International Women's Day 2021: IPS officers on what empowerment means and their advice

They are dedicated, they are fearless and they are unstoppable. We are describing the IPS officers of Bengaluru city who work tirelessly on the frontlines and round the clock to maintain law and order. 

Not only have they won several accolades and awards but have battled every possible stereotype coming their way. 

On this International Women's Day, International Business Times, India decided to take the celebration up a notch. In an exclusive conversation with IBTimes, India, top IPS officers of the city defined what women empowerment is. Not just that, they also shared a piece of inspirational advice for aspiring women out there who are ready to run the world. 

Dr Rohini Katoch Sepat, IPS

On Women Empowerment

Woman empowerment according to me is the power of every woman to have a choice. It's her choice to wear what she wants. Study what she wants. Basically her choice to live her life the way she wants to.

There is a notion that women need to be protected and guarded. But that's not how it should be.
It has to be her choice and that's the biggest gift we can give a woman in this country or in the world because unfortunately that is not happening and somebody else is deciding for her.
Women should be confident enough to exercise their own choices.

Golden advice:

It is our life, our dream and our aspirations and we should work hard to achieve them, they may appear ridiculous to other people but that shouldn't matter because it's our dream. God has given us an opportunity and sent us on earth, so we should utilize this opportunity and contribute to society

Isha Pant, IPS 

On Women Empowerment 

Women empowerment is the ability for women to make decisions on their own, it should not be reduced to tokenism, many times we see women are employed for the sake of it. There is one woman among 20 employees and that's it.

This is the kind of tokenism we don't need and we should not be there as mere statistics, but we should be there because we deserve to be there, and that we ought to be there! So this kind of tokenism does more harm than good. Women should take a call for themselves.

Golden advice

I want to tell women to not fall prey to stereotypes and prejudices that are prevalent in society. What women can or cannot do should not be determined by society but by what we think of ourselves. We if we let these stereotypes limit us, we can't achieve our full potential. So we need to think independently. For that, we need to have more women in positions of power so they can serve as mentors to younger women.

Aim big! Dream big! Achieve big!

Nisha James, IPS 

Women's empowerment for me stands for choice, freedom, liberty. Basically, a woman's life generally is tied up in so many directions, by regulations, instructions from every corner! Every person in their life is directing them in some way or another. So for me, women's empowerment is women making their own choices, having that opportunity in life. That's a privilege that most do not get.

Golden advice 

I believe that we shouldn't be bound by anybody's preferences or value-laden choices in society, where some things are more valuable than others. We all have one life to lead, and we should make it count for ourselves! So whatever we feel gives us the maximum satisfaction is the path that we must pursue.

Radhika G, IPS 

Women should be able to stand on their own feet, independently, without any financial dependencies and for this women should have good education and employment. Once they have these they will be able to overcome any problem efficiently and be free from exploitation, inside or outside.

So education and employment are the two main things I want every woman to have then they can also make independent financial decisions and even bring up their children.

Woman empowerment is all about women supporting each other, most exploitation that happens to women is by women themselves. Sensitization about women's issue is of utmost importance. And we women should stand up for each other.

Golden advice: 

I would welcome all women aspiring to join our department, that it's a fantastic department to work in. Whether it is handling law and order or detecting a crime and particularly doing good for the society and attending to the vulnerable section, there is no other department that gives a platform to do this kind of service for the benefit of the society.

International Business Times, India wishes its readers a very Happy Women's Day!