Understanding the Grand Challenges of South African Police Women: Can Relevant Policy Measures Ease This Burden?

Abstract

The population composition in South African total citizens displays that more than 50 percent are Females. In contrary, confusion arises when job opportunities and available vacant posts are not distributed equally with the Male. Thus, the objective of this study was to offer understandings of grand challenges of South African Police Women across South Africa, aided by this hanging question: Can relevant policy measures ease this burden? This qualitative study employed the Scoping Review research design. The non-probability: Purposive sampling was used. The collected data was restricted to 1990-2021. The inductive Textual Content Analysis (TCA) was applied for data analysis. Results indicate that there is an absence of effective policy and regulation that can boost the status of Females in the Police services or Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). This is selectively attributed to stereotypical outlook of Male population and resistance to contemporary changes. Moreover, the existence of numerous policies, including ‘laws, rules and regulations,’implementations seem distant,further fueled by limited inspections and audits, which continues to deprive Females fair competitiveness with Males across many aspects. It is recommended that implementations of available polices to address challenges faced by Females in different societal sectors should be made an urgent priority. Males should also subject Females to impartial, fair treatment and tolerance. The complexity of SAPS should not be gender-based.