New Zealand’s Policing Efforts in the Pacific: Gender Programs, Practices, and Performances

• Author: Rochelle Stewart-Withers,Bethan K. Greener
• Published date: 01 August 2022
• Date: 01 August 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10439862221096959

https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862221096959

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2022, Vol. 38(3) 346 –363

© The Author(s) 2022

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DOI: 10.1177/10439862221096959

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Article

New Zealand’s Policing

Efforts in the Pacific: Gender

Programs, Practices, and

Performances

Rochelle Stewart-Withers1

and Bethan K. Greener1

Abstract

Research increasingly identifies gender equality as being vital for the achievement of

lasting peace and prosperity. New Zealand Police have delivered a range of capacity-

building projects and programs in Pacific Island countries over many years. In this

article, we examine the gendered impact of two such programs and consider how

they have been delivered by New Zealand’s police officers. Although specific gender-

focused programs helpfully prioritize gender, they can also unhelpfully create silos;

however, gender-focused programs are likely to be most impactful when combined

with certain practices and performances of gender. Drawing on observational research,

we suggest that some male police personnel operating in communities may have

significant gendered impacts by role modeling a form of “caring masculinities.” The

demonstration of caring values by men potentially constitutes a vital contribution

toward achieving deeper and broader structural change in the gender space. Practices

and performances of gender should be elevated and evaluated alongside targeted

program goals.

Keywords

caring masculinities, gender equality, Pacific region, policing, New Zealand, Solomon

Islands

1Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Corresponding Author:

Bethan K. Greener, Politics and International Relations Programme, School of People, Environment and

Planning, SST Level 3, Massey University, Private Bag 102904, Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Email: b.greener@massey.ac.nz

1096959CCJXXX10.1177/10439862221096959Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeStewart-Withers and Greener

research-article2022

Stewart-Withers and Greener 347

Introduction

In alignment with United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1325 and the

global trend of gender mainstreaming (Moser & Moser, 2005), government agencies

have designed and implemented numerous programs targeted at gender equality and

women’s empowerment in Global South police forces. Many of these programs have

been successful in achieving lower level outputs such as improving the proportions of

women accessing training and development opportunities; however, they have fallen

short of securing the kind of transformational change that is required to disrupt cul-

tural and institutional norms that act to disempower and harm women both inside and

outside of police services. “Adding women and stirring” (Westendorf, 2013) is now

known to be no substitute for the deep engagement that is necessary to effect behavior

change. Identifying which types of gendered performances and practices successfully

support the aim of gender equality programs is vital, as research increasingly empha-

sizes the significance of gender equality for achieving the goals of sustainable devel-

opment and lasting peace (Paffenholz et al., 2016).

Drawing on document analysis, fieldwork, and experiences of living and working

in the Pacific (including with Pacific Police Services), this article examines the gen-

dered impact of two policing programs and considers the way in which they have been

delivered by New Zealand police officers. Some important contributions have come

from expressly gender-related efforts undertaken to tackle issues like gender-based

violence. However, this article also suggests that it is certain performances of gender,

certain practices, that can also buttress the efforts of gender-specific programs. For

example, despite expressed suggestions from (mostly male) community policing per-

sonnel operating in Solomon Islands that really it was the Australians that were “doing

gender,” as flagged by their more explicit program goals, it became clear to the authors

that the New Zealand officers were themselves also “doing gender”—albeit not in

such an overt or measurable manner. Observations and interviews in country clearly

indicated that some important form of gendered performance was underway. The

authors suggest that the idea of “caring masculinities” best makes sense of the form of

gendered behavior in play. This article explains the concept of caring masculinities

before discussing the specifics of two major policing programs and arguing that cer-

tain performances and practices deserve the same sort of attention currently reserved

for gender equality programs.

Literature Review

In this section, we begin by explaining what is meant by caring masculinities and

practices of care before providing a brief overview of the gender and policing land-

scape, the New Zealand context, and gender and policing in the Pacific.

Masculinities

Since the 1970s, women’s relationships with—and in—development have received

enormous theoretical, policy, and practice critique. Subsequently, a shift has occurred