WOMEN BETTER QUALIFIED, BUT 'NOT ALLOWED' IN JCF
It is unconstitutional for females to be denied entry to the Jamaica Constabulary Force because of the lack of facilities at the training academy. “The right to equality must mean that steps should be taken to put in place the necessary structures to promote the enjoyment of these rights.”
The statement came from Hugh Rawlins, lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados in response to comments made earlier this year by Jamaica’s Police Commissioner, Francis Forbes that although women did better on the qualifying examinations to the force, more men were accepted to join the Force as the Police Academy lacked facilities for women.
It is government’s responsibility, Mr. Rawlins said, to guarantee the fundamental rights of citizens enshrined in the constitution by taking the necessary steps to ensure that these rights are enjoyed, “that they are not impeded.”
Section 13 of the Jamaican Constitution under “Fundamental Rights and Freedoms” state that every person in Jamaica is entitled to these rights regardless of “race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex.”
Mr. Rawlins, a Solicitor and Barrister from St. Kitts who lectures in Constitutional Law said he does not subscribe to anything which puts barriers on achievement, and the lack of facilities for women who aspire to become police officers constitutes an unconstitutional barrier.
The Police Force might be the only ‘profession’ which is still male-dominated, as women have long dominated nursing and teaching. In the last two decades, women have been in the majority in the graduating classes of the UWI, even in those academic pursuits traditionally seen as male domains – medicine, engineering and law. The trend suggests that women outperform men academically, thus the better performances by female applicants to the police force than their male counterparts. Yet more men, with less qualifications, are admitted into the force.
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lags behind the ILO and even St. Kitts