To coincide with Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day on March 8th, 2024, here at the UWE Policing Blog we want to recognise inspirational women, past and present, who have played a role in shaping the police as an organisation and in practice. We then ask the question how we can build on the work of these amazing women as we face the future, trying to forge a police force that works to protect our complex society.
Police pioneers
Women had been contributing to policing for many years before their roles were formally recognised in 1914, when the Women’s Police Volunteers Organisation was established. As early as 1883 women had been working as ‘police matrons’ in the custody environment, searching female and child offenders (British Association of Women in Policing, 2024).
The UK’s first female police constable was Edith Smith, who joined Grantham Police (now Lincolnshire) in 1915. She joined one year before the Police Act 1916 made it possible for women to join the police as Police Constables and three years before women achieved the vote in 1918. Edith had full powers of arrest in her role and was described by peers as “of outstanding personality, fearless, motherly and adaptable” (Jackson, 2014).
Several more female pioneers joined the police in the following years, and in 1920 the Baird Committee review of policing finally recommended women become an integral part of the police force (BAWP, 2024). This promising start nearly floundered in 1922, however, when Sir Edward Shortt (then Home Secretary) proposed the complete abolition of women police officers in the Metropolitan Police. His defeat is owed in no small part to another inspirational woman, Nancy Astor, Britain’s first female Member of Parliament. A vocal supporter of women’s rights, she worked hard to encourage women to play a greater role in civic life, including taking employment in the civil service, police and politics (Newton, 2020).
Locally, Bristol has a proud heritage in promoting women in policing. Originally set up as a voluntary organisation in 1915 under the National Union of Women Workers (Byrne, 2014), in 1921 this initiative became the Bristol Training School for Police Women and Patrols. It was led by another female police pioneer, Dorothy Peto, who became the Metropolitan Police’s first female Superintendent (BAWP, 2024).
By 1949 the number of female police officers had risen to 1148 (BAWP, 2024). More firsts were to follow. In 1969, Sislin Fay Allen became the first black female officer in the Metropolitan Police. Her achievement is even more remarkable because this was six years before the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 which finally brought structural parity to women and men in policing and ended the separate rank structures (BAWP, 2024). Locally, Avon and Somerset’s first Black female officer is Adora Pomphrey, who joined in 1980 aged 19. Adora has spoken freely of the challenges she faced, both within and without, and how important it was that women like her created opportunities for others who followed (BBC, 2023).
These pioneering women opened up the police service in a way never seen before. Their contribution can be directly traced to developments such as the first ever female Chief Constable in 1995, Pauline Clare of Lancashire Police. Along the way, other remarkable women shone a light on structural inequalities facing women, such as Alison Halford, the Assistant Chief of Merseyside Police, whose book No Way Up the Greasy Pole (Halford, 1993) asked some searching questions about how the police service treated female officers in comparison to men. They have all contributed towards changes in the way women are recruited and valued within the police. Today, there are 51,210 female officers in the police forces of England and Wales, accounting for 34.7% of officers overall and around 30% of senior leadership positions (Home Office, 2023). Although there is still much to do, this s a phenomenal growth in a little over 100 years and has only been possible because of the bravery of those early pioneers.
Halford was also a pioneer in the development of how police handled violence towards women. She was instrumental in developing training strategies for interviewing abused women and children (BAWP, 2024). If we look at the developments in how we tackle violence against women and children today, it is notable how many incredible women have devoted their lives to this cause. Women advocating for women less fortunate themselves is a powerful display of solidarity.
Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls in the 21st Century
At higher levels we have women like Dame Vera Baird (QC, DBE), former Victim’s Commissioner. She has a long history of supporting women, such as fighting against pregnancy discrimination in 1987 (Brown v Stockton on Tees Borough Council), and she was heavily involved in pushing the Equalities Act 2010 through Parliament. She recognised the link between female inequality and violence. She was awarded her DBE for services to women and equality and continues to fight for victims’ rights.
Then we have women like Fiona Mackenzie MBE founder of We Can’t Consent to This, who established her campaign in response to more than 60 cases where women had been killed and the perpetrators had claimed the ‘rough sex defence’ – cases such as the death of Natalie Connelly, who sustained more than 40 injuries indicating an extreme level of violence. Campaigns such as We Can’t Consent to This have been hugely influential in the development and introduction of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, which has removed this defence.
Sadly, many of these campaigns have their origins in personal experience of suffering and loss. These grass roots campaigns are truly humbling, and it is testimony to the bravery of these women that they have sought to turn their experiences into a force for change. Women such as Carol Quinn whose daughter and grandchildren were killed by her son-in-law and who is petitioning against the parole board decision for open prison. Women such as Rachel Williams, who survived being shot by her husband in 2011 and hosted the first survivor-led domestic abuse conference in South Wales in 2019 (STUDA, 2024). Women like Elaine Newborough, Julie Devey and Carole Gould, whose daughters were killed by partners or ex-partners in knife attacks, who are campaigning for increased sentencing powers (Killed Women, 2024). Or Fiona Drouet whose daughter Emily took her own life after being subjected to a campaign of abuse and violence from her boyfriend at university. Fiona has developed the Emily Test, a Gender-based Violence Charter (GBV) for colleges and universities, that provides a framework of minimum standards in the prevention and intervention of GBV.
More locally, at UWE we are trying to work with women who have personal experience to try to change the face of police education. We have our amazing survivor stories contributors at UWE, such as Sabrina Eason, who speaks to student police officers about what it’s really like to live with domestic abuse and how they can recognise the signs and help the women they meet in the course of their jobs. Chief Inspector Sharon Baker, of Avon and Somerset Police, regularly talks to our student officers about her own experiences as a victim of controlling and coercive behaviour and who has been instrumental in setting up an internal survivors’ group within the force. These dedicated women make an undeniable difference to victims of male violence, but it takes a society to create real change.
