Police Women's Empowerment in Ethiopia. Oromia in Perspective


Master's Thesis, 2019

94 Pages, Grade: 3.7


Excerpt


Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Biography

List of tables

List of figures

Acronyms and abbreviation

Abstract

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the study
1.2. Statement of the problem
1.3. Research Questions
1.4. Research Objectives
1.4.1. General objective
1.4.2. Specific objectives
1.5. Significance of the study
1.6. Scope of the Study
1.7. Limitation of the study
1.8. Operational definition of key terms
1.9. Organization of the study

CHAPTER TWO:
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. General situation of women in Ethiopia
2.2. Empowerment
2.3. Police force
2.4. The Women and Leadership in Ethiopia
2.4.1. During Haile Selassie Regime
2.4.2. During the Dergue Regime
2.4.3. During the FDRE Regime
2.5. Factors that Affect Women’s Empowerment
2.5.1. Social or Cultural Factors
2.5.2. Organizational Culture Barriers
2.5.3. Gender Stereotype Factors
2.5.4. Work Place Policies
2.5.5. Discrimination in Appointments
2.5.6. The Subtle Barriers: The Role of Male Clubs
2.6. International, Regional and National Legal and Policy Frameworks for Women Empowerment
2.6.1. International Instruments
2.6.2. Regional Instruments
2.6.3. National Instruments:
2.6.4. Legal Framework:
2.7. The Conceptual Framework
Administrative level Factors
Discrimination in Appointments and promotion

CHAPTER THREE:
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. Description of the Study Area
3.2. Research approach
3.3. Research design
3.4. Study population
3.5. Sample and Sampling Techniques
3.5. Data type and Sources
3.6. Tools of Data Collection
3.7. Data collection procedure
3.8. Data quality assurance/Assumption Reliability Test
3.9. Data Analysis
3.10. Research Ethics

CHAPTER FOUR
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Profile of Respondents
4.3. Leadership positions mostly occupies by women police in Oromia police commission
4.4. Career Development
4.5. Factor for Low Participation of police Women in leadership Position in the Oromia police commission
4.6. The Major Problems Affecting Participation of police Women’s in the decision making Position of the Oromia police commission
Lack of recommendation:
Lack of delegation:
4.7. The Impact of Gender Gap (difference) in Leadership
4.8. The Strategies to Increase police Women’s participation in decision making position and Contribution for the achievement of Oromia police commission Goal and objectives

CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1. Conclusion
5.2. Recommendations

REFERENCE

APPENDICES
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C

DEDICATION

This piece of project work is dedicated to reminiscence of my friend Ass/Inspector Ararsa Beyene and 16 others Oromia police members who was sacrificed at wollega to save their community, my father Kebede Kedida Beti, my mother Alemitu Amente Abdi, and my grandfather Rude Jirata.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all I would like to thank the almighty God for His interminable help. Without His help this research project could not have been realized.

I am grateful to my advisor, Dr. Adare Asefa Mitiku, for his committed and motivated guidance, a man with true respect for learning, for his proper guidance and encouragement to the successfully completion of this study.

I would also like to acknowledge to participants and contributors of the study who forwards their idea, believes, agreements and disagreements through questionnaire, interview and donation of secondary data.

My deepest appreciation and heartfelt thanks go to my wife, for her unreserved moral supports in the whole course of the study and to my twine lovely daughters the most precise gifts of my life. I do not have words for their love, support, encouragement, and patience.

I also want to address my deepest gratitude to the Oromia police college leaders and the whole staffs for the generous support and contribution to my study.

Finally, yet importantly, my acknowledgement goes to Ambo University academic and nonacademic staff for supporting and facilitating the entire course of my study for Master’s Degree.

BIOGRAPHY

Mr. Desalegn kebede kedida was born in Dec. 1981 GC in east wollega, oromia region. He started education at Tossie primary school and completed his senior secondary school at Gidda Ayana in 2002 GC. Then he joined oromia regular and vocational police training Institute at Ambo, Senkele in 2004 GC. In 2007 GC, he joined Ethiopian police University College and graduated in 2010 GC with diploma in policing and joined Oromia Police College as junior teacher.

In 2013 GC, he joined Oromia state university and graduated with BA degree in Humana resource management and leadership in 2016 GC. Soon after completion of his first degree promoted to senior teacher at Oromia Police College until he joined for second degree in 2017 at Ambo University to specialize the degree of Masters of Business Administration in management (MBA in Management). And now, research and community service directorate director at Oromia Police College.

List of tables

Table 1 Sample size

Table 2: Cronbach's Alpha for each filed of the questionnaire

Table 3 Educational back ground

Table 4 Work experience

Table 5 Respondents’ rank

Table 6 Leadership positions/job field/ occupied by women police

Table 7 Leadership positions of OPC

Table 8 Agency related

Table 9 Career development

Table 10 Rules & regulations

Table 11 legal frame work

Table 12 Educational level

Table 13 Higher ranks of OPC

List of figures

Figure 1 Oromia region map

Figure 2 Age of respondents

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATION

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Abstract

Police Women’s face multi-faceted challenges to participate in decision making position due to different factors. The purpose of this study is to assess police women’s empowerment in Ethiopia with emphasis on Oromia regional state police commission. More specifically, it aimed to assess factors affecting police women’s empowerment to assume a leadership position. That is aimed to examine gender difference in decision making position. . To this end, a sample of 160 police women respondents were drawn from the region’s police. In order to determine the sample size probability simple random sampling method was employed. Then next, self- administered questionnaires and interview guides were used to gather data. The data were fed into SPSS version 20.0 followed by analysis and interpretation using descriptive statistics. The findings showed that police women’s are highly underrepresented in higher level leadership positions. This is mainly due to some major factors such as education, sociocultural antecedents; organizational culture and police commission recruitment and promotional practices. As such, the police women found difficult role model and less confidence for the leadership position. This research ends by forwarding a recommendation that in order to minimize the existing gender difference at the level of decision making, the Oromia police commission needs to implement affirmative action such as quota system for police women at entrance stage as well as clearly entrenching supportive criteria while assigning police officers at higher positions.

