against Women Prevalence Estimates 2018, about 1 in 3 women at the global level have been victims of physical/ sexual intimate partner violence during the course of their life. According to National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019-21, proportion of married women in the age group of 15-49 years facing intimate partner violence in the duration is 24%.The Police, which is the prime law enforcement watchdog, are reluctant in formally taking note of such crimes. The authors with the help of case studies and an analysis of policy interventions by states argue that positioning women officers on the frontlines of policing through Mahila Thanas and help desks are positive interventions that can empower women to seek legal refuge against violence at the hand of their so-called confidantes and kin. Reproduced <br/><br/>https://bprd.nic.in/uploads/pdf/October-December_2022.pdf<br/>