One in 12 police staff ‘told sex could mean better treatment’
SEXUAL harassment is rife in policing, with allegations of inappropriate touching, leering and pressuring of colleagues to have sex, new research suggests.
A survey of almost 1,800 police staff in Scotland, England and Wales found nearly half (49 per cent) had heard sexualised jokes, while about one in five had received a sexually explicit email or text from a colleague.
Four per cent said they had been pressured into having sex, while 8 per cent said they were told that sexual favours could result in preferential treatment.
Public services union Unison said research among staff including community support officers, crime scene investigators, clerks and detention officers found ‘high levels’ of sexual harassment.
A third of those surveyed had faced intrusive questioning about their private lives.
Christina McAnea, Unison’s assistant general secretary, said: ‘No member of police staff should feel intimidated, degraded or humiliated at work. Employees who witness or experience this abhorrent behaviour need reassurance they will be listened to, and believed, and that effective action will be taken to end the harassment.’
Professor Jennifer Brown, co-director of the Mannheim Centre at the London School of Economics (LSE), who led the research, said: ‘This is a serious problem for police forces. When staff are already under pressure, what they need is to be able to work in an environment that respects them rather than generates yet further stress.’
Last night Assistant Chief Constable Alan Speirs of Police Scotland said: ‘Police Scotland has no tolerance for any form of sexual harassment and takes every complaint from officers and staff very seriously, we robustly investigate each and every one.
‘Where allegations are received of officers or staff who have failed to do so, Police Scotland will report any criminal matter to Crown Office and where those behaviours fall below our standards of professional behaviour, we will consider the full range of conduct options available.’
Meanwhile, Police Scotland’s new Chief Constable, Iain Livingstone, told BBC Scotland he would take any concerns about sexual inequality and misogyny ‘extremely seriously and deal with them’.
He said: ‘I want to continue to encourage people to raise things, to speak openly. I am open, I am listening and I want all the leaders in Police Scotland – and that is every single man and woman who serves, whether as a police officer or a member of police staff – to conduct themselves with dignity. If there are concerns I will take them extremely seriously and deal with them.’
A Scottish Police Authority spokesman said: ‘We have an excellent policing service provided by people for people. As such there will always be instances where individuals fall below the standards expected.
‘With the appointment of a new Chief Constable to a strengthened and more diverse leadership team, there is now a great opportunity to provide the whole police workforce with renewed stability, direction and purpose and the SPA is committed to working with them on that.’
‘No member of staff should feel degraded’