Key words: Empowerment, police women empowerment, women empowerment,

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the study

Law enforcement and order maintenance are generally viewed as the two main duties of the police force. In addition to these two duties, the police are also frequently requested by the public to deliver social services (Reid, 2001; Cox, 1996; Magenau & Hunt, 1996). As one of the law enforcement statutory service teams, the police are expected to provide immediate aid and care to the public along with compulsory, regulatory, control, and defense practices. Provision of public services is one of the most significant roles of the contemporary police. Studies have shown that the police spend most of their time providing police services to the public (Greene &Klockars, 1991). Based on the 2007 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) report in the United States, the primary function of one-fifth of the police agencies was search and rescue. Specifically, nearly 60 percent of police officers undertook animal control tasks, nearly one-sixth of police agencies were responsible for providing emergency and medical services and carry out civil defense functions, and about one-tenth of police agencies provided fire prevention services (Hickman & Reaves, 2001).

Global policing is greatly evolving on a daily basis. This has led to the enlistment of women in policing as compared to early ages where the profession was only meant for males. In U.S.A., research has revealed that in entering police work, women have encountered enormous difficulties primarily as a result of the negative attitudes of the men, Oruta, Lidara&Gauyas (2016). Quoted Brookshire, 1980; Block &Arderson, (1974) and Melchoire, (1976) in discussing about the difficulty that women encounter in policing. According to these authors; Male officers anticipate women failing they doubt women police can equal men in most job skills they do not see women police officers as doing "real" police work and they continue myths about women's lack of emotional fitness has pointed out that the biggest challenge facing women police officers is the resistance displayed by male officers in their attitudes toward women in policing. As a reflection of women’s traditional position in the society, however, women’s profile in number and quality within the police structure is very low. Culturally, women are associated with maternity and the role they play in a family (Lindsey, 2005; Walby, 1990). The role of women in procreation said to have created basis for their discrimination (CEDAW: 1979). The society taking a man as a head of family and a breadwinner, bestowed up on him all the decision-making power of the family including the issues that affect the woman’s and girl’s personal life. A woman, on the other hand, is expected to be homemaker, socialize and caretaker under the guidance and support of a man (Lindsey, 2005, Best and Wasiams in Matsunoto, 2001).

In recent years it has been widely recognized that women’s active participation in decision making is central to development and poverty alleviation ((UNFPA, 2005). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that achieving the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision making were provide a balance for the achievement of both transparent and accountable government to strengthen democracy and promote its proper functioning (Afroz, 2010).

Since the adoption of the United Nations Charter in 1945, there are continued international efforts of expanding opportunities towards gender equality and women empowerment. Recognizing women empowerment and gender equality as powerful multipliers of development efforts, international and regional governmental (GOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been working towards equality and beneficence of women. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) is one of the programs devised by the international community to address the issue of poverty of which gender equality is one. (UNFPA, 2005)

Despite all international, regional and national strategies, government’s political will, legal and structural instruments to increase women’s empowerment at all levels in general and in the Oromia police in particular, barriers are evident in police women’s participation in decision-making. The tradition of holding top and middle level decision-making power still favors men to an overwhelming degree in oromia police. (Oromia police commission GTP I report, 2015 p. 134).

Following the down fall of Dergue regime administrative structure and the endorsement of the FDRE constitutions, women are granted constitutional rights of equality to men and affirmative action to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment (EFDR Constitution, 1995). Furthermore, the police establishment proclamations as well as the labor laws have provided for the equal rights of women in employment and protection of maternity rights, as well as the right to be free from workplace violence (FDRE constitution, 1995, art. 35).

Consistent to these, the government created new structure at the public offices with the Ministerial restructuring Proclamation No. 691/2010 with the mandate of ensuring increased participation and benefits of women in political, economic and social endeavors of the county. Moreover, the structures of government offices were amended to incorporate Gender Affairs Offices at the Department/Directorate level to play a leading role towards strengthening and facilitate gender issues in the all public organization. Empowering women and ensuring their benefits is also stated to be one of the strategic pillars of the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) 2015-2020 of the country (FDRE GTP II, 2015).

As Enanu (2013), stated that nationally enacted and amended laws and the international legal instruments adopted at different times aim at changing the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women. These instruments are meant to eliminate prejudices, customs and all other practices which are based on the idea of inferiority or superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.

Therefore, recently in Ethiopia various policies and strategies adopted by the government to promote gender equality and protect women’s rights, including the National Plan for Gender Equality (2005-2010), the Plan for Accelerated and Sustainable Development to Eradicate Poverty (2005-2010), which included “unleashing the potential of Ethiopian women” among its eight strategic elements, the Development and Change Package for Ethiopian women, seeking to promote the economic and political participation of women and to eradicate harmful traditional practices, and the joint United Nations/Government of Ethiopia flagship programs on gender equality and maternal health.

