Gender-responsive policing’ initiatives

This systematic review is focused on synthesising the existing evidence on effectiveness of different ͚gender-responsive policing͛ (GRP) interventions designed to enhance confidence and satisfaction in policing services and reduce risk of violence against women in low and middle income countries. The review was conducted in two stages, with Stage I as a scoping review for identifying and describing the available research in terms of their focus, study design and context. In Stage 2, we included the studies evaluating the effectiveness of GRP interventions. This report is based on the in-depth review (Stage 2), where we examined the different components of the GRP interventions identified in Stage I, and synthesized the findings on the design, implementation and acceptance of the interventions in low and middle income countries. The evidence for the second stage is mainly from programme evaluations where a package of GRP interventions is implemented. The evidence shows that community policing, training and sensitization of police on gender issues, establishing women police stations and setting up of special cells/units are promising interventions to increase women͛s confidence and satisfaction in policing services, increased reporting of cases and reduction in violence against women. Regular/specialised training of police personnel, addressing the socio-cultural and structural barriers in the implementation is necessary for improving the effectiveness of these stated interventions. Overall, there was a lack of literature on rigorous evaluation of GRP interventions. Primary studies with reduced risk of violence as an outcome were scarce

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