Today, we take female police officers and workers for granted. But what is the truth behind the scenes? Author Janis Appier traces the origins of women in police work beginning in 1910, explaining how pioneer policewomen's struggles to gain footholds in big city police departments ironically helped to make modern police work one of the more male dominated occupations in the United States. 12 illustrations.

Policing Women examines for the first time the changing historical landscape of women’s experiences of their contact with the official state police between 1800 and 1950 in the Western world. Drawing on and going beyond existing knowledge about policing practices, the volume discusses how women encountered the official police, how they experienced that contact, and the outcomes of that contact in the modern Western world. In so doing, it is an original and much needed addition to the literature around changes in policing, women’s experiences of the criminal justice system, and women’s experiences of control and regulation. The chapters uncover such experiences in a range of countries across Europe, the USA, Canada, and Australia. Importantly, the collection focuses upon a crucial epoch in the history of policing – a 150-year period when policing was rapidly changing and being increasingly placed on a formal level. Bringing together scholarly work from expert contributors, this unique volume draws to the fore women’s experiences of policing. It will be of great use to both scholars and students on undergraduate and postgraduate criminology and history courses, working on the history of crime, historical criminology, the history of criminal justice, and women’s history.

Women Policing across the Globe provides a cross-cultural comparison of the integration of women in policing across the globe, paying special attention to the unique contributions that women make to the field, along with the shared challenges and resistance they face. Individual chapters within the book provide students with a snapshot of the status of women in modern police agencies in the countries of the United States, Kuwait, China, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and Taiwan. However, shared issues and successes of women police in many more countries worldwide are discussed throughout the entire book. This book allows students to explore the different origins of entry, specialized roles, their experiences of resistance, and effects of historical events that have shaped the experiences of modern women police from across the world. The authors discuss the new gains women are making, despite the obstacles they face, and ways they are transforming how policing is done every day. And, finally, this book closes with collective issues and successes faced by women police worldwide.

First published in 1989, this book focuses on the policing of male violence against women. It is an issue that has been criticised substantially in the past, and the book shows how even police themselves have sometimes admitted that women have received inadequate treatment. The book includes contributions from North America, Australia, and Western Europe and looks at different approaches that have been taken by states in intervening into the violence of men against women. Chapters explore the differences and similarities of policing practices in western societies at the time surrounding the book’s original publication.

Women in Policing around the World is a historical, legal, political, and social examination of women in policing. The book opens with a comparison of cultural definitions of gender and how this affects women’s work in general and policing specifically. The book then takes the reader through women in policing in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, featuring several countries within the major regions of the world. Major commonalities and differences are identified in the areas of recruitment, training, deployment, promotion, and violence against women. Among the key features of this book is a balanced coverage of historical and timely events that led to the current status of women police in their respective countries. The book identifies the commonalities that women police experience throughout the world, relying on the most current research. The book also dedicates coverage of policing violence against women in society as well as within the police organization itself. The author includes tables to allow for national comparisons throughout the book, as well as current and historical photos. This book is intended for researchers and students of police culture and women in policing. It does not rely heavily on one country or region, thus allowing for an enlightening international comparison.

Virtually unique in the field, Women and Policing in America deals with women as criminal justice professionals, rather than as victims or perpetrators. It is the only coursebook offering a diverse selection of peer-reviewed articles devoted to women in American policing. With comprehensive, accessible chapter introductions by co-authors who are among the most authoritative and respected professionals in the field, Women and Policing in America will become a foundational text for this rapidly growing area of research, college study and employment. Hallmark features of Women and Policing in America: Foundational, peer-reviewed articles on provocative topics, including: Tribal policing. Minority female officers. Lesbian officers. Police women in administrative roles. Affirmative action, unions, and female police employment. Use of force. Gender and stress. Diverse readings cover the chronology of and context for: Issues spanning the entire arc of a female police officer's career. Developments affecting women in American policing. History of women in policing--from the first police matrons to today's female police chiefs. Comprehensive, accessible chapter introductions by authoritative co-authors place readings in context. Challenging, engaging overviews of each topic. Extensive reference lists, suggested readings, and areas for future research. Chapter 1. The History of Women in PolicingChapter 2. Hiring, Training, Retention, and PromotionChapter 3 The Police Role and the Acceptance of Women in PolicingChapter 4. Workplace Experiences of Women in PolicingChapter 5. Police Practices: Women on PatrolChapter 6. The Future of Women in Policing