As Amrot (1998) demonstrated that being a country of diversified culture and language, Ethiopia experiences a diversity of attitudes towards the role of women as a whole. The common ground for all of them is the general tendency to keep women at a lower position than men in most aspects. The reality of this is confirmed by the fact that women lag behind men in education, employment, status in public organization, etc. There are so many sayings attributed to these socio-cultural influences “The universe of the man extends to the court of law whereas the woman is destined to the kitchen” (p.1).

According to Muluneh (as cited in Chalchissa&Emnet, 2013), even though the local government’s effort in incorporating gender perspective into economic empowerment programs show a relative improvement, it is still quite low. Moreover, women‘s employment has increased, in Ethiopia public organization over the last decades, compared to men, still there is low women’s participation in decision making (Chalchissa, 2011; Federal Civil Service Agency, 2006/7). And the tradition of holding top and middle level decision-making power still favors men to an overwhelming degree (APRM, 2011 pp.28990, MoFED, 2012, PMWASS, 2004).

To obtain a higher position and rank police officers, no matter their sex is, have to have served a certain number of years in the police service and have to meet the evaluated requirements for police officers (Oromia police regulation no. 191/2017 art. 78). Today, men still assume the more respected positions of authority and power in the Oromia Police, positions quite consonant with societal views about men’s “natural” roles. Women police within the police commission find themselves most often in the lowest, supporting ranks and positions. Furthermore, male police officers tend to get promoted to senior management and top decision making positions more frequently than female police officers. (Oromia police commission report 2017).

Therefore, this study aims to examine factors that influence police women’s empowerment effort of the government in Oromia police commission. To this end, the study assesses Gender Empowerment Measures (GEM) (UNDP, 2000) on the actual level of participation and status of the Oromia police commission police women shows the level of existing disparity. Finally, the study was elaborates on opportunities enjoyed or challenges faced by police women’s and on the way forward and informs decision-makers on what to do to boost achievements of the targeted goal of empowering police women in Oromia police commission.

1.2. Statement of the problem

Government reports and some studies conducted on women empowerment practices in Ethiopian confirm that women participation in political, economic and social endeavors in general and in particular holds low profile (ESPS, 2008; APRM, 2011; Tarik, 2012). Due to deep rooted and long-lived patriarchal system influence and experience, low status characterizes virtually every aspect of women’s lives (APRM, 2011). This attributes to socio-economic and cultural status of women, exacerbated by institutional/structural factors that resulted in gender-based division of labor, rights, responsibilities, opportunities, and access to and control over resources. Achieving gender equality, however, is a time consuming process, since it challenges one of the most deeply entrenched human attitudes and practices. Despite the intense efforts of many agencies and organizations and numerous inspiring successes, women in the Ethiopian public organization including police organizations are largely occupying low-level and clerical position (APRM, 2011). The continuity in the status quo of women’s engagement in low level positions is an empirical evidence to support the argument that women’s police empowerment takes far more than changes in law or devising best strategies and policy to change the unjust practices. Though these changes in law, policy and organizational structure are necessary conditions or means, they are not sufficient conditions or end in themselves (Emebet, 2010). Sound government policies and investments are central for achieving MDGs and accelerating economic growth, but they are not enough (UN Department of Public Information, 2008).

The Oromia police Commission has a total number of 29,447 police members and from this 25,667(87.16%) of member’s are male whereas only 3,780 which accounts 12.84% of member’s are female. This shows that most of Oromia police commission police members are male. On the other hand the representation of women is considerably low as compared to total members of the police commission. This research was focuses on assessing whether or not the police women’s empowerment practices in the Oromia police brought changes in the status of police women’s by describing the major predictors that impacted prevailing practice on the overall working conditions of female police members serving at different levels towards achieving decision making positions and women’s police empowerment on higher and middle leadership positions.

This study was specifically be concerned with police women’s empowerment practice in Oromia police commission. Therefore, taking the aforementioned problems in to consideration, this study is proposed to assess police women’s empowerment on the leadership position in Oromia police commission.

1.3. Research Questions

The study was aimed at bringing out police women’s views on some of the reason that have hindered them from ascending to higher leadership position in their respective posts. However this study is an attempt to create space for the policymaker for discussion in order to ensure active participation on police women in decision-making.

Therefore, in line with the problem statement this study was attempted to assess the existing gap and the factors affecting participation of police women in leadership position Oromia police commission. Based on these main points the researcher was raised the following research questions:

- What are the major barriers that hinder police women’s Empowerment of Oromia police commission?
- What is the influence of gender difference on police women’s Empowerment in Oromia police Commission?
- What are the trends of police women’s empowerment in Oromia police commission?

1.4. Research Objectives

1.4.1. General objective

The general objectives of this research attempts to assess the existing gap and the factors affecting police women’s empowerment practice in Oromia.

1.4.2. Specific objectives The specific objectives of the study were:

- To assess the major barriers that hinder police women’s Empowerment of Oromia police commission.
- To evaluate the effect of gender difference on police women’s Empowerment in oromia police commission.
- To analyze trends of police women’s empowerment in Oromia police commission.

1.5. Significance of the study

The significance of this study lies in its ability to show the actual representation of police women’s empowerment in leadership position and the factors that affect police women’s participation from leadership position in Oromia police commission.

The suggestions and recommendations from the study was also lead to policy makers’ new orientation in formulation and implementation of affirmative action policies that could enhance police women’s participation in the police commission management.

