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Marathe bemoans fewer women in BPS leadership

Marathe said the BPS has done well in terms of recruiting more women 
PIC: BW PRECIDENCY
Marathe said the BPS has done well in terms of recruiting more women PIC: BW PRECIDENCY

FRANCISTOWN: In recent years, the Botswana Police Service (BPS) has been enlisting a significant number of female officers in its employ, but Commissioner Dinah Marathe has bemoaned that only a few of them occupy key leadership positions.

She was addressing female officers during the official opening ceremony of the BPS women network retreat held at Adansonia Hotel. The two-day retreat, held this week, was held under the theme ‘Advancing women’s leadership acumen: Resetting to a gender transformative policing agenda’. Giving a keynote address, Marathe said the retreat comes at a time in when women are ascending to high and influential positions in various sectors of the economy. She however acknowledged that there is still need to integrate more women police officers into supervisory and leadership positions, notably at ‘station, district and divisional’ command levels.

“There is currently one female officer commanding and seven women station commanders, which is a comparably low representation,” she said. Marathe stressed the need for women in the employ of Prisons to sharpen their leadership acumen by engaging closely and constructively as well as discarding negative mindset to ascend to key managerial positions. She emphasised that female police officers must always strive to compete equally with their male counterparts and earn their seat at the table, rather than expecting honours on a silver platter. On a lighter note, Marathe said that the BPS has done well in terms recruiting more women. According to her, women account for 35% of police officers in the country, with 21% representation at senior management level (Assistant Commissioner to Commissioner positions). “Not only do we boast numerical growth, but boast a notable number of specialised women investigators, scientist, engineers and pilots,” she said.

To illustrate that the BPS is committed to gender equality and women empowerment she stated that one female officer in the rank of sergeant was recognised by Interpol. The officer, who is a dog handler under the K9 dog, achieved a rare feat by being recognised by Interpol‘s compendium on gender and policing during the organisation's centennial celebrations last year. In 2021 Interpol conducted a survey in Africa to gauge the involvement of women in transnational organised crimes. According to Merathe, the findings depicted an increasing participation of women in these sophisticated crimes.

This she said means that there is need for the BPS to captivate and deploy more women police officers to navigate the policing landscape which is increasingly becoming complex. The Commissioner further indicated that women police officers bring unique attributes into the police service such as love, empathy, serenity, peace and a deep sense of understanding and appreciation of issues affecting women. For this reason, she encouraged them to use their unique attributes to collaborate with women empowerment organisations or groups to address issues affecting women and girls such as gender-based violence (GBV).

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