How ‘rufty tufty’ heroes turn women off joining the brigade
Female firefighter warns image may hurt recruitment
THEY MAY be a fun staple of glossy calendars, but the image of hunky firemen could be damaging recruitment to modern brigades.
A senior female firefighter believes the now familiar chiselled torsoes are putting women off a career in the fire service.
Only seven per cent of the nation’s 32,223 firefighters are women.
Sabrina Cohen-hatton, West Sussex chief fire officer, wants to boost that number.
The Australian Firefighters Calendar, now in its 28th year, is the world’s most popular calendar, offering images of muscle-bound hunks wielding hoses and cuddling koalas.
But Ms Cohen-hatton said: “The stereotype of a firefighter is so strong, and so pervasive, that many people who would be the best firefighters haven’t even thought about it, because that rufty-tufty stereotype is not appealing to them.”
Speaking to the Resilience Sessions, which brings limbless veterans and public figures together in an inspirational podcast series, she continued: “I don’t believe in having an arbitrary quota. I don’t think we should look to have a certain percentage of women in the workforce by any stretch of the imagination. But what’s important to me is that we have the best of the best to be firefighters.
“At the moment, I’m only getting the best of the best of a small demographic – and that has to change.”
Ms Cohen-hatton, who joined her local fire service in Newport, south Wales, after spending two years destitute and living on the streets as a teenager, added: “When I joined, only one per cent were women and now we are at seven, which is still very small so I do find it difficult to jump for joy talking about such a marginal increase.
“Being a good firefighter means that you’re calm under pressure. It means you’re decisive. It means you’re good at problem solving, good at communicating and good at working in a team. Absolutely none of those qualities are determined by your gender at all.
“It’s really important that when we’re looking at the next generation of firefighters, we look to ways to get more people to think about it. It’s a huge public service they’re able to do and it’s really exciting.”
Ms Cohen-hatton shared her experiences with Josh Boggi, a former Royal Engineer who lost both his legs and right arm in an IED explosion in Afghanistan in 2010 when he was 23 years old, in the podcast run by Blesma, the limbless veterans’ association.
She said she experienced sexism after joining up in 2000: “I’ve had some of the best experiences of my life in the fire service.
“It’s a real privilege to be trusted to do what we do and that has been incredible.
“But I have experienced some sexism, especially in the really early days. I had my kit messed around with and I haven’t always been welcomed with open arms.
“When I first joined people used to say to me, ‘I just don’t agree with women in the job. Sorry, no offence. It’s not a place for girls’.”
However, she emphasised that the sexists were in a small minority.
She said: “I’ve also worked with people who are like big brothers to me to this very day, and work with people who have made me believe in myself so much that it pushed me to do things I didn’t think I was capable of. It’s just been an incredible career.”
The Resilience Sessions grew from the Making Generation R campaign, where Blesma members told their stories of overcoming adversity to 100,000 frontline workers, first responders and young people.
Listen at smarturl.it/resiliencesessions or find it at any other podcast provider