Moreover, the study was benefit police women’s that it helps to realize factors that affect their representation and participation in leadership position and by suggesting how to overcome it by the police commission. Empowered police women would play significant role in inspiring other women and girls and serve as role models by delivering quality police service.

Finally, the study will help other researchers as literature in the study area, for Universities in general especially police scholars and it is used for the Oromia police commission as a base for improving the human resource strategic and succession planning in particular.

1.6. Scope of the Study

The research was conducted at Oromia police commission covered under the research. Hence, the target population of the research was mainly consisted of police Women’s who hold different leadership positions, professional Science and different ranks in Oromia police covered under the study. The research population was categorized by position they hold, which was help the assessment of factors affecting empowerment practice at each level.

This study was mainly concentrates on the discussion relating to the factors affecting police women’s Empowerment in the case of Oromia police commission. Knowing that several factors cause for low empowerment of police women’s, but on this research it has chosen to focus only on organizational factor for low empowerment of police women’s in Leadership positions. It does not include other variables beyond the organizational factors which are not be explored.

In short, this study was scope in terms of geographical, conceptual and methodological aspects to achieve the objective of the study within the time and budget framework. The research was delimited to Oromia region only in terms of geographical delimitation. Conceptually, it is restricted only on the factors affecting police women’s empowerment in Oromia region. Timely, the study was delimited to the 2nd GTP the first three years (2015/16-2017/18).

1.7. Limitation of the study

Police women’s empowerment activities are not well documented in the area of study. Because of this lack of secondary data on police women’s empowerment practice for the study is one limitation. Secondly, this study employed cross sectional survey design, it did not check the situation through longitudinal survey. Moreover the study was not including other region Police commission.

1.8. Operational definition of key terms

Empowerment: enhancing an individual’s or group’s capacity to make choices and transform those choices into desired action and outcomes (Alsop and Heinsohn, 2005).

Police: The word “police” come from the Latin word politia which means “civil administration”. The word politia goes back to the Greek word polis, or city. Policia became the French word for police. The English took it over and at first continued to use it to mean “civil administration” (Dempsey, 2001:12). Emsley has a common-sense definition of what is meant by “the police”: He defines is as “The bureaucratic and hierarchical bodies employed by the state to maintain order and to prevent and detect crime” (1991:11).

Police Women’s Participation in Decision Making: Participation in Decision Making is referred to as the police officers’ perceived involvement and influence in the decision making process in an organization that has a direct and indirect impact on their jobs (Afoz, 2010).

Participation in Decision Making: is defined as the police women’s involvement and influence in the decision making process in an organization.

1.9. Organization of the study

This study has five chapters. The first chapter deals with background information, statement of the problem, objective of the study, significance of the study, and scope study. The second chapter discusses concepts and theories related to the area of study or literature review. The third chapter deals with methodologies of the study. The fourth chapter deals with results and discussions. The last chapter contains conclusions and recommendations.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. General situation of women in Ethiopia

Women comprise about 49.9% of the estimated Ethiopian population of 77.1 million (CSA, 2007). Among the total heads of households, 25.5% are females with 23% of them in rural and 39% in urban areas. Like their counterparts in developing countries, women in Ethiopia face a set of multiple, cross cutting and interrelated problems. These problems limit Ethiopian women’s access to productive resources, basic health services, and educational and employment opportunities. Hence most of them do not participate in decision making processes (Sosena &Tsehai, 2008)

In general, Women in Ethiopia occupy low status in the society. In spite of their contributions to the wellbeing of their family and community affairs in general, women experience lower socio-economic status as a whole and hence is marginalized from making decisions at all levels. Women are facing multiple forms of deprivation. Gender based discrimination, lack of protection of basic human rights, violence, lack of access to productive resources, education and training, basic health services, and employment are widespread (National Committee for Traditional Practices Eradication (NCTPE), 2003).

Ethiopian women suffer from work stereotype and gender distribution of labor, more are occupy in economically invisible work. Women experience lower socioeconomic status in general and hence is marginalized from making decisions at all levels. Nonetheless, women are poor in terms of access to resources, services and employment. Women are underrepresented in the formal sector of employment. The survey conducted by theCentral Statistical Authority (CSA, 2004) showed that women account for less than half(43%) of the total employees in the country. Considering the percentage of female employees from the total number of employees by employment type, the highest was in domestic activities (78%) and followed by unpaid activities (59.3%). In other types of formal employment (e.g. government, NGOs, private organizations), the percentage of female workers is less than 35.

On the other hand, the survey showed overrepresentation of female workers in the informal sector. About 58% of working women work in the informal sector whereas the percentage of working men in the informal sector was 37.7 % (ibid). The breakdown of the federal government employees by occupational groups also indicated gender disparity.

From federal government employees found in the clerical and fiscal type of jobs 71.3 % were female, while the percentage of females was slightly more than half (51%) in custodial and manual type of jobs. Women make up 25% and 18% of the administrative and professional and scientific job categories, respectively, indicating that upper and middle level positions are overwhelmingly dominated by men (Federal Civil Service Commission, 2005). This concentration of women in the informal sector and low level positions has implication on their earnings. In this regard, the survey showed four out of ten women civil servants earn Birr 300 a month compared to two out of ten for men (Federal Civil Service Commission, 2005).

