A pioneer in all women police stations

On November 2, 1974, cheers rent the air as sub-inspector A.V. Usha marched past at the head of an e

On November 2, 1974, cheers rent the air as sub-inspector A.V. Usha marched past at the head of an exclusive contingent of 20 women constables at the Rajarathinam Stadium in Chennai. That was the first ever all women’s wing in the Chennai City Police created a year earlier by the Tamil Nadu government headed by M. Karunanidhi.

In the years to follow, such women’s police contingents sprang up across the State.

A new chapter in policing was heralded in the country in 1992 when Chief Minister Jayalalithaa declared open the first All Women Police Station (AWPS) at Chennai’s Thousand Lights Police Station. It was managed by an inspector, three sub-inspectors, six head constables and 24 constables. Its objective was to encourage women to report cases of crime and harassment, which they would find difficult to narrate to a male officer.

“In those days, a police station was considered not a good place for women to visit,” recalled former Director-General of Police (DGP) Thilagavathi, the first woman IPS officer from Tamil Nadu. “There were umpteen number of laws for women but they had no knowledge of them or how to use them. To encourage women to come forward to seek redress for their complaints, the AWPS was launched,” she said, adding the initiative paid off. “Its impact is seen from more cases of crime against women and children being reported. It is evident that people were encouraged to report such abuses. The results are good, through there may be random discrepancies,” she said.

Thirty years down the line, Tamil Nadu has 222 AWPSs (20 established recently), including 31 in Chennai, and the model has been replicated elsewhere in the country, albeit in limited numbers.

The number of women police personnel in the State has also expanded to over 20,000, including many senior IPS officers handling sensitive assignments.

“To be precise, 20,859 women police personnel are on the rolls in the State’s 1.2 lakh-odd police force. Their cutting-edge contribution is significant and they address the issues faced by women, who are at the receiving end of justice,” said Director-General of Police C Sylendra Babu.