Lincolnshire Police are celebrating International Women’s Day

This year’s theme is “Breaking the Bias – Together we can forge women’s equality”.

Celebrated annually on March 8 IWD commemorates the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women, as well as bringing attention to issues such as gender, equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.

Lincolnshire Police prides itself on its support networks, diversity and equality.

Assistant Chief Constable Kerrin Wilson said: “At Lincolnshire Police we aim to build our workforce to reflect the rich diversity of our communities by attracting the best talent from the widest pool of people. We have a diverse workforce to help us deliver results and gender parity is key to deliver our results.

“We believe that celebrating and highlighting women’s successes helps encourage more women into careers they may not have ordinarily thought of.

“We are fully committed to tackling violence against women and girls, and welcomed the launch of the national Violence Against Women and Girls framework.”

The National framework for delivery has been developed under the leadership of new National Police Co-ordinator for VAWG, Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth. It has been informed by experts in policing, government, and the VAWG sector.

ACC Wilson said: “Officers work tirelessly to pursue offenders and give the best possible service to victims, but we know that there will always be more that we can do. Listening to victims’ voices, and working with our partners, is a key part of both learning and improving our service.

“Within force, we have a Women’s Inclusive Network (WIN) which is a supportive and inclusive network, committed to improving the quality of the working environment and providing a support group for officers, staff, special constables and volunteers.

“We also offer mentoring, shadowing and coaching for anyone wishing to take up the opportunity.

“There is more equality across various ranks and supervisory levels and more opportunities within force. We will always strive challenge inappropriate behaviours and practices. All of the services we provide leads to, hopefully, happier and more fulfilled people working in policing. This in turn helps us to provide a better service to our communities.”

She said they are working hard to ensure they get gender parity across all departments. Some areas such as the firearms teams do not have strong mixes of staff yet and the force is working with those teams to see what the barriers are to attracting women into them and what can change.

ACC Wilson said: “Some things such as rigid shift patterns are often off putting, but we can work around these if we know they would help. Another area of focus is attracting women from ethnic minority communities to join the service and also support them in their leadership ambitions.

“And of course, not forgetting our communities. Ensuring that we have strong networks with other groups helps identify policing as an aspirational career for everyone and making ourselves accessible certainly helps get that message across.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Andy Cox, gender lead for Lincolnshire Police, said: “We need a fairer and more diverse culture around the world for everyone, regardless of their gender.

“As we emerge from the pandemic, data has shown COVID-19 hit women’s careers harder than men. As the world enters a fresh phase of uncertainty, we must be proactive rather than reactive to accelerate the mission to make the workplace fairer and more accessible for everyone to achieve their goals.

“With this in mind, we have established coaching and mentoring opportunities for women, seeking lateral development or promotion opportunities. Please contact me directly if you wish to explore these opportunities.”

The VAWG work being undertaken locally and nationally strives to make women and girls safe in our communities. Det Ch Supt Cox said: “For too long, misogynistic behaviour has been condoned and gone unchallenged. Failing to confront it has helped an environment exist, where some violent offenders were able to operate. I hope the new commitment to robustly tackle and dismantle misogyny will lead to a significant change in behaviours, particularly in relation to VAWG.

“I am fortunate to oversee our nominations for the national British Association for Women in Policing awards. Last year we had some major success. After referring nominees for the awards later this year, I am very confident we will repeat this success. These prestigious awards recognise the incredible work undertaken by women each and every day within Lincolnshire Police, whether that be support functions, police staff, police officers, back office, or operational. This work makes our communities safer, supports victims, and prosecutes offenders.

“As gender lead I am keen to hear suggestions of how we can further improve our approach to supporting women in Lincolnshire Police.”

Inspector Fran Harrod, added: “International Women’s Day is so important as it shows the entire world standing together without bias, celebrating women’s successes of the past and present and looking forward to a gender equal future.

“As the first female Boston Neighbourhood Policing Inspector I feel privileged to undertake this role, and a big part of that privilege is being able to show the many young people I work with that your gender shouldn’t be a barrier to your aspiration.

“Some of the young women I have worked with over the years – for example in partnership with Boston College - are now colleagues working alongside me. It may be a well-used phrase but trying to be the change you want to see in society is so important, and it’s amazing to see the results.”