As Thailand under the military-sponsored constitution will become a more democratically regressive state after the general election next year than it was prior to the 2014 coup, the Royal Thai Police (RTP) this week came up with -- or were forced to come up with -- what can only be described as a backwards policy.
The Royal Police Cadet Academy (RPCA) will ban women from enrolling starting next year. This is a retrograde and sexist move that will bring the police force back to the bad old days of operating deep within a patriarchal system.
As the media, women's rights' groups and even members of the public are questioning the merits of the policy, both the RTP and its academy had until yesterday remained tight-lipped on the issue.
National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda finally broke the silence yesterday, broadly describing the move as the result of a resolution by the Ministry of Defence. This requires that "all" RPCA cadets receive pre-training at the military's Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School (AFAPS). He said the police had to accept and follow the new rule.
Under the previous RPCA enrolment regulations, male candidates were required to at least have graduated from Grade 10 (Matthayom 4). They were compelled to spend their first two years at AFAPS before moving on to the RPCA for another four academic years.
Female candidates must have graduated from Grade 12, after which they can enrol immediately in the RPCA's four-year training because the AFAPS does not accept women.
It remains unclear whether the rule change has come about as a result of the military's direct intervention, or whether the RTP decided unilaterally to make the switch. Regardless, the move cannot be considered a positive one.
The RPCA started to admit female candidates in 2009. It has since churned out around 700 female officers. Women now make up 8% of the nation's 230,000-strong police force.
Female officers are also recruited from other channels; for example, female law degree holders can still be recruited as investigators.
Such personnel have proven themselves a highly effective part of the workforce when it comes to handling sensitive cases involving sexual assaults, rape and domestic violence meted out against women and children. However, even as the police force becomes more diverse in terms of gender, there is still a shortage of policewomen to handle such cases.
Earlier this year the RTP came up with a similar policy by prohibiting women from applying for roles as "inquiry officials" based on the anachronistic belief that they are handicapped by family duties and are therefore less effective than their male counterparts.
The RTP still needs to open more opportunities for women, and they should not be barred from roles typically dominated by men.
With fewer policewomen, victims of sexual assaults are less likely to seek justice due to their reluctance to deal with male officers. Moreover, it means more women will have to be searched and arrested by male rather than female officers.
Generally speaking, Thailand has seen progress made in terms of gender equality in the workplace, with 45% of the workforce now comprised of women. They pay the same taxes as men, so why should they be stripped of the right to be meaningfully represented in the police force?
The ban on enrolling women at the RPCA also contravenes the 2015 Gender Equality Act, not to mention the principles of the constitution and the government's 20-year national strategy.
Both the RTP and/or Defence Ministry need to kill this sexist enrolment policy. The RTP is a public agency funded by taxpayers, about half of whom are women. It cannot adopt, or be forced to adopt, a policy that disrespects women's contributions in this way any longer.