INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY
BREAKING THE BIAS
Belinda Goodwin, Zoe Wakefield, Sue Honeywill and Sam Hawkins left to right
Meet the four women who are challenging stereotypes about what it means to be female police officer in 2022
The theme for International Women’s Day this year is ‘Breaking the Bias.’ But what does this mean? Our PFEW Women’s Group talk about the bias that they have experienced during their respective careers in policing, and what they think are the key factors to making necessary changes in the fight for equality. Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.
BELINDA GOODWIN We all have a certain amount of bias and this informs our perceptions going forward in life. Historically, police officers were perceived to be men and it was seen as a ‘manly’ job. Women are still underrepresented in many areas of policing today.
26 | POLICE | APRIL 2022
I joined policing when I was 32 years old, which seemed old. I was a single parent and I struggled like many others before and after me. Looking back, the comments that were made to me about my age and the fact that I was single with a child were outrageous, but I just went along with it and laughed it off. It is going to take time to break the bias
around misogyny and sexism, and there absolutely needs to be a culture change within policing. But for this to happen, we must start talking about the issue and what changes we can all work together to make. In order to break the bias, you have to recognise the bias first and then challenge any unacceptable behaviour or language. It is a tough challenge and we all, PFEW
as an organisation included, have lots to do. But if we are alive to the facts then we can start making changes.
ZOE WAKEFIELD
I have lost count of the number of times I have been called a ‘policeman’ or a ‘policeman lady’ in my 27 years in policing. I have also been referred to as a ‘lumpy jumper’ and ‘Tampax commando’. I have been in many meetings and training sessions where the speaker refers to the audience as ‘men’ or ‘chaps’. Since becoming the first female chair of Hampshire Police Federation, I have been referred to as a ‘chairman’ by many. Will we ever eradicate this type of
language? Only if we educate each other.
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