Often they are also unable to engage in productive economic activities and, along with their dependent children, elderly or sick under their care, subsequently suffer from abject poverty and deprivation (Chapter 3). Marginalized by their community, some women support polygamy in the often-vain hope that it will offer protection for themselves and their children (Chapter 7). Recruitment practices often fail to reach out to pools of qualified and interested female candidates, as is demonstrated by strikingly low rates of female participation within many of the institutions of the security sector, including the police services and armed forces. Even when women do gain access, they face considerable difficulties in coping with discrimination, harassment and violence, all of which pose formidable barriers to women’s retention and promotion.