Generally, regardless of women’s immense contribution, they often lack productive assets particularly land, and are underserved with agricultural extension, credit, labor, oxen and farm implements. Women’s representation in the permanent employment of both regional and federal police is also lower than men; in comparison to the large number of unemployed women. The increase in the number of women employees over the years is insignificant. Women’s employment in the Oromia police commission is lower than men (Oromia police commission 4st quarter report, 2017/18).

2.2. Empowerment

Empowerment that is, enhancing an individual’s or group’s capacity to make choices and transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes (Alsop and Heinsohn, 2006. p 5). It is increasing an individual’s ability to shape his or her life (Narayan (2006). defines empowerment as the expansion of assets and capabilities of poor people to participate in, negotiate with, influence, control and hold accountable institutions that affect their lives. The key elements determining the ability are stated to be internal constraints, particularly individuals’ perceptions, preference, and aspirations; external constraints, such as discrimination and the family, economic, social, cultural and political context, and assets, including human capital (Stern, Nicholas et al., 2005). External obstacles, they elaborate, may prevent individuals from taking advantage of economic opportunities and participating in growth. These obstacles range from discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, caste, religion, or language to corruption, cronyism and capture of the state by powerful groups that exclude poor people from the benefits of public policies. The dynamics of empowerment are largely about reducing and overcoming these obstacles and promoting the acquisition of assets (Stern, Nicholas et al., 2005).

Empowerment thus refers to the expansion in people’s ability to make strategic life choices in a context where this ability was previously denied to them (Kabeer, 2001). He stressed that changes in the ability to exercise choice can be thought of in terms of changes in three inter-related dimensions which make up choice: resources, form the conditions under which choices are made; agency which is at the heart of the process by which choices are made; and achievements, which are outcomes of choice. These dimensions are interdependent because changes in each contributes to, and benefits from, changes in the others.

According to Longuew (2002, 1995) Empowerment is said to have five levels: (1) welfare: where the material needs are to be met; (2) access: women gain access to resources such as land, labor, credit, training, marketing facility, public service and benefits on an equal basis with men; (3) conscientization: where women are expected to believe that gender roles can be changed and gender equality is possible; (4) participation: where women have equal participation in decision-making in all programs and policies; and (5) control: where women and men have equal control over factors of production and distribution of benefits, without dominance or subordination.

Taking empowerment as a process, both as a means and an end, and identifying agency, opportunity structure, degree of empowerment and development outcome to be a measuring variable of empowerment, Alsop and Nina (2005) showed how empowerment should be measured. According to them:

The extent or degree to which a person is empowered is influenced by personal agency (the capacity to make purposive choice) and opportunity structure (the institutional context in which choice is made). Asset endowments are used as indicators of agency. These assets may be psychological, informational, organizational, material, social, financial, or human. Opportunity structure is measured by the presence and operation of formal and informal institutions, including the laws, regulatory frameworks, and norms governing behavior. Working together, these factors give rise to different degrees of empowerment that are measured by the existence of choice, the use of choice, and the achievement of choice (Alsop, 2005. P.4).

Gender mainstreaming is the (re)organization, improvement, development and evaluation of policy processes, so that a gender equality perspective is incorporated in all policies at all levels at all stages, by the actors normally involved in policy making (Council of Europe, 1998). It is also defined as the process of assessing the implications for women and men for any planned action in legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at all levels with the ultimate goal of achieving gender equality (United Nations, 2003). The women’s empowerment was measured using different indicators. The Gender-related Development Index (GDI) is a measurement for gender inequalities in the three dimensions covered by the Human Development Index (HDI), i.e. life expectancy, education, and income. Another tool used is the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) which seeks to measure relative female representation in economic and political power. It considers gender gaps in political representation, in professional and management positions in the economy, as well as gender gaps in incomes. The United Nations Human Development Report (2009) classifying under the Low Human Development countries, ranked Ethiopia 85th in the gender empowerment measure and its components. Both international gender related measures (GDI and GEM) use the following indicators as a framework of measurement:

- Education: measured by the literacy gap between men and women and by male and female enrolment rates in primary, secondary and tertiary education.
- Participation in the economy: measured by the percentage of women and men in paid jobs, excluding agriculture, and by the income ratio of men to women.
- Empowerment: measured by the percentage of women in professional, technical, managerial and administrative jobs, and by the number of seats women have in parliament and in decision-making ministerial posts.

Taking Women's empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of the society, including participation in decision-making process and access to power as fundamental for the achievement of equality, development and peace, the Beijing Platform for Action identifies gender equality as a goal and mainstreaming gender equality as the strategy of women’s overall empowerment (BPfA, 1995).

2.3. Police force

Policing is a profession providing services to the society in maintaining peace and security. The role of policing has been dynamic since it became a profession in 1829 under Sir Robert Peel in London, England. The “culture” of a police department reflects what that department believes in as an organization. These beliefs are reflected in the department’s recruiting and selection practices, policies and procedures, training and development, and ultimately, in the actions of its officers in law enforcement situations (US department of state). Police institutions develop legal enforcement documents depending on their countries constitutions. Accordingly Ethiopian Federal Police Commission develops different legal materials. These documents are Ethiopian Federal Police Commission Establishment Proclamation No. 720/2011, Federal Police Officers Administration Council of Ministers Regulation No. 268/2012, Federal police commission directive No. 009/2005 on disciplinary and grievance procedure, Federal police commission directive No. 0102005 on police prizing and Federal police commission directive No. 011/2005 on human resource management. Ethiopian federal police commission is governed by these laws, directives and other Ethiopia laws and international agreements ratified by Ethiopian government.

