Presented at the 51st International
Association of Women
Police (IAWP) Training Conference
22 to 26 September 2013
Durban ICC, South Africa
by Commissioner Joyce Kapampa Kasosa, BA, MSc.
Email: joycekkasosa@yahoo.co.uk
Zambia Police Service
Presentation outline
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Introduction
Focus, objective and Assumptions
Analysis and general overview
Key Legal/ guiding instruments
Major Challenges
Strategies
Achievements and Lessons learnt
Recommendations and Way forward
Conclusion
Introduction
 Composition of society and its need for balanced
services
 The critical role of police as a service that promotes
and protects human rights
 Concerted efforts are therefore needed by any police
institution to ensure that women are not only part of
the system but adequately empowered to ensure a
balanced and satisfactory police service
Introduction
 “Global Empowerment of Women in Policing” is the
theme of the 51st International Association of Women
Police (IAWP) 2013 Training Conference with the subtheme “Century of Experience to Excellence”
 In one of the conference materials I read, states that ‘the
spirit of the conference lies in the well-known African
saying by Ghanaian scholar, Dr. James Kwagyir-Aggrey that
“if you educate a woman, you educate a nation” ‘
 My presentation which is entitled “Empowerment of
women in policing internationally” fits not only the
theme and the spirit of the conference but also sounds like
a restatement of the essence of the conference.
Focus, objective and Assumptions
of the presentation
 Focusing on and drawing experiences from Zambia,
the objective is to share information on contributions
made on empowerment of women
 Audience knowledgeable about
 the relationship about gender and human rights
 the difference between gender and sex
 Gender mainstreaming and gender equality
 Note: woman and female is used interchangeably
Analysis and general overview
 Discrimination against women is in various forms, in
many societies (as old as human race).
 Women are mostly excluded from full participation in
most economic, social and cultural activities.
 Common for men to dictate all spheres of public affairs
including decision making that determine the
direction and welfare of all
 This situation despondently promote unequal power
relationships and leave women vulnerable.
Analysis and general overview
 According to the UN literature, studies conducted
indicated that women
 earn only one tenth of the world’s income
 own less than one-hundredth of the world’s property
 constitute two-thirds of the world’s illiterates
 (Gender Resource Package for Peacekeeping
Operations, 2004)
 The women in Zambia constitutes more than 51% of
the population (CSO population Census 2010)
Analysis and general overview
 Police profession has been male dominated especially
in senior and decision making positions reinforcing
notion that women are inferior to men
 The police officer is a product of the same prejudiced
and gendered society in which both men and women
are socialized the same way.
 The history of the Zambia police still plays a role in the
institutional progress rate in addressing gender issues
 Up to 1996, the highest rank any female police
reached was A/supt
Analysis and general overview
 Women police officers broadly assigned to supportive
police roles e.g. clerical duties and not the core police
duties such as operations
 Result impacting negatively on general service delivery
because police is not representative of the community
it serves
 Consequences are spiral and preserves the economic,
cultural and social status quo.
Key Legal/guiding instruments
 UN charter (1948)
 Convention on the Elimination of All forms of
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Discrimination Against Women (1979)
UNSCR 1325 (2000)
AU and SADC Protocols on Gender
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995)
Zambian Constitution
Zambia National Gender Policy (2000)
Anti-Gender Based Violence Act.1 of (2011)
Major Challenges
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Inadequate Legislature and inconsistent laws,
Social and cultural beliefs
Inadequate policy (recruitment, training, promotion, etc)
Attitude
Misinformation
Ignorance
High illiteracy levels among women
Phobia
Absence of role models
Low self esteem and general lack of confidence
Poverty of the mind
Unequal power relation of women in society
Limited resources
Strategies
 Advocating for legal reforms to ensure gender sensitivity
consistence. Currently the Zambia Constitution is under review
and this provides an opportunity for positive amendments
towards achieving gender parity
 Increase public awareness campaigns to attract political will and
resources for creating favourable and supportive environment for
the police,
 Advocate for partnerships with civil society, experts, entities of
the UN System and other stakeholders to help review existing
policies and fulfil commitments as well as to address vices such
as attitude, misinformation, ignorance, illiteracy, phobia, etc.
 Conducting joint responsibility involving both men and women
(“ I care about her campaign” under Men for Change)
Strategies
 Build capacity and develop skills e.g. management and
leadership through training couching and mentoring to
empower women before exposing them to leadership positions
 Consider promoting to senior positions and supporting women
police officers
 Establishment of a gender office and appointing senior and
trained gender officers to spearhead gender issues,
 Implementing gender mainstreaming and mechanisms to ensure
practical issues to enhance women empowerment e.g. base line
studies, gender check lists, gender disaggregated data, gender
policies, integrating gender issues into training, planning,
monitoring, procedures and implementation
Strategies
 At sub-regional level, Zambia is among the Ten (10)
SADC Member States that have ratified the SADC
Protocol on Gender
 Zambia has benefitted from the Gender
Mainstreaming Trainings which were supported
financially by the Swedish International Development
Agency (Sida)
Strategies
 Participating in
 International conference such as this one to learn from
others but also to share knowledge and experiences as
well as contribute to empowerment of women police
officers
 Peacekeeping operation programmes
 International training programmes both as facilitators
and trainees
 UN CSW – share knowledge and learn new practices
 SARPCCO programmes (training, games, networking
Zambia female Police officers contributing to the UN Global Effort
to Increase Women in Peacekeeping (New York, 2009)
Zambian peacekeepers in the UN mission
Zambian female peacekeepers at UN HQs in
New York
Key Achievements
 Political will; unprecedented development in the
country’s almost 50 years’ history to have the first
female police IG including all top most 4 ranks
(Deputy commissioners of police, Commissioner of
Police, DIGP, IGP), inspires self-confidence and
esteem in the women folk – sending a message that
they can also do it
 Participating in international police training programs
both as trainees and facilitators; As a UN certified
trained trainer (UNAMID pre-deployment training in
Ghana).
