Policewomen’s Perceptions of Gender Equity Policies and Initiatives in Australia

• Author: Kate Huppatz,Kathy Newton
• Date: 01 December 2020
• Published date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: 10.1177/1557085120937060
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085120937060

Feminist Criminology

2020, Vol. 15(5) 593 –610

© The Author(s) 2020

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DOI: 10.1177/1557085120937060

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Article

Policewomen’s Perceptions

of Gender Equity Policies and

Initiatives in Australia

Kathy Newton1 and Kate Huppatz2

Abstract

This paper explores policewomen’s perceptions of Equal Employment Opportunity

(EEO) initiatives including breastfeeding rooms, part-time and flexible work

arrangements, and gender quotas. Drawing on interviews with 18 Australian

policewomen, our analysis reveals that while policewomen recognize that good

initiatives and policies exist, when workers attempt to access them, they are often

met with resistance and resentment. Policewomen express concerns about quotas,

fearing that they might translate to a loss of respect and credibility for women

workers. Our research aims to create a more nuanced understanding of how EEO

policies are practiced within policing and considers possibilities for future policies.

Keywords

policewomen, policing, gender equality policies, breastfeeding rooms, quotas,

organizations, part-time work

Policewomen are now employed in all aspects of policing in Australia (Prenzler, 2015;

Prenzler et al., 2010). Australia has eight police organizations, and as of June 2018, the

percentage of policewomen in Australia ranged from 23.5% in the Queensland Police

Service (Queensland Police Service, 2018) and the Australian Federal Police

(Australian Federal Police, 2018) to 32% in the Tasmania Police (Department of

Police, Fire and Emergency Management, 2018). Policing continues to be masculin-

ized, in that it is typically seen as dangerous and physical work and therefore aligned

with men’s bodies, however, policewomen have gradually achieved greater horizontal

1School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University, Penrith South, New South Wales, Australia

2Western Sydney University, Penrith South, New South Wales, Australia

Corresponding Author:

Kathy Newton, School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University, Second Avenue, Kingswood,

Penrith South, New South Wales 2751, Australia.

Email: k.newton@westernsydney.edu.au

937060FCXXXX10.1177/1557085120937060Feminist CriminologyNewton and Huppatz

research-article2020

594 Feminist Criminology 15(5)

representation right across the varied divisions and duties (Prenzler et al., 2010).

Nevertheless, there are still areas of policing that have become feminized due to their

association with caring, and it is policewomen who mostly occupy these positions.

Women’s vertical representation, that is, promotion to senior and executive ranks, has

been slower to achieve (Prenzler et al., 2010; Prenzler & Sinclair, 2013).

In 2015, the first centennial anniversaries for women in policing were commemo-

rated in the states of New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia (SA), and then in

2017 for Victoria (VIC), Tasmania (TAS) and Western Australia (WA). These land-

marks were honored with much fanfare and media publicity, giving the impression that

policewomen, after a long history of gender discrimination, had finally achieved

equality (Rabe-Hemp, 2008; Silvestri, 2015). However, concurrent with these celebra-

tions, independent reviews into gender equity and sexual harassment were being con-

ducted in the Victoria Police (VicPOL), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and South

Australian Police (SAPOL). Despite well-established Equal Employment Opportunity

(EEO) policies and initiatives already existing in these organizations, the results

revealed discrimination and high levels of sexual harassment (Broderick, 2016;

Government of South Australia Equal Opportunity Commission, 2016; Victorian

Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC), 2015). Consequently,

new reforms are being implemented that aim to reduce inequality by enhancing oppor-

tunities for promotion and making part-time work and flexible arrangements more

accessible. These reforms include the introduction of gender quotas for certain posi-

tions whereby a percentage of the posts are allocated to women.

This paper makes use of new empirical research to examine policewomen’s percep-

tions of three different EEO policies and initiatives: breastfeeding rooms in police

stations, access to part-time and flexible work, and the use of gender quotas to ensure

better representation of women in senior positions. These three policies and initiatives

form the focus of this paper as policewomen emphasized their significance when par-

ticipating in a broader study on motherhood and policing careers. Although there is

limited literature on policewomen and pregnancy (see, Cowan & Bochantin, 2009;

Kruger, 2007; Langan et al., 2017, 2019) no research has yet explored the experiences

of policewomen who are still breastfeeding when they return from maternity leave. As

far as we are aware, this article is the first to investigate whether the introduction of

breastfeeding rooms in police stations has been helpful for lactating policewomen.

The paper also adds to existing scholarship on the experiences of policewomen who

access part-time or flexible work arrangements. Finally, the article provides a platform

for policewomen’s views on gender quotas in their workplaces.

Introduction of Equal Employment Opportunities Policies

in Australia

In the 1960s and 1970s laws preventing sex discrimination were enacted across the

states and the Commonwealth of Australia. However, police organizations tended to

ignore the legislation at this time (Prenzler, 2015). This is probably not surprising,

considering that the occupational culture of policing has always had a strong emphasis