“Police Sexual Violence: A Study of Policewomen as Victims”

Abstract

Police sexual violence (PSV) is an understudied but critically important topic in police research. This paper uncovers and examines an extremely hidden form of PSV: sexual assaults of female police officers by male police officers. Our qualitative analysis reveals how male police officers of widely varying ranks and years of experience sexually assault female police officers. Victims reported that the number of male police officers who sexually assault female police officers is small; however, victims reported that these officers are often serial offenders who also assault professional staff and citizens. Victims identified available investigative processes and reporting protocols, but they were afraid to report incidents due to concerns about potential retaliation from administrators and co-workers, limited career advancement or termination, being negatively viewed by co-workers, and simply not being believed. Victims believed that certain hypermasculine aspects of their agency and profession's culture allowed acts of PSV to happen, go unreported, and re-occur. We make several recommendations for how police administrators can address and prevent PSV in their agencies.

Keywords

police sexual violence culture hypermasculinity

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Archbold

C. A.

Schulz

D. M.

(2008). Making rank: The lingering effects of tokenism on female police officers’ promotion aspirations. Police Quarterly, 11(1), 50–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611107309628

Astor

(2020 October 22). Addressing systemic racism, Kristen Walker asks the candidates about 'The Talk. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/us/politics/the-talk-race-america.html (Retrieved October 24, 2020).

Basile

K. C.

DeGue

Jones

Freire

Dills

Smith

S. G.

Raiford

J. L.

(2016). STOP SV: A technical package to prevent sexual violence. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Beal

F. M.

(1970). Double jeopardy: To be Black and female. In Cade

(Ed.), The Black woman: An anthology (pp. 90–100). Signet.

Berdahl

J. L.

Moore

(2006). Workplace harassment: double jeopardy for minority women. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(2), 426.

Berg

B. L.

(2007). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (6th ed.). Allyn & Bacon.

Blue Courage . (2021, August 18). Retrieved from https://www.bluecourage.com/.

Buchanan

N. T.

Settles

I. H.

Woods

K. C.

(2008). Comparing sexual harassment subtypes among black and white women by military rank: Double jeopardy, the jezebel, and the cult of true womanhood. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32(4), 347–361.

Buchanan

N. T.

West

C. M.

(2010). Sexual harassment in the lives of women of color. In Landrine

Russo

N. F.

(Eds.), Handbook of diversity in feminist psychology (pp. 449–476). Springer Publishing Company.)

10.

Cantor

Fisher

Chibnall

S. H.

Townsend

Lee

Thomas

Bruce

(2015). Report on the AAU campus climate survey on sexual assault and sexual misconduct.

11.

Chaiyavej

Morash

(2008). Dynamics of sexual harassment for policewomen working alongside men. Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, 31(3), 485–498. https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510810895821

12.

Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics . (2017). National Crime Victimization Survey, 2010–2016.

13.

Franklin

C. A.

(2005). Male peer support and the police culture: Understanding the resistance and opposition of women in policing. Women & Criminal Justice, 16(3), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1300/j012v16n03_01

14.

Gripp

C. A.

Zaluar

A. M.

(2017). Police and gendered labor performances: hypermasculinity and policing as a masculine function. Vibrant: Virtual Brazilian Anthropology, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-43412017v14n2p037

15.

Higgins

(1951). Historical Background of Policewomen’s Service. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (1931-1951), 41(6), 822.

16.

Johnson

T. P.

(2005). Snowball sampling. Encyclopedia of Biostatistics, 7. https://doi.org/10.1002/0470011815.b2a16070

17.

Kraska

P. B.

Kappeler

V. E.

(1995). To serve and pursue: Exploring police sexual violence against women. Justice Quarterly, 12(1), 85–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/07418829500092581

18.

Kurtz

D. L.

Linnemann

Williams

L. S.

(2012). Reinventing the matron: The continued importance of gendered images and division of labor in modern policing. Women & Criminal Justice, 22(3), 239–263. https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2012.687966

19.

Lee-Sammons

(1996). From social worker to crime fighter: Women in United States municipal policing.

20.

Lonsway

K. A.

Paynich

Hall

J. N.

(2013). Sexual harassment in law enforcement: incidence, impact, and perception. Police Quarterly, 16(2), 177–210. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611113475630

21.

