Do Women Prefer In-Group Police Officers? Survey and Experimental Evidence From India

Abstract

Several nations have enacted gender reforms in policing, many of which are premised on the notion that women favor female officers, especially in the context of tackling violence against women (VAW). We investigate this topic in India. Evidence from the first nationally representative survey on policing ( N ≈ 15,000) demonstrates high levels of bias against policewomen, including among women and VAW complainants. To estimate the causal effect of police gender on officer evaluations, we design an unusual video experiment with assistance from the news corporation New Delhi Television ( N ≈ 1000). We find that policewomen are not generally preferred to policemen, and citizens have significantly unfavorable attitudes toward female officers when seen tackling VAW rather than non-VAW cases. These negative ratings are driven by female respondents. We highlight certain context-specific explanations and note that the manner in which policewomen are typecast may undercut the positive implications associated with representation. Our study is an example of shared identity increasing mistrust, and it expands the discussion about citizens using ascriptive characteristics to make inferences about politicians to include front-line bureaucrats like police officers.

Does Victim Gender Matter for Justice Delivery? Police and Judicial Responses to Women’s Cases in India

“…48 Topic 16 represents instances in which complainants explain that they tried to register a dowry or domestic violence case before but were asked to reconcile or participate in counseling with a spouse instead. This is seen in the FREX words mediate or counsel in panel b (Jassal and Barnhardt 2023). Topics 19 and 20 refer to abusers either deserting their wives or absconding, for example, possibly to extract dowry from another.…”