Women in Policing provides an insight into women's role within policing, their emergence, and development, offering a theoretical underpinning to explore this role as well as incorporating two empirical studies, one which reassesses the lived experiences of female officers, and one based on FOI requests to examine police officer disciplinary offences in three police force areas. The book begins by exploring some of the history of ideas in relation to ideas about women and their supposed nature. Cunningham shows how a variety of feminist ideas and critique are of vital importance in illuminating and critiquing the place of women within this field and provides a feminist lens with which to explore these themes critically. The book also examines the re-emergence of these ideas about women in current women and policing literature. Together, exploration of these sources using a feminist conceptual framework facilitates a new, rich analysis that is both reflective and reflexive, culminating in a novel snapshot of the place of women in policing in England. She argues that accepting both institutional racism and institutional misogyny are vital in approaching transformational change in policing practice. The book concludes with a discussion around how these findings can help with police confidence and legitimacy in the future. A fundamental examination of the ideas underpinning how women’s integration and continuation in policing has happened, where it is currently, and where it may go, Women in Policing will be of great interest to police practitioners and students as well as Criminology, Sociology, and Law and Policing scholars.

This is the first book to look at women in policing in the mainland of the People’s Republic of China. Informed by empirical data as well as rich secondary information drawn from a wide range of published materials, and written by a former police officer in China, this book offers a detailed discussion of key issues concerning women in the Chinese police. Mainly drawing on face-to-face interviews with police officers and student probationers in multiple force areas, Women Police in Contemporary China offers rich insights into women’s lives in Chinese policing. The book first discusses how Chinese women were introduced to the male-only organisation and their representation in the Chinese police today. It elaborates women’s experiences as female officers in the police and, more specifically, their everyday work, contributions to policing, women police’s own perceptions of their roles and positions in the police profession and the gendered challenges and concerns facing them. It also looks at police occupational culture from a gendered lens. This book is illuminating reading for all those engaged in policing studies, gender and justice, policymaking, comparative criminal justice and all those interested in a woman’s role in the Chinese police.

Offering a fascinating account of the development of women police over the past twenty years, this book refers to the author's extended research in India to examine how the Indian experience demonstrates a valuable alternative to the Anglo-American model; not only for traditional societies but for women police in the West as well. With reference to the establishment in 1992 of all-women units in Tamil Nadu, this unique experiment proved highly successful in enhancing the confidence and professionalism of women officers and ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the police. At a time when policing is being rethought all over the world, not only in traditional societies, the Tamil Nadu practice illustrates important lessons for western countries that are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain women officers. Natarajan's remarkable book is an important and original contribution to the literature on gendered policing, which to date has concentrated almost exclusively on the US and British experience.

The law of equal representation should enable men and women in policing to be equally valued and rewarded for the work they perform, but it has been repeatedly shown that due to the great deal of opposition to the entry of women into policing, women worldwide have been unable to fully integrate into this largely male profession. Gender stereotypes have impeded the progress of women in policing and have played an unfortunate role in discriminating and devaluing their work. However, women make a valuable contribution to policing and the recognition and nurturing of their skills presents an important challenge to police management. The introduction to the volume reviews the status of women officers worldwide and the integration progress made to date. The important twenty four articles chosen for inclusion in this book document the need for women officers and describe the many barriers they face in being fully assimilated into policing. This volume serves as a 'wake up call' for police management to find ways to attract and retain women in the police force.