The preamble of Ethiopian Federal Police Commission Establishment Proclamation No. 720/2011 reads as Ethiopian federal police commission has become necessary to reorganize the federal police to enhance its capability of fulfilling its mission of ensuring the observance of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and laws enacted in accordance with the Constitution, and thereby play its part in the national efforts to build democratic system, maintain peace and enhance development.

Thus, Oromia administration Council Regulation No. 191/2017 governing the Oromia police commission art. 3 and 25/3 are stating the equality of male and female police offices.

2.4. The Women and Leadership in Ethiopia

2.4.1. During Haile Selassie Regime

Before the 1974 revolution, Ethiopian society has a strong religious base and the political culture has derived its strength from those religious beliefs. Orthodox Christianity was the dominant religion at the time forming the ideological base of the ruling monarchs. Within the stratification system, women were not only placed at the lowest hierarchical level, but were also expected to show utmost respect and submission to men and never question the motives of their husbands, fathers or male relatives. This hierarchy was also explicitly stated in the Fetha-Negest (as cited in Biseswar, 2011):

“First, he [the judge] must be a man... the requirement of being a male is based on the consideration that man is the master of a woman, as said by the Apostle[Ephesians 5:23].

The office of a judge belongs to the superior rather than the subordinate; because a man is more intelligent, he must judge”.

Over centuries, such indoctrination became further integrated as part of culture. In this manner, women’s inferior status became established unchallenged as universal within the traditional patriarchal ideology.

So according to Fetha-Negest women at that time were subjected to powerful autocratic ideological control that none of them could challenge the emperor. Due to that, the Emperor had no agenda and did not consider women’s advancement as an issue. There were women’s organized activities run mainly by non-governmental (NGOs) bodies such as the Ethiopian Women's Welfare Association, the Ethiopian Officer's Wives Association, and the Ethiopian Female Students' Association.

These Associations were, however, limited in scope, and only existed in the cities. Besides as it was the order that time, the monarchy did not design special measures for women’s liberation and also did nothing to alter traditional gender perceptions in the society. Therefore, they had little or no impact on government policies, laws, regulations or development programs. Most of the educated women (at the time there were very few) were also not sensitive to their own problems and could not walk further than functioning as part of the society, abiding by their feminine roles (Ibid).

Even though the first parliament was established in Ethiopia during Haile Selassie’s regime, no woman had been given a chance of nomination. Latter, only 2 women in 1965 and 5 women in 1969 have occupied the imperial’s parliament and the senate which had 250 and 125 seats respectively (Yalem, 2011).

2.4.2. During the Dergue Regime

When the Dergue (The Military Government) took political power in the country in 1974, it dramatically changed the political course from monarchy to a communist orientation. The Revolutionary Ethiopian Women's Association (REWA) was established by proclamation, but this organization was too monolithic and too close to the Dergue to be of any real use to women.

The purpose of its establishment was, in fact, the consolidation of the Dergue's power. Promoting the interests of women was not high on its agenda nor was it designed to influence government policies or help women benefit from development programs. As a result there was little improvement in the lives of Ethiopian women, whether in the social, economic or political sphere, especially of those who lived in the rural areas (Yalem, 2011).

Even though a few development agencies, particularly NGOs engaged in relief and rehabilitation work, had attempted to incorporate women's issues into their work programs, they did not show the expected results. This was because the previous government had not given women’s development the priority it deserved and therefore had not created conducive atmosphere for development initiatives for women.

The Dergue made it clear that it would not tolerate any resistance from anyone to achieving its own goals. In the first year of its power, women activists engaged on state structures (peasant associations and women’s commission) to advance their agenda in mobilizing rural women in some regions. They exploited the available opportunities at the time. But that did not last long.

The Dergue assumed complete monopoly on the emancipation of women, dictating its course and actions from a distorted woman question paradigm. Within this woman question, there was no indication of altering the traditional female and male domains. In fact, these were found to be enforced and exploited to the maximum by the institutional arm of the Dergue representing all women in the country, namely the Revolutionary Ethiopian Women’s Association (Biseswar, 2011).

2.4.3. During the FDRE Regime

Things looked more promising when the EPRDF took political power in the country in 1991. Many new laws replaced the abundance of state proclamations of the Dergue, creating opportunities for society. Initially, these laws promised much freedom and space to the people (Biseswar, 2011).

The ruling party set up its own national women’s machinery in the form of Women’s Affairs Offices (WAO) and bureaus to enhance .women’s actions. Beside the women’s machinery, the EPRDF government also initiated numerous other well-intended efforts to enhance the rights of women within. These include the promulgation of a very liberal constitution containing women’s explicit rights, the signing of international treaties regarding women’s rights and the introduction of affirmative measures to promote women’s advancement (Yalem, 2011).

The Federal Constitution of Ethiopia was promulgated in 1995 which has renewed the commitment to the gender policy and clearly expressed legislative support for women through its various articles. For example, Article 35 is the most comprehensive law regarding women’s rights and consists of nine sub-provisions.

Besides these, Article 3 of the constitution provides equal opportunity for women to participate in the decision making process by giving them the right to vote and be elected. In this regard, a number of measures have been taken in terms of advocacy, lobbying and awareness creation in order to increase the participation of women in the decision making structures of the country.

Though much still remains to be done, there are noticeable achievements in the participation of women particularly in the parliament 22% as well as 21.5% in oromia regional councils or café (Oromia Women's, Children and Youth affairs, 2018/17 report).

