Women marginalisation in police worries Kokorwe

ISAIAH MOREWAGAE
Staff Writer | Tuesday March 3, 2009 00:00

Kokorwe said that in the middle management ranks, only 16.9% women are senior superintendents. She put the blame on women saying that they still fail to support and nurture each another. 'I therefore encourage the network to inculcate espirit-de-corps amongst female police officers to stand up and lead crime prevention operations as well as to bust crime syndicates without necessarily waiting for the guidance and leadership of their male counterparts,' Kokorwe said.

She is concerned that women are still faced with the double burden concept. She said the concept arises in a situation where the role of a woman at home conflicts with her work. She called upon the network to come up with strategies to support women officers to strike a balance between official duties and household responsibilities. 'I implore men and husbands in their homes to support women officers and women generally in attaining the outcomes of the strategies they would have come up with,' Kokorwe said.

She urged the newly formed network to address the issue of sexual harassment. 'Women police officers have not been spared from this global phenomenon,' she said.

She was hopeful that inception of the network will help create new perceptions of women. 'The world used to perceive women as powerless, submissive, unintelligent, dependent and incapable in many respect. Women police officers were no exception to this perception,' Kokorwe said.