At Making Police Officers Responsive to Women in Gender Segregated Societies

• In Event: Political Institutions in the Developing World

Abstract

How can we make bureaucracies more responsive to women in gender-segregated societies? We study this question through a field experiment evaluating a community policing intervention in Pakistan. 150 police beats were randomly assigned to execute two different community policing models. Both models included community forums and follow-up planning, but a gender-responsive version also included women-only forums, and integrated women police officers into planning. Drawing on descriptive evidence, we demonstrate how two relevant forms of segregation: physical gender-based segregation in public spaces, and gender-based occupational segregation within the police force, exclude women from the gains of the ostensibly “gender-neutral” model, and shape the design choices for a “gender responsive” version. In keeping with these norms of segregation, the gender responsive model combines a “separate spaces” or “enclaves” approach at the level of community forums, with an integration-based approach at the level of the police. We find that community forums in this context operate as de-facto male spaces and do not prioritize gender-based violence, while women-only forums do. In beats assigned to the gender-responsive model, male and female police officers' beliefs about citizens' prioritization of gender-based violence, as well as their own prioritization of such violence as a top concern improves. We draw on semi-structured interviews with police officers to explore mechanisms for this attitudinal change. Our findings demonstrate how context-specific norms can constrain the design of gender-equalizing reforms, as well as the promise of lasting gains when reforms are designed taking such norms seriously.

Authors

• Sarah Khan, American University-SIS

• Ahsan Farooqui, Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives (IDEAS)

• Ali Cheema, Lahore University of Management Sciences

• Jacob Shapiro