The Menopause And The Female Police Workforce
| Author | Dr Wendy Laverick, Peter Joyce, Dr Dave Calvey, Liz Cain |
| Pages | 59-81 |
59
British Journal of Community Justice
©2019 Manchester Metropolitan University
ISSN 1475-0279
Vol. 15(2) 59–81
THE MENOPAUSE AND THE FEMALE POLICE
WORKFORCE
Dr Wendy Laverick, Senior Lecturer in Criminology/Policing, The University of Hull; Peter
Joyce, Visiting Professor in Criminology, Glyndŵr University; Dr Dave Calvey, Senior
Lecturer in Sociology, Manchester Metropolitan University; Liz Cain, Senior Lecturer in
Sociology, Manchester Metropolitan University
Abstract
Drawing upon previously unpublished findings from a wider study that addressed the
impact of austerity and force change programmes upon the older female police workforce,
this paper presents secondary analysis of focus grou p data to address the equality impact
of such developments. The paper directs particular attention to additional challenges faced
by women experiencing the menopause and menopaus e transition. Focus groups were
undertaken between November 2012 and June 2013, across 14 force areas within England,
Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The findings rais e questions regarding the service’s
compliance with the legal obligations set out within the public sector general equality duty,
which requires organisations to consider how they could positively contribute to the
advancement of equality and remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by people due to
their protected characteristics. The paper concludes by arguing that it is necessary to
consider th e intersectionality of age and gender, and to further disaggregate (a nd make
publicly available) workforce data to take into account various subcategories of women and
men that make up the police workforce. Finally, the paper highlights the need to take into
account wider national and international gender equality policy when entering into ‘the
future of policing’ policy discussions, and within future policing equality and diversity
strategy.
Keywords
Female; police; menopause; women; equality
Laverick, Joyce, Calvey and Cain
60
Introduction
The UK government’s gender equality strategy (HM Government, 2019) addresses gender
equality in the workplace, ref lecting international action in this area taken by the United
Nations, OSCE, the Coun cil of Europe, the European Commission, and the European Union
(ACEOWM, 2018a; 2018b; 2018c). Collectively, this work seeks to facilitate equal access to
employment oppo rtunities and decision -making positions by ad dressing recruitment,
retention and progression within the workplace. It also addresses the gender pay and
pension gap between men and women, the reconciliation of work and family life, and sexual
harassment within th e workplace. Within the field of law enforcement, action towards
gender parity and the eradication of gender discrimination is also being pursued
internationally. Thus, as detailed by t he U.S. Department of Justice (2019), within the
policing context, action is being taken to secure the representativeness of women across
the various roles, ranks, specialist posts and leadership positions within forces (and across
the wider police family), with Australia, Canada and New Zealand credited for provi ding
positive examples in their action to ad dress barriers to female recruitment, retention and
progression (see also Manitoba, 2014).
Nevertheless, despite international prioritisation, gender equality within the workplace is
not guaranteed. As noted by ACEOWM (2018a:4), progress in the EU-28 remains slow, with
the rights of women and girls recently subject to challenge in Europe and elsewhere.
Moreover, addressing the policing context specifically, scholars of British policing observe
that historically, female recruitment and representation has been characterised by
fluctuation, with female officers, staff and volunteers often disproportionately impacted by
changes in recruitment and workforc e losses following periods of economic strain and in
response to service need (Jackson, 2006; Emsley, 2009; Joyce, 2011).
With this in mind, it is noteworthy that following the gov ernment’s 2010 Comprehensive
Spending Review, between March 2010 and March 2018 the total police workforce of
England and Wales shrank by around 18% (Joyce and Laverick, 2018). Neverthel ess, with
regard to gender equality, it is significant to note that while workforce reductions resulted
in an altered demographic profile, the cuts resulted in a higher proportion of female officers
(from 25.7% of the total on 31 March 2010 to 30% on 31 March 2019) (Home Office,
2010a:5; House of Commons, 2019:9). Consequently, while it has been argued that the
reductions in police expenditure remained ‘historically large’ and ‘potentially challenging’
‘for some forces’, it has also been suggested that they should not be regarded as excessive,
merely serving to correct the unprecedented ‘surge’ in police expenditure between 1979
and 2001 (Boyd et al., 2011:6). Moreover, it also seems that workforce reductions have
provided the opportunity for forces to (partially) redress the gender balance within their
police workforce.
However, while the increased proportion of female officers may initially suggest progress in
the area of gender equality within policing, the p resent paper advocates caution in coming
to this conclusion . The present paper offers instead a more nuanced interpretation ,
highlighting the need to remai n sensitive to variation and complexity when address ing the
subcategories that make up the female police workforce and the female experience within
the current policing context in England and Wales.
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