New Delhi: Although more women have joined the judiciary and police for years, they remain concentrated in the lower areas of institutions, according to India Justice Report 2025.
The report released on Tuesday, said that the representation of women in the police-level rank in the police is even less. At the national level, only 25,282, or eight percent, are women officers.
Of these, 52 percent of the sub-inspector positions, and 25 percent is nominated as ASIS. At a constable level, women form 13 percent of the total strength. Only 12 percent of the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers are women, the couple. This data is operational till January 2023.
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Focusing on numbers, former IPS officer Kiran Bedi said that low representation of women in policing is the result of long -standing social and systemic obstacles.
“Socially, there remains a deep underlying perception that policing is a masculine profession, associated with physical strength and long, unexpected hours – it appears inappropriate or insecure for women,” he said.
According to Bedi, family and social expectations often discourage women from chasing such careers, especially in small cities and rural areas.
She also explains systemic obstacles. He said, “There is a lack of gender-sensitive infrastructure, including safe housing, proper hygiene, childcare facilities and safe working conditions-it makes it difficult for women to enter and maintain their career in policing,” he said.
Other issues, such as insufficient recruitment, driven the issue of targeting women, limited mentorships, and slow career progresses, extended the issue, Bedi said, “Unless these fundamental issues are addressed, women will be limited to entry into policing.”
He also suggests how these numbers can be increased. “Why not, why not try an agnivor concept in a policing constables for young women – get them up with them. Proceed with them.”
Former IPS officer Meran Chadha Borwankar says that most states and center areas have 30 percent or more reservation for women.
He said, “I think they are serious in including all more women. Our number is increasing gradually,” he said that some states like Bihar also organized special recruitment drives for women. This, he said, there was a way to accelerate the increase in their number.
However, she says that her study by Maharashtra Police has been organized through the Center for Police Research, Pune (2016) that induction alone is not enough.
He said, “Women police officers had demanded better infrastructure and training. They flagged off the issue of not getting adequate support from uniformed male employees. Therefore, the training and sensitization of men in police stations need immediate attention and action,” he said.
Judiciary
For the judiciary, the conclusions showed a uniform trend.
The report found that 38 percent of the judges in the lower judiciary were women, the number fell to 14 percent in the High Courts. “The glass roof remains firmly,” it says.
For judges, the data extends to February -March 2025. While the report admits that the share of women in the subordinate judiciary has increased continuously in all states, notes that the increase in High Courts has not followed the same trajectory.
For example, it states that by February 2025, 27 states and center states had completed or crossed 33 percent of women judges in district courts, and their lower courts in seven states had 50 percent or more women. But it was noted that except for Telangana and Sikkim, any state had more than 30 percent of women judges in the High Courts, and that there were no women judges in the High Court of Uttarakhand.
Senior advocate Geeta Luthra explains that a pool of High Court judges is taken directly from the bar.
“Usually you are in 15-20 years of behavior, at least, considering for the bench. Women are increasing in the profession in the last 20-30 years, so it may not be important that many women who have already made their mark, are considered as High Court judges,” she says. This, she says, which is why the number of women judges in the High Courts is very less than in the trial court.
“The judiciary was a very conservative male preserved when we started the profession … Women faced a very conservative bench for height, but it is slowly changing,” she told the manner.
Luthra claims that the conservative approach of gradually is becoming widespread. “At a time when someone would have thought that they should have been considered for height, perhaps they were not just because they were women,” she said, “she said, today that the roof feels that it has been broken over years, so it will take time to catch women.”
This report is a collaboration and research project between six organizations-CantRE (ideal), general causes, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), Darsh, TIS-Prain and Dawi Center for Legal Policy for Social Justice.
200 years to hit 33 percent
The report stated that till January 2023, the overall representation of women in the police – Civil Police, District Armed Reserve (DAR), Special Armed Police Battalion, and Reserve Battalion (IRB) -11 January 2022 from 11.7 percent to 12.3 percent.
In 18 large and medium -sized states, Bihar, at 24 percent, leads the police representing women. While Bihar also recorded the highest development in 2022 in 2022 to 21 percent to 2024 – other states and center areas including Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal saw a decline.
And how long will it take for women’s share to reach 33 percent in the police?
The report claims that if the current rates remain stable, it will take about three years for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, but for Jharkhand, Tripura and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it will take about 200 years to complete the overall benchmark of 33 percent.
(Edited by Ridififa Kabir)
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