There is acute shortage of women police stations, as only 19 women police stations exist across the country, which constitute 0.86 percent of the strength of police department. There is not only shortage of women police station in the country, but they are even prevented from registration of First Information Report (FIR).
Women complaint cell in women police station has been ceased to function and women police face harassment at workplace, reveals a survey conducted by Individualland Pakistan entitled "Women police as a change agent and gender based police reforms" in the different cities of the country.
The initiative was an attempt towards recognising the work of women police as well as highlighting the issues and challenges confronted by women police. According the survey report, there are inconsistencies in the strength of women police on duty as compare to the data provided by the police, showing that the record provided to the research teams has not been updated at the departmental level or on regular basis.
The report further said the promulgation of police order 2002 was the only attempt at reforms, which lapsed year later. Resultantly, the image of police has remained an authoritarian force, plunged with corruption and political interference. On the other hand, police have been discouraged from adopting this field as a profession due to social perception of working women in general and the police in particular. Similarly, the survey also gauge the perception of male police regarding the presence of women in the police department aimed at assessing the level of awareness present within the male police regarding the importance of female staff.
The earliest history of women police in areas which now constitute Pakistan is found British Rules in 1939. At the time, seven constables and a head constable were recruited by the authorities to counter protest and agitation. IL-Pakistan gained considerable progress as it gathered data from police department of Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu Kashmir, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Balochistan, National Highway and Motorway police, Railway police and some areas of Punjab.