WINDHOEK – Namibia has one of the largest percentages of women in its police force in Southern Africa at 31 percent.
This also means that more Namibian women are deployed as part of peacekeeping missions in the region and beyond, according to the recently launched SADC Gender Protocol 2018 barometer.
South Africa has 35 percent representation of women in the police services. Angola’s national police force consists of about 26 percent women, according to the report.
“The World Internal Security and Police Index has ranked the Botswana Police Force as the best in Africa,” reads the report.
About 23.5 percent of the Botswana Police Force are women.
Furthermore, the report indicates that eight SADC countries deployed troops and supported peacekeeping missions in 2017. The report also highlights that the number of peacekeepers deployed appears to be declining in many countries.
“Namibia and Zimbabwe continue to deploy the most female peacekeepers while South Africa and Tanzania deploy the largest number of peacekeepers,” according to the report.
In Tanzania, only one woman serves as a police commissioner while nine others serve as deputy commissioners. Women make up 19 percent of the Tanzania Police Force, according to the report.
In May 2017, the United Nations and Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (SARPCCO) held a conference in Dar es Salaam to share progress on gender equality and on handling cases of sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the region.
“It called for police forces to employ more women officers in regional police services and to build their capacity,” according to the report.
Where data exists it shows that women’s representation in SADC Police Forces has remained stagnant. Most countries have seen little increase since 2011, with South Africa as an exception where women in the police force increased from 22 percent in 2011 to 35 percent in 2018, according to the report.
“SADC countries have struggled to provide adequate sex-disaggregated statistics for the security sector, whereas other organisations and countries provided it for some time,” according to the report.