Policewomen

AuthorGeorge Kurian
Pages64-65

Page 64

Historically, policing, like the military, is a male occupation. For the most part, it remains so. If women have been admitted to police forces in almost all countries, it is because of societal changes rather than a change of heart among professional leaders. In most Western countries, women were initially admitted to the force only in a token fashion. Even where they were integrated into the police force, they were restricted to certain levels of employment and categories of work. Even in advanced countries, the percentage of women in the upper echelons of the police force remains low. In a number of developing countries, there are no women at all outside of clerical or dispatcher positions. Gender discrimination in policing is particularly prevalent in Africa, especially when placing women in positions of authority over men.

Nevertheless, there continues to be incremental progress throughout the world in the employment of women in police forces. The catalyst for change was the women's movement that occurred in Western countries. In addition, many social reformers argued that women could provide a humanizing influence on police forces, and that the inclusion of women would change for the better not only the professional aspects of the force but also its culture.

The admission of women into policing was also the result of labor shortages in Western countries beginning in the early twentieth century. Hiring women to do clerical work freed male officers to patrol the beat and chase criminals. The growth in the number of women criminals also necessitated the presence of women officers who could be trusted to frisk them or undertake other sensitive tasks. In fact, in many European countries, the first policewomen were employed in what were known as morals squads, that is, units devoted to fighting prostitution and enforcing decency laws applying to clothing. The first policewomen in New Zealand were employed as matrons to deal with lost children. Women were recruited in larger numbers during World War I (1914–1918) because men were away at the front and there was a need to fill vacancies at home. There was initial opposition from policemen to the employment of women, and after the war ended the recruitment of women slowed.

Some of these experiments in hiring women police extended to the colonial countries during and after World War II (1939–1945). The first policewoman was hired in India around 1947, after independence. In Japan...

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