Female police officers have been warned that there are no shortcuts to promotions and deployments, especially on foreign peacekeeping missions by the United Nations.
"There are those saying that women should be treated like glasses. They say that right from birth through school you should be handled a bit more carefully than men. It is bad.
Some ladies want to be treated like glasses in training. What comes out is that you pass out as a glass but we(in police) don't deploy glasses. We deploy metal. If you fail at training level to appreciate that you must measure up and expect promotion, I won't be party to that," the deputy IGP, Maj Gen Geoffrey Tumusiime Katsigazi said.
He was on Thursday speaking during the launch of a report on barriers to deployment of women police officers to UN peacekeeping missions at the Police headquarters in Naguru.
The deputy police chief explained that it is a fallacy that women should be treated as glasses everywhere they are, including in security forces.
"Police as a security force we don't look at you whether male or female and this is right from training. To you and those you lead, you must know we are a security force and not a glass. Therefore, right from the way you start, you must measure up to perform as a police officer.
This complaint that you are not considered at deployment could be because you don't measure up. Some of you pay attention to your hair more than your duties. That can't happen," he said.
Finances
The report indicated that some of the female police officers are not allowed by their spouses to go for foreign peacekeeping missions for fear that the monies got would make them disobedient at home.
Responding to this, Maj Gen Katsigazi also noted that it is wrong perception that it should always be men to provide kameeza money , even if they earn less than their wives.
"Our PRO here(Commissioner of Police Polly Namaye was saying she is even accepting Kameeza money. This thing is degrading women. Why should it be a man to look for kameeza money? There is a big lady somewhere and the husband is a driver.This woman earns almost 20 times the salary of the husband but she is insisting that for Kameeza money, it must be paid by the man.There is this tendency that a man's money is for the family and one for women is for her. They my(man) salary must go to the home demand and for my wife is a no-go area and is classified. Even if she earns, she doest want to declare," the deputy IGP said.
" If the money which has been little here in Kampala is not shared, what is the point of allowing you go to Mogadishu? What is that million going to help us as a family. We need to have a family discussion. We must be as much as transparent as possible as far as family income is concerned in order to remove that difficulty for men to allow lady officers to go for foreign missions."
The deputy police chief said as members of the family, the husband-and-wife ought to have discussions on how to handle their finances.
The report
The report indicated that barriers to women participation in foreign peacekeeping missions include eligibility, deployment criteria, deployment selection, household constraints, peace operations infrastructure, peace operations experiences, career value, top- down leadership, gender roles and social exclusion.
The research was funded by Elsie Initiative Fund.
"According to the responses we got in this survey, there are many misconceptions associated with the rigorous training regime and which discourage many women. Requirements to cut off their hair, the physical fitness tests and training drills in a tough environment were some of the challenges women have cited. Also cited were the working hours, accommodation facilities, poor sanitation and lack of privacy in the training environment and barracks," Dr. Helen Nambalirwa Nkabala from Makerere University who presented the survey said.
Dr.Nambalirwa said responses from women indicated that Uganda is given few slots by the UN for peacekeeping missions
"One key informant explained that very few slots are given to the country for individual police officers and even for those they receive about 2000 applicants. The situation is worsened further by the fact that Uganda only deploys at English speaking missions which further reduces their chances."
The report also indicated that lack of self-efficacy and self-limiting beliefs undermine women's readiness for deployment to foreign missions.
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Commenting about the report, the deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Tumusiime Katsigazi said the force has increased the number of women deployed for foreign peacekeeping missions after realizing that their services are highly required.
"We understand in any peace support operation the biggest vulnerable communities are women and children. Previously, we emphasized male deployment but with time we realized there are more women and child refugees who can't be handled by men. It is critical to employ ladies to address the fundamentals of the peace operations. To this, the female officers have performed well."
The deputy IGP however noted that societal prejudices still exist but noted it is a continuous process to fight them.
"For us as men, there is that perception they don't perform. We are still fighting that because experience has shown that ladies perform. You have female commanders, pilots and those who drive tanks as well as many others doing serious work."
