Many of you have or may be experiencing targeted gender harassment. Women in policing have been around for 100 years and yet there continues to be this problem of ‘the old boys club’. There are thousands of dedicated women in policing who want to be treated with dignity and respect. The article provides the research and confirms everything I have been speaking about for the last 20 years. The problems with misogyny, bullying of anyone who does not conform to the workplace culture, the competition between women for survival in the workplace and the stress, trauma the victims suffer. There are many officers who suffer and continue to suffer in a toxic work environment. This is 2016 and we expect, all officers, from every country be allowed a safe workplace.
“”Despite unprecedented
ed numbers of women, the “old boys’ club is still alive and well in Canadian policing, says a former London officer studying the conditions women face on the thin blue line. Across Canada, police forces still espouse a hyper-masculine culture that plays out in policy, promotions, sexual jokes and innuendo, and leads to a dog-eat-dog mentality among women officers, says PhD candidate Lesley Bikos. Bikos interviewed 15 women from five Southwestern Ontario police services as part of her just-published research on women in policing. The paramilitary-like environment demands loyalty and discourages dissent, creating a “toxic environment” that can affect on-the-ground policing, she says.”
“I truly believe if we can improve the culture and the environment police officers are working in, it’s going to trickle down to the public.”
When no one says anything then nothing changes. It is important for all officers to realize the benefits of a respectful workplace free from bullying and violence.
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/growing-number-of-women-on-canadian-police-forces-no-match-for-old-boys-club-researcher-finds