Nigeria’s ‘Police Act’ could encourage gender based violence

Nigerian lawmakers (and the general public alike) have over the years condemned the rising insecurity in the country and acknowledged a broken down security structure. In response to this, committees have been set up to review the reformation of the police and the country’s overall security infrastructure. A major step in this direction was the […]

Nigerian lawmakers (and the general public alike) have over the years condemned the rising insecurity in the country and acknowledged a broken down security structure. In response to this, committees have been set up to review the reformation of the police and the country’s overall security infrastructure. A major step in this direction was the drafting of the Nigeria Police Bill (2018) being sponsored by Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, to repeal the police Act of 1943.

Two months have passed since the public hearing on the Bill, a day stakeholders and the general public reviewed the proposed bill and made recommendations for further improvement. The proposed police bill has the overall goal of ‘providing for a more efficient and effective Police Force that is based on the principles of accountability and transparency; and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms’ (Nigeria Police Bill, 2018).  However, rhetoric must be matched with political will and action as one of the overall objectives of the bill (to improve  human rights protection) WILL NOT BE ACHIEVED if the need to review the Police Act’s Regulations and Force Orders, which entrenches discrimination against women, is not addressed by the Bill.

The major documents used to regulate the internal and external workings of the NPF are outdated. It is therefore not surprising that the requirements for recruitment, training and posting discriminate against women thus limiting their potentials to serve. Police Act Regulations 118-128 is replete with provisions that place police women at disadvantaged position to their male counterparts which can easily discourage women from getting recruited.   For instance, Regulation 118(g) disqualifies married women from joining the NPF.

The Police Act discourages unmarried police women from getting pregnant; if she gets pregnant, she will be discharged from the force (Regulation 127). Before a woman in the police can marry, she must have served in the police for three years after which she will apply for permission to marry and the fiancé will be investigated. The same requirement does not apply for men. Section 128 of the Police Act prohibits police women from wearing earrings and using face powder, lipstick or coloured nails. A good number of security forces in Nigeria have borrowed a discriminating leaf or two from the Police Act, in establishing their various laws. Private organizations are not left out as many of them  operate on a get pregnant, get fired policy.

Over 10 years ago, the NPF commenced the process of developing its own gender policy to make the force fit for purpose, inclusive and aligned with international security standards. The document; A Gender Policy for the Nigeria Police Force: Final Draft Report, 2010, points out that  the average Nigerian perceives the NPF as an ‘unfriendly set of uniformed men’ who are brutal and oppress those they are paid to protect, an institution dominated by men and modeled as a masculine institution with high levels of gender abuses which include unfriendly conditions of service, especially for the female police officers, very low representation of women in NPF (in 1993, the NPF comprised 5.01% female police officers; as of July 2010, Nigeria had 87.6% male police officers and 12.4% female officers. In 2001 only 4% of the total police population; and 8% of all officers respectively, were women), inhibition of women‘s access to justice, and no clear structure for reporting incidents or supporting victims/survivors’.

Twenty years since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule, very few women have risen to high ranks in the NPF. Up to 11 male police officers to date have risen to the rank of Inspector General of Police- IGP, while there has been no female IGP.

Gender equality and increased participation of women is crucial to achieving a truly reformed security sector (UN Women, 2018). The UN Police encourages increase in the number of female police officers in peace keeping operations and domestic police services because the representation of female police officers is critical to operational effectiveness and efficiency. This is so because women can be trained to be proficient in firearms, leadership positions, public order management, specialized tactics, intelligence, and high risk operations. The UN Police adds that female officers help to rebuild trust – in some societies for instance,  only female police officers are allowed to interact with female members of the community. Similarly, in post conflict settings where gender based violence has been used as a weapon of conflict, community members are more likely to approach female police officers (UN Police, 2016).

The NPF Gender Policy of 2012 is as an indispensable tool in the police bill review process. The overall goal of the Policy is ‘to put in place a Nigeria Police Force with appreciable percentage of women representation (at least 30%), with improved gender relationship’ (Gender Policy for the Nigeria Police Force, 2012). The NPF Gender Policy posits that ‘the Police Service Commission (PSC) and other Oversight Bodies should stop all gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the Nigeria Police Force;  and recommends for instance that the NPF/PSC should recruit women into the force in the same manner as their male counterparts irrespective of marital status;  stop police women from applying for approval to marry and presenting their fiancé for character investigation; post police women alongside their male counterparts to head State Police Commands and other Formations; and allow police women who so wish, to wear stud earrings’.

To address the gender based discrimination in the Police Act with its Regulations and Orders, it is critical that the review of the Police Bill acknowledges the existence of the Gender Policy of the NPF, as well as instruments such as the National Action Plan on the United Nations Council Resolution 1325 (which recognizes the importance of increasing the active participation of women in all peace processes at all levels).

Egbuna is a Women, Peace and Security advocate