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In Departments Where Specialist Police Work Is Undertaken, It Was Reported ...

In departments where specialist police work is undertaken, it was reported that women were not proportionally represented. In some departments for specialist work, women were completely absent. One study found that women police officers were often deployed to tasks such as working closely with rape or sexual assault victims, or working in a communications capacity. They tended not to be assigned to tasks which were considered high profile, prestigious, or requiring a high degree of physical strength. When examining the way in which female officers are deployed throughout the task force, there are many examples of blatant breaches of equal opportunities policies. In addition to this, many of the studies have uncovered a significant problem with sexual harassment, with most women uncomfortable with using the procedures set in place to report such behaviour. Female officers also speak of widespread discrimination with regard to moving up the career ladder, which tasks they were assigned to and even with regard to accessing the benefits owed to them.
While the issue of physicality in policing is discussed below, other stereotypical attitudes which prevent women from playing a bigger part in police work are often difficult to name or pinpoint, but are major factors in preventing the full integration of women. Generally, these stereotypes stem from the idea that police work is more a masculine profession than a feminine one. The male culture of police work, though not completely prohibitive, is a significant deterrent in keeping women at bay.

The Physicality of Policing
One of the themes associated with the cult of masculinity that deserves specific treatment in this discussion is embodiment. There has been a significant amount of research recently into the way that the physical bodies of men and women officers affect the way that they perform their duties and lend themselves to certain types of work. At its worst, this phenomenon can be used to prevent women from performing certain tasks, keeping them from gaining the range of professional experience needed to advance in their profession. Women are given low-status tasks to perform in order to keep them safe, because their bodies seem to prevent them from taking on dangerous or physically strenuous tasks. Thus, women can be excluded from the ‘real' work of policing simply because they do not carry a male form. When they are treated as subordinates because of their bodies, women may begin to internalise this treatment and doubt themselves and their bodies. They may start to lose faith in their abilities to accomplish difficult tasks and accept the false security offered by mundane work. If women are asked to perform high profile or strenuous acts, they are often hesitant because of self-doubt or lack of practise, and can perform at a lower level than they are capable of.


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