Developing a Gender-Responsive Policing Framework for the Nigeria Police Force in South West Nigeria

Gender-responsive policing requires institutional reform that addresses both the under-representation of women within the police and the inadequacy of police responses to gender-based crimes including domestic violence, sexual assault, and female trafficking. This study developed a gender-responsive policing framework for NPF commands in Ogun, Osun, and Ekiti States, South West Nigeria. A professional framework development methodology was employed, drawing on structured interviews with 20 senior NPF officers (including female officers at inspector level and above), 10 gender-based violence service providers, and 8 women's rights advocates across the three states, alongside benchmarking of UNPOL gender-responsive policing standards and South African SAPS gender policy models. The assessment confirmed that female officers constituted fewer than 18 percent of the total in all three assessed commands, gender-responsive investigation training was absent, Family Support Units lacked dedicated female investigators and private interview spaces, and victim referral pathways to legal and psychological support were undocumented. The framework developed encompasses officer recruitment equity targets, mandatory gender-responsive investigation training, Family Support Unit resourcing standards, victim referral pathway formalisation, and gender compliance monitoring within the State Police Command accountability structure. Expert review by ten gender justice and policing specialists confirmed the framework's operational coherence. The study recommends adoption by the Nigeria Police Service Commission as a minimum standard for state police commands.

Keywords: gender-responsive policing, Nigeria Police Force, gender-based violence, South West Nigeria, police reform