Maher

T. M.

(2008). Police chiefs’ views on police sexual misconduct. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, 9(3), 239–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614260701797504

22.

Maher

T. M.

(2010). Police sexual misconduct: Female police officers’ views regarding its nature and extent. Women & Criminal Justice, 20(3), 263–282. https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2010.490480

23.

Morash

Haarr

R. N.

(2012). Doing, redoing, and undoing gender: Variation in gender identities of women working as police officers. Feminist Criminology, 7(1), 3–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/1557085111413253

24.

Pogrebin

Dodge

Chatman

(2000). Reflections of African-American women on their careers in urban policing. Their experiences of racial and sexual discrimination. international Journal of the Sociology of Law, 28(4), 311–326. https://doi.org/10.1006/ijsl.2000.0131

25.

Prokos

Padavic

(2002). ‘There oughtta be a law against bitches’: Masculinity lessons in police academy training. Gender, Work & Organization, 9(4), 439–459. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0432.00168

26.

Rabe-Hemp

C. E.

(2008). Female officers and the ethic of care: Does officer gender impact police behaviors? Journal of Criminal Justice, 36(5), 426–434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2008.07.001

27.

Rabe-Hemp

C. E.

Braithwaite

(2013). An exploration of recidivism and the officer shuffle in police sexual violence. Police Quarterly, 16(2), 127–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611112464964

28.

Reaves

B. A.

(2015). Local police departments, 2013: Personnel, policies, and practices. NCJ, 248677, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah26264

29.

Reiner

(1992). Policing a postmodern society. The Modern Law Review, 55(6), 761–781. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1992.tb00940.x

30.

Schulz

D. M.

(1989). The police matron movement: Paving the way for policewomen. Police Stud.: Int'l Rev. Police Dev, 12, 115.

31.

Seklecki

Paynich

(2007). A national survey of female police officers: An overview of findings. Police Practice and Research, 8(1), 17–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/15614260701217941

32.

Sharma

(2017). Pros and cons of different sampling techniques. International Journal of Applied Research, 3(7), 749–752.

33.

Shelley

T. O. C.

Morabito

M. S.

Tobin-Gurley

(2011). Gendered institutions and gender roles: Understanding the experiences of women in policing. Criminal Justice Studies, 24(4), 351–367. https://doi.org/10.1080/1478601x.2011.625698

34.

Shjarback

J. A.

Todak

(2019). The prevalence of female representation in supervisory and management positions in American law enforcement: An examination of organizational correlates. Women & Criminal Justice, 29(3), 129–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2018.1520674

35.

Silverman

(2013). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. Sage.

36.

Spencer

Mallory

Toews

Stith

Wood

(2017). Why sexual assault survivors do not report to universities: A feminist analysis. Family Relations, 66(1), 166–179.

37.

Stinson

P. M.

Sr Brewer

S. L.

Jr Mathna

B. E.

Liederbach

Englebrecht

C. M.

(2015). Police sexual misconduct: Arrested officers and their victims. Victims & Offenders, 10(2), 117–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564886.2014.939798

38.

Stinson

P. M.

Sr Liederbach

Brewer

S. L.

Jr Mathna

B. E.

(2015). Police sexual misconduct: A national scale study of arrested officers. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 26(7), 665–690. https://doi.org/10.1177/0887403414526231

39.

Stinson

P. M.

Taylor

R. W.

Liederbach

(2020). The situational context of police sexual violence: Data and policy implications. Family & Intimate Partner Violence Quarterly, 59.

40.

Taylor

B. G.

Maitra

Mumford

Liu

(2020). Sexual harassment of law enforcement officers: Findings from a nationally representative survey. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520978180

41.

Tinkler

J. E.

Zhao

(2020). The sexual harassment of federal employees: Gender, leadership status, and organizational tolerance for abuses of power. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 30(3), 349–364. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muz037

42.

Todak

Brown

(2019). Policewomen of color: A state-of-the-art review. Policing, 42(6), 1052–1062. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm-07-2019-0111

43.

Weisgram

E. S.

Bigler

R. S.

Liben

L. S.

(2010). Gender, values, and occupational interests among children, adolescents, and adults. Child Development, 81(3), 778–796. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01433.x