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Women and policing in the South Pacific: a pathway towards gender-inclusive organizational reform

Bull, Melissa and Watson, Danielle and Amin, Sara N. and Carrington, Kerry (2020) Women and policing in the South Pacific: a pathway towards gender-inclusive organizational reform. Police Practice and Research, 2020 S . pp. 1-20. ISSN 1561-4263

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Abstract

Scholars have been critical of the gender-biased nature of policing, and its effects on service delivery. They highlight how law enforcement is male-dominated, and how this impacts negatively on women as offenders and victims of crime. Such criticisms have mobilised international and national institutional support for more gender equitable representation in policing agencies. A growing body of research has addressed the impact of increasing the numbers of women police, and how this might lead to more sympathetic and less gender prejudicial policing. This paper reports on a study commissioned by the Tuvalu Police Service that explored public perceptions of service delivery. Our analysis spotlights perceptions about women in policing, attitudes in relation to preferred officer-gender in calls for service and views on increasing the number of women employed as police. The findings identified clear support for increasing the number of women police, but ambiguous sentiments in relation to the types of roles female officers could perform. Closer analysis of qualitative data, however, revealed an appreciation of the strengths of women police who, in a context characterised by regulatory pluralism, were able to address the needs of female victims and offenders in ways that male officers could not.

Item Type: Journal Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Pacific policing, women in policing, gender orientations, gender inclusivity, Tuvalu
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions: Faculty of Arts, Law and Education (FALE) > School of Social Sciences
Depositing User: Sara Amin
Date Deposited: 15 Nov 2020 04:40
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2020 04:40
URI: http://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/12393
UNSPECIFIED

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