Literature and Studies

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

The summarized literature and studies, both foreign and

local, are included hereunder which were found to have significant

bearing and relation to the present study. Their readings served

as guide in formulating a conceptual frame of reference to elicit

answers to the foregoing areas of investigation. However, only

limited studies are available in the local setting regarding the

topic.

RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Police play a crucial role in society and provide a wide range

of services to the community. They are responsible for maintaining

order, preventing and investigating crime and protecting

individuals and communities from harm. The special powers, duties

and responsibilities with which police are entrusted require that

they act with a high degree of integrity and within a framework of

effective oversight (Bastick, 2014, p1).

Further, Bastick (2014) noted that for the police to perform

their duties effectively, they need to recognize and address the

different needs of women, men, girls and boys in the communities

they serve. Likewise, it is important that policing as a profession

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is equally open to women and men, and that women and men are

treated fairly as police officers. This is known as gender-

responsive policing (p2).

As defined by Nair, Darak, Dave, Bhumika, et al.(2016) Gender

Responsive Policing is an organizational strategy which employs

mechanisms to enhance the feeling of safety, satisfaction and

confidence among women by providing them with better access to

justice and security and by ensuring effective, transparent and

reliable ‘policing’ services (p 7).

GENDER RESPONSIVE POLICING…

However, Todak (2012) stated on his study that though

countless arguments have been made for the gender diversification

of the police profession, females continue to be significantly

underrepresented among those applying, entering, working, and

succeeding in the field (p1).

Moreover, Wilson (2016) stressed that because women are

highly underrepresented and the number of women entering the

profession appears stagnant, exploring women’s position in the law

enforcement profession is vital (p2).

Over the past decade, the Philippines has been consistently

topping the list of the most gender equal countries in the world.

The Philippines, had a Gender Development Index (GDI) of 1.01

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 Literature and Studies

compared to the world average of 0.924 in 2015 and is in Group 1

of countries in terms of GDI. The GDI measures differences between

male and female achievements in terms of health, education, and

equitable command over economic resources. In addition, the World

Economic Forum’s 2017 Global Gender Gap Report – which measures

the magnitude of the gender disparity in the aspect of health,

education, economy and politics - ranked the Philippines at 10th

place in terms of gender parity, with a GGR of 0.790 (which means

it has closed 79% of the overall gender gap) which was however, 3

steps lower than its previous 7th place (Librojo, 2018, para 1-3).

Librojo (2018) stressed out that the Philippines is ranked

106 in terms of female labour force participation and its score

(0.650) is even lower the global average (0.667). This is the only

sub-indicator where the Philippines is lower than global average.

According to the 2017 Gender Statistic on Labour and Employment

(GSLE) published by the Philippine Statistics Office (PSA), labour

force participation rate among men stood at 77.9% while that of

women stood at 49.3% or a gap of 28.6% (data as of October 2016).

However, once in the labour force, employment rate is almost equal

between women (95.6%) and men (95.1%). Nevertheless, in terms of

employment to population ratio, only 47% of women are employed

compared to 73% for men (para 5).

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Despite of many policies, programs and laws enacted, gender

inequality towards women is still rampant in the country. These

incidents are proof that the Philippines still has a long way to

go to achieve true gender equality. But the fact that the

Philippines still ranks high in the Gender Gap report may be a

sign that the Philippines is moving in the right direction.

To ensure removing the explicit, implicit, actual and

potential gender biases the government has embarked on gender and

development (GAD) as one of its priority programs. It is a

development perspective that recognizes the unequal status and

situation of women and men in the society, and as an approach, GAD

seeks to equalize the status and conditions of and relations

between genders (Pielago, 2018, p5).

Gender and development introduces a new way of thinking that

encourages reflection and stimulates continuous improvement in the

quality of life of both men and women especially in the work place.

For a brief background and wider understanding about gender

and development, Pielago (2018) explained that GAD as an

alternative development approach, was introduced in the

Philippines only in the early 1990’s. Before it was widely believed

that development programs are “gender-neutral”, they benefit both

women and men equally which resulted in the neglect of concerns to

women in particular, such as the matters of reproductive health,

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technology support and extension services to tasks done by women,

credit for women’s economic initiatives, and many others. Because

their particular concerns were not being addressed, women remained

disadvantaged and marginalized (p4).

The literatures and studies cited and commended by different

authors were found to have direct relation and bearing to the

present study because it points out that even numerous policies,

plans, and other gender and development related programs conducted

and laws were enacted, instances were women, especially in male-

dominated fields, was being underrepresented and marginalized

still exists.

In addition, the researcher believe that exploring female

officer’s job satisfaction may provide information about why their

integration into the profession remains low. Likewise, studying

years of experience may shed light on why some officers achieve

tenure while others do not.

As this study aims to know if underrepresentation and

marginalization were existing and/or affecting women in their

respective fields, specifically women in PNP organization and how

compliance to Gender and Development policies help lessen and/or

diminished such instances.

The gender differences are socially constructed in which men

are assumed to be superior and stronger than women because they

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are seen as intrinsically more cold-blooded, aggressive, and

violent. Due to social stereotyping, women are thought to be weaker

than men and always require more help and protection from others.

In addition, femininity is often associated with nurturing, caring

and against violence.

Parnaby and Leyden (2011) stated that the police force is a

male-dominated environment. Even though the number of female

police officers has increased, male officers continue to greatly

outnumber them. The police force still presents a strong masculine

image and thus law enforcement is an occupation that is believed

to be most suitable for men. Female police officers should not be

involved in the police force because they do not fit into the

violent and cold-blooded environment. Crime prevention and crime

solving are deemed to be masculine tasks (as cited by Chen, 2015,

p5).

In addition, Kristen Leger (1997) as cited by Chen (2015),

stressed that female police officers are a burden in the police

force because they are stereotypically thought to be weaker than

men. They do not possess the skills and the abilities to fight

crime. “While women perform as well as men in various patrol

assignments and situations, they still face a significant amount

of disapproval from the male police personnel population (p6).

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Similarly, as cited by Cara Wilcock (2017) with regards to

discriminatory deployment, Brown (1998) claimed that generally, in

society, natural differences are viewed between the personality

traits of men and women. Commonly, men are regarded as more

aggressive and confrontational and therefore better suited to the

nature of police work; whereas women are stereotypically perceived

to be caring, compassionate and emotional. The results of Brown’s

survey highlighted that these stereotypical perceptions of

gendered personalities often tip over into policing and therefore

affect the tasks that both men and women are assigned. The

assumption that masculine traits are better suited to police work

leads to men being deployed to incidents concerning confrontation,

involving the execution of ‘real’ police work in the form of crime

fighting. This idea of ‘real’ police work is shaped by

stereotypical beliefs that masculine traits, such as aggression,

bravery and strength, are necessary in order to chase criminals

and therefore carry out the intended role of the police (p3-4).

ARTICLE COTRASTING STREOTYPICAL BELIEFS THAT WOMEN AREN”T

SUITED IN LAW ENFORCEMENT.

Foreign and Local

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 Literature and Studies

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