Police Chief pledges more women leaders

The Fiji Police Force has 1,253 women in its ranks, including one Assistant Commissioner and five Senior Superintendents of Police.

This was revealed by Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu today at the launch of the Gender Barrier Assessment Project Report at the Novotel Convention Centre in Lami.

Mr Tudravu said three women hold the rank of Superintendent of Police, 18 are Assistant Superintendents of Police and 54 are Inspectors. They serve in roles ranging from unit commanders and station officers to officers in charge of policing districts and deputy director-level positions.

The Commissioner said he was committed to seeing more women rise through the ranks under his leadership.

"I am always encouraging women leadership within the Fiji Police Force and I am glad to promote a few to the leadership roles as I took over as the Commissioner of Police and more to come based on your performance," he said.

He said women had also played a significant role in Fiji's peacekeeping contributions, with 149 of the 1,650 police officers deployed on United Nations peacekeeping missions since 1989 being women.

"Our first three women officers were deployed in 1992 to Cambodia," he said.

Mr Tudravu said the figures reflected progress, but more work was needed to ensure fair treatment for women across the force.