Sex Discrimination and Sexual Harassment within the New South Wales Police: Has anything changed?

A 1988 and 1995 study conducted within the New South Wales Police (NSWP) found that sex discrimination and sexual harassment was both rife and under reported. This is a significant issue as sex discrimination and sexual harassment can lead to stress, absenteeism, high staff turnover, litigation and poor public image. Since these studies were completed the NSWP has implemented the NSWP Gender Based and Sexual Harassment Policy and the NSWP Internal Grievance Procedures. As no research within the NSWP examining sex discrimination and sexual harassment has been conducted in the NSWP since the implementation of these policies, a knowledge gap exists and the current rate of sex discrimination and sexual harassment in the NSWP is not known. This paper suggests that the implemented policies would have had little impact upon the rate of sex discrimination and sexual harassment, as the policies have failed to address likely contributing factors such as the masculinised police culture, resistance to policewomen and the gender imbalance