We are fortunate enough to have fantastic organisations run by passionate professionals and dedicated volunteers, who work tirelessly to support survivors. Charities and commissioned services such as Next Link and SARSAS make a life-changing – sometimes life-saving – contribution to women’s lives. We also have organisations such as Bristol Women’s Voice, who campaign to end the structural inequality for women that underlies so many of these crimes.
Other valuable organisations include The Nelson Trust, founded in 1985 by Mary and Roy Brash, who promote trauma-informed recovery services specifically for women. Their supportive approach to women who have travelled through the criminal justice system as offenders recognises that factors involved in female offending are often related to trauma. Approximately 60% of female prisoners are victims of domestic abuse (Ministry of Justice, 2018), while one case study showed 91% of female offenders have multiple needs such as mental ill health and substance abuse issues (Ministry of Justice, 2020). The evidence base shows that women who receive support are less likely to reoffend than women who are imprisoned. Even better would be to prevent the violence against women and girls that often underpins this trauma.
Despite all this dedication and good work, however, violence against women and girls remains a huge problem. Last week, ahead of IWD, Labour MP Jess Phillips used her time in the House of Commons to read out the names of women killed by men in the UK in the last 12 months. She has performed this grim task since 2016, based on the work of the UK Femicide Census (Femicide Census, 2024). It took her more than five minutes to read the full list of 98 named women (BBC News, 2024). More as-yet-unnamed women will be added to this tragic list.
So, as we head further into the future, it is incumbent on all of us working in criminal justice to ask ourselves how we can build on the hard work and progress of the amazing female pioneers who have gone before us. How can we make the criminal justice system a fairer system for all women in the future? A system that embraces their expertise, knowledge, skills that can and do contribute different approaches to policing. A system that protects women and girls, that is more informed about their vulnerability and works in a preventative and reductionist way. At UWE, we embrace the challenge and would like to shout out a huge thank you for all the amazing, inspirational women, at all levels, both past and present, who have made their own contribution to making the world a better place for women.
(Our thanks to this blog’s authors, Sarah Williams and Dr Anne Eason of the UWE Bristol Policing Programme).
References
Brown v Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council [1987] Civ J0320-10.
BBC (2023) Black women share insight into changing face of policing. BBC News [online] -08 January 2023. Available from: Black women share insight into changing face of policing – BBC News [Accessed 04 March 2024].
BBC (2024) MP Jess Phillips reads out list of women killed by men in past year. BBC News [online] 29 February 2024. Available from: MP Jess Phillips reads out list of women killed by men in past year – BBC News [Accessed 04 March 2024].
Bristol Women’s Voice (2024) Making Women’s Equality a Reality in Bristol [online] Available from: Bristol Women’s Voice (bristolwomensvoice.org.uk) [Accessed 04 March 2024].
British Association for Women in Policing (2024) History [online] Available from: Women in Policing History | BAWP – British Association for Women in Policing [Accessed 04 March 2024].
Byrne, E. (2014) Bristol’s War: Britain’s first Police Woman. Bristol 24/7 [online] 4 Nov 2014. Available from: Bristol’s War: Britain’s first policewoman (bristol247.com) [Accessed 03 March 2024].
Femicide Census (2024) About. Available from: About – Femicide Census [Accessed 04 March 2024].
Halford, A. (1993) No Way Up the Greasy Pole. Edinburgh: Constable.
Home Office (2023) Police Workforce England and Wales: 31 March 2023 [online] Available from: Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2023 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) [Accessed 07 March 2024].
Jackson, L.A. (2014) The First World War and the First Female Police Officer. Gov.UK [online] 17 June 2014. Available from: https://history.blog.gov.uk/2014/06/17/the-first-world-war-and-the-first-female-police-officer/ [Accessed 04 March 2024].
Killed Women (2024) Killed Women [online] available from: Killed Women [Accessed 04 March 2024].
Ministry of Justice (2018) A Whole System Approach for Female Offenders: Emerging Evidence [online] Available from: A Whole System Approach for Female Offenders – Emerging evidence (publishing.service.gov.uk) [Accessed 04 March 2024].
Ministry of Justice (2020) the Concordat on Women in or at risk of contact with the Criminal Justice System [online] Available from: The Concordat on Women in or at risk of contact with the Criminal Justice System (publishing.service.gov.uk) [Accessed 04 March 2024].
The Nelson Trust (2024) What We Do [online] Available from: What We Do | The Nelson Trust [Accessed 04 March 2024].
Newton, N. (2020) Nancy Astor: 100 years of women in Parliament. The National Archives [online] Available from: Nancy Astor: 100 years of women in Parliament – The National Archives blog [Accessed 04 March 2024].
Next Link (2024) Home [online] Available from: Home – Next Link (nextlinkhousing.co.uk) [Accessed 04 March 2024]
SARSAS (2024) Our work online] Available from: Our work | SARSAS [Accessed 04 March 2024].
Stand Up to Domestic Abuse (2024) SUTDA: Still We Rise [online] Available from: SUTDA | Stand up to Domestic Abuse [Accessed 04 March 2024].
We Can’t Consent to This (2024) We Can’t Consent To This [online] Available from: We Can’t Consent To This (wecantconsenttothis.uk) [Accessed 04 March 2024].
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Editorial Team
Paul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer); Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer) & Micah Hassell (Senior Lecturer).
If you would like to contribute as a guest blogger, please contact the team at Police.Blog@uwe.ac.uk