Key Achievements
 Establishment of the UN desk to coordinate
peacekeeping matters through which a lot of
initiatives to empower women have been done.
 Zambia police increased 30% 0f female participation
police officers for peacekeeping and achieved a record
of being among the top ten (10) female PCC
 Officers returning from PKO have been role models to
others because of their international experience which
is also a value addition to the institution
 Establishment of the Gender desk within the Zambia
Police to spearhead gender mainstreaming
Key Achievements
 Participation in the development of training modules for
police officers both internationally and locally.
 Contributing to regional efforts on empowerment of
women under SARPCCO e.g Women’s Network
 UNHQs Department of Peacekeeping Operations
( Mission Manager).
 Participated in visits to Police Contributing Countries
(PCC) to screen and select their police officers for
peacekeeping
 Pearson peacekeeping training programmes (predeployment AU/UN) trainees and facilitators.
Lessons Learnt
 Political will, -has a direct impact on empowerment of
women at home and globally
 ZP has experienced unprecedented developments
where female police officers have reached the top most
ranks in police-.
 First female IG
 First female DIG
 First female commissioners of police
 First female Deputy commissioners of police
 Helping to change attitude for both men and women
 Caution not to forget that socialization can be an
obstacle
Zambian peacekeepers at the
th
48
IAWP
Lessons learnt
 Inclusion and empowerment of women in the police;
 Promotes and improves their well being,
 Ensures democratic policing, service delivery and inspires
confidence and trust in the community
 Encourages reporting of crimes against women and
guarantees increased protection for women and the
vulnerable groups
 Promotes diversity and good working environment
 provide role models and ensure equality between men and
women
 Affords value addition and ensures attainment of vast
experience
 Provides the equation and ensure gender sensitivity in
policies, programmes, procedures and operations
Lessons learnt
 New confidence and trust in women police officers is
now very evident for example;
currently as Commissioner of police I’m responsible
for running the two most busy provinces in Zambia;
one being Lusaka the host to capital city and the other
Copperbelt, hosting the industrial cities that are the
economic base of Zambia with the combined
population of almost half of the whole Zambia
 Unprecedented act which presents yet another
opportunity to use leverage and be a role model to
other female officers
Disaggregated Statistics (current)
 Rank
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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10.
11.
12.
13.
IGP
DIGP
ComPol
DCP
SACP
ACP
S/Supt
Supt
A/Supt
C/Insp
Insp
Sgt
Const
Grand Total
Male Female
Total % of females
0
0
6
17
17
47
109
150
479
542
1,773
1,441
4,937
9,518
1
1
11
17
20
49
128
185
546
1,024
3,172
2,692
7,588
15,469
1
1
5
0
3
2
12
35
67
482
1,399
1,251
2,694
5,950
100
0
45
0
15
4
9
19
12
47
44
46
35
38
Way forward
 Appreciating that the disproportionate impact of crime on
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women and vulnerable in society and that concerted efforts
to address the gendered impacts of this challenge
adequately as long over due
legislative reform; Currently Zambia is reviewing the
Constitution and this provides an opportunity for positive
amendments in relation to achieving gender parity
Need for policy reviews to ensure Gender sensitivity in
all programs and activities and development of Plan of
Action on Gender and ensure implementation
Need to set specific targets to be achieved which must also
be regularly reviewed and lessons learnt drawn from them
cultural and social Sensitization using various
methodologies to continue
Way forward
 Role modeling, mentoring and couching young and junior
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female officers by senior counterparts
Use of leverage at every opportunity for women in decision
making positions (IG – Compols), women’s network forum,
conferences, training, etc
Continue to support and encouraging women police
officers to improve themselves in academic qualifications
(value addition) in readiness to take up leadership
positions
Ensure work environment including office amenities are
gender sensitive
Continue to engage male police officers and ensure their
involvement in gender issues
Conclusion
 Empowerment of Women has now since been
recognized as a crucial key in any national
developmental agenda including in policing and has
therefore been brought to the fore as a critical priority
if there is to be any meaningful development.
 A lot of work is still needed especially in programs
aimed at changing the attitude/mindset of both men
and women if the change is to be sustained.
 Zambia Police is now more positioned than ever before
to contribute to empowerment of women at global
level