TN women constabulary in action

CHENNAI: The large number of All women police stations (AWPS) in Tamil Nadu are grabbing international attention for their effective methods of resolving women's issues.

"With highest number of AWPS, 198 of the total of 290 in India, the state's women police force has become more approachable and efficient in handling cases like sexual abuse and domestic violence," says Dr Mangai Natarajan of John Jay College of Criminal Studies, New York.

Natarajan, who has conducted several researches on women policing in the last 15 years, says the 'Tamil Nadu model,' is much discussed and studied among the academic and women's activists circles across the globe.

She has presented Tamil Nadu's case in forums including Australasian Conference on Women and Policing, 2005 and 2006, Seventh Biennial Conference on Crime, Justice and Public Order, Bucharest in 2004 and Academy of Criminal Justice and Science Meeting, Chicago, 2005.

According to Seema Agarwal, DIG (Administration), the first AWPU was set up in Tamil Nadu in 1992 and now the state has one such unit in each sub-division.

While 10 to 20 cases come up in a month in other states, each AWPS in Tamil Nadu receives 150-200 petitions every month, adds Aggarwal.

Apart from the AWPS, there are round-the-clock women helpline numbers for those in distress. According to Chennai City Police Commissioner Lethika Saran, the women personnel receive training in counselling and mediation from the Madras University.

The women police force in Tamil Nadu have also received the UK Home Office's grant, 'The Queens Award' in 2002 for a training programme in handling cases related to women.

The most effective method

According to Saran, in most of the cases, a settlement is reached through counselling and interaction between the parties and cases are registered only in extreme cases involving severe harassments.

In cases that require professional counselling, the assistance of NGOs is also sought, she adds.

City-based International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care is one such organisation which provides counselling and rehabilitation to the victims.

During the last three years, the foundation has been assisting the police and was successful in finding solutions in over 80 per cent cases, according to the foundation's CEO Prasanna Poornachandran.

Natarajan, who has conducted a post-evaluation of the cases in three sub-divisions of the state, found that in over 60 per cent of them, 'police support' had acted as a deterrent towards further harassment.

Natarajan has been advocating setting up of such police units or anti-domestic violence cells for the immigrant population of the US and the UK, the aboriginal groups of Australia and the traditional societies of Africa and Asia where women have less accessibility to redressal forums or counselling centres.

Apart from India, Brazil is the only other country with such units which numbers around 300, Natarajan, who is on a brief visit to India, adds.

Since the introduction of AWPS, the strength of policewomen in the state has gone up from a mere two per cent in the late 80s to 10.5 per cent now.

"Tamil Nadu has around 10,000 women police personnel, which is the highest in the country," says Aggarwal. Apart from looking into women-related issues, the personnel at an AWPS perform all the routine duties of a police station, Saran says.

Natarajan said she has also noticed that over the years there has been a drastic improvement in the confidence level of the state's women police personnel.

"With AWPS, police has become a vehicle of state-sponsored women empowerment in the traditional society of Tamil Nadu," adds Natarajan.