Article 12 (1) of the Oromia police regulation No.191/2017 prohibits discrimination among job seeker on the basis of sex. The proclamation also incorporates an affirmative action by stating that preference shall be given to female police candidates who have equal or close scores to that of male candidates. As a result, the number of police women’s in different decision making position has increased significantly.

2.5. Factors that Affect Women’s Empowerment

Underrepresentation of women in senior leadership is problematic for several reasons. First, a lack of women in senior positions may discourage the lower-level women to aspire to an upper level position, because they feel that it is un-tenable at all. Highly qualified and experienced women may thus not apply for upper level positions. As a result, organizations lose the opportunity to capitalize on the skills and talent of a portion of their workforce. Further, when employees perceive a lack of women in upper management, they may form ideas about the implicit values and culture of the organization, such as it is an ‘‘old-boys club,’’ or discriminatory in its hiring and retention practices. Therefore there are so many reasons that barriers women from moving to Empowerment and from those factors some of them are described as follows:

2.5.1. Social or Cultural Factors

Wasis (1991) culture is that which surrounds us and plays a certain role in determining the way we behave at any given moment in time. By no means a static, concept defines culture and is both defined by events that are taking place both locally as well as regionally and internationally, it is shaped by individual events as well as collective ones, and it is a feature of the time or epoch we live in. Because it is so vast, culture is also often used as a tool to validate all manners of actions not, all of which may be acceptable to all concerned and are often intimately, connected to issues of identity. Cultural frameworks are not always imposed, but are open to manipulation and interpretation from many angles and sources.

According to Bernaars, (as cited in Mbugua, 2007) in any ethnic group in Africa a typical woman has low status particularly lack of power to make decisions on matters affecting her life and those of her family. This culturally determined expectation and attitude towards the girl child influences less allocation of resources towards the girl as compared to the boys. A boy was always be considered first before a girl. This gender biased cultural assumption and the subsequent differential treatment of boys and girls in a homestead not only diminish girls’ access and performance in the education but also tend to push girls to doing the so called ‘feminine careers’.

One of the earliest biological justifications for male superiority comes from Aristotle 5th century B.C (as cited in Amrot, 1998, p.7). He stated that the world is a hierarchy composed of ruling elements and women are “naturally” fit to the second. In his own words he described it as “The male is naturally fitter to command than the female and female and women benefit most by being subject to male royal authority”. It is mainly because during that time the inequality of men and women was a legally and socially accepted fact. Therefore, this simply shows his ideological difference from contemporary thinkers. While society believes in the superiority of men, we are in the decade of woman in which the involvement of women in many aspects is a hot issue. As Sitterly cited in Amrot, (1998, p. 7) the women manager confirmed it as follows:

“... The 1990’s have been named the decade of Women ...changes in values technology, labor availability the work force, life styles, public attitudes, family roles, globalization, legal requirements, company recognition, emphasis on team work and employee involvement are all factors that was enhance women’s opportunity to compete and survive in tough economic time.”

A significant social feature resides in the double if not triple responsibilities of women: In most countries, women are perceived to have primary responsibilities as wives and mothers. But in many cases, either as a result of a preference for personal development, or out of sheer economic necessity, women also go out to work in the employment market. Managing these different occupations and their consequent responsibilities is no easy task for anyone man or woman (Wasis,1991).

2.5.2. Organizational Culture Barriers

According to Phillips (as cited in Mbugua, 2007) organizational culture is defined as the realities, values, symbols and rituals held in common by members of an organization and which contribute to the creation of norms and expectations of behavior. It defines conduct within an organization, determines what is and is not valued, and how authority is asserted.

The values, which support the great majority of organizations, and thus define success, often include money, power and status. As McKenna (cited in Mbugua, 2007) the corresponding behaviors include working long hours and putting in face time (as proxies for productivity), competitiveness and a willingness to put work above all else. These values and behaviors, which some authors define as being masculine, have come to dominate organizations for historical and socio-economic reasons but are increasingly being challenged by women, and many men, who want to 'work to live' rather than 'live to work'.

The organizational and managerial values in some organizations tend to be characterized by stereotypical views of women's roles, attributes, preferences and commitments. These in turn influence decisions about who is suitable for particular positions, which is seen to have potential and so forth. When women find themselves selected or assessed on the basis of group membership rather than on their experience and abilities, they experience gender discrimination.

According to Eagly & Johannesen (as cited in Miller, 2006) leadership and management continue to be the domain of men that is ‘thinks manager, think male’. This has implications for women and men, rightly or wrongly, are perceived in a particular way in society, which permeates organizations. They are assigned gender roles, which are shared beliefs that apply to individuals on the basis of their socially identified sex.

2.5.3. Gender Stereotype Factors

Gender stereotypes are generalized beliefs about the characteristics and qualities attributed to men and women in a society. In general, men are characterized as aggressive, risktaking, decisive, and autonomous (a genetic attributes), whereas women are characterized as kind, caring, relational, and humble (communal attributes) (Collins & Singh, 2006; Sikdar & Mitra, 2008).

Gender stereotypes can be described as the characteristics, attitudes, values and behaviors that society specifies as appropriate for the particular gender. The differences may have arisen not just from biological differences but also from sex role socialization during childhood and the way in which men and women develop psychologically. Gender stereotypes have consistently demonstrated that men are generally seen as more agent and more competent than women, while women are seen as more expressive and communal than men (Duher and Bono; Sczesny and Stahlberg, as cited in Ginige, 2007).

Gender stereotyping also explains why women and men are over-represented in particular types of jobs. Women dominate in “care” occupations such as nursing, teaching, social care and especially child-care. Men tend to be concentrated in construction and management areas associated with physical strength, risk-taking or decision-making. Such gender biases are also reflected in organizational practices. Male-dominated sectors tend to be more unionized, and men are more frequently selected for managerial positions because, some argue, they are perceived to be more willing to work longer hours and supervise others. Occupational, sectorial or time-related segregation can also be explained by women’s preferences for job security or the manner in which societies force them to balance work and family responsibilities. These factors, among others including structural and legal context, could help explain the over-representation of women in public sector jobs and/or part-time work.

As Hoobler (2011) states the ‘‘glass ceiling’’ explanations focus on discrimination due to many, varied causes, such as sex role stereotyping (where individuals tend to associate male characteristics and consequently men with leadership positions also called the ‘‘think leader, think male’’ phenomenon). Scholars have collected substantial empirical evidence that illustrate that we associate successful leaders with stereotypically male attributes such as independence, assertiveness, and decisiveness. So because stereotypes of what women ‘‘are like’’ in the workplace do not match with the male leadership archetype, women are not considered for or are judged to be ill suited for the top jobs.

Thus as Cornelius (cited in Mbugua, 2007) asserts that stereotyping can have an influence on the way in which men and women are perceived in the workplace. The use of stereotypes as the basis for assessment of individuals can result in advantage or disadvantage, not because of individual ability or lack of it but because of group membership. Gender stereotypes are still pervasive and widely shared, according to this author.

2.5.4. Work Place Policies

Women are not the same as men; they have particular biological functions that make them different, which in turn make their work experiences different. To this end, treating men and women the same has effectively created a systemic form of indirect discrimination for women.

Mbugua (2007) asserts that pregnancy is a workplace issue that starts well before conception and ends long after birth. It is impossible to separate pregnancy and family responsibilities.

Anecdotal evidence suggests assumptions that women were resigning when they have children are still widespread and continue to form the basis for not hiring women among some employers.

Large number of women report significant difficulties when they return to work due to the lack of supportive policies and practices in workplace. Issues like childcare, breastfeeding, flexible working hours and part-time work are still very current issues for most working women. (Mbugua, 2007)

The “Maternal wall”

It has been argued women managers and professionals are disadvantaged in the labor market due to their status as potential or actual mothers, sticking to the old saying that reads, “The hands that rock the cradle cannot rock the boardroom”. Despite antidiscrimination legislation, a negative link continues to be made, by employers, between a women’s reproductive status and her employment orientation (Gatrell, 2006).

The Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) has stated that this is partly because employers fear that expense and inconvenience may be involved in managing both maternity leave and mothers’ subsequent return to work, when women might request flexibility due to their maternal responsibilities. The EOC also argue, however, that such discrimination occurs due to a belief on the part of organizations that mothers likely to lose their career focus from the moment they become pregnant. It has been suggested that discrimination in relation to women’s maternity occurs because the ‘normative’ image of womanhood is gendered. While men are seen as employment-oriented economic providers and bread makers, it is assumed that mothers’ chief responsibility and interest is (or ought to be!) embedded within the home. Mothers are therefore constructed as having a lower employment-orientation (and a higher home-orientation) than fathers (Gatrell, 2006).

2.5.5. Discrimination in Appointments

Discrimination occur when an employee suffers unfavorable or unfair treatment due to their sex, race, religion, national origin, disabled or veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Federal law prohibits discrimination in a number of work-related areas, including recruiting, hiring, job evaluations, promotion policies, training, compensation and disciplinary action. Discrimination can be portrayed in different ways. It can occur in accessing employment, in promotion or in the treatment of an employee.

According to UNDP report of 1999, despite the fact that many governments have adopted and adapted affirmative action measures and the rhetoric of gender balance, the figures still indicate that globally, despite the fact that women are half of the population, they are nowhere near half of the decision-making structures. The threshold of 30% advocated by the UNDP report, as a prelude to the 50% is still a dream for most women. As a matter of fact, intelligence, ability and motivation are the attributes of a good leader. These attributes are inherent in both men and women, and gender has no role to play in determining these attributes. However in pursuit to investigating the factors influencing women progression to leadership, social/cultural factors, organization culture, workplace policies and discrimination of women in appointments have come out clearly as the factors inhibiting women from moving up the ladder of upper managerial positions.

2.5.6. The Subtle Barriers: The Role of Male Clubs

According to Lewin (as cited in Blau& Ferber, 1992) there are factors influencing women’s careers that may at first appear to be only tangentially related to the labor market. For instance, being denied admittance to prestigious all-male private clubs can impede the progress of career women. These “social” clubs are, in fact, places where influential people meet, relationships are developed, and deals are made; they are not simply places where weary businessmen go to relax and socialize.

[...]

Excerpt out of 94 pages

Details

Title
Police Women's Empowerment in Ethiopia. Oromia in Perspective
Course
MBA in management
Grade
3.7
Author
Year
2019
Pages
94
Catalog Number
V1005524
ISBN (eBook)
9783346386984
ISBN (Book)
9783346386991
Language
English
Keywords
police, women, empowerment, ethiopia, oromia
Quote paper
Dessalegn Kebede (Author), 2019, Police Women's Empowerment in Ethiopia. Oromia in Perspective, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1005524

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