Gender disparity among Police Scotland? Read report
Four females have spoken to BBC Newsnight regarding allegations of a “boys club” culture at all stations of Police Scotland, the UK’s second-largest force.
They say, other females, still working in the department, are too afraid to come forward.
The disparity among men and women in Police Scotland:
They say, other females, still working in the department, are too afraid to come forward.
Three females have spoken before regarding their experiences but have united because they feel their stories have failed. There has been no measurable difference in attitudes towards female crew in Police Scotland.
In May prior year, Rhona Malone won nearly £1m in settlement from Police Scotland after an employment court found she had been persecuted when she had raised problems regarding sexism within the force.
Ms Malone had been a cop officer for eight years when she entered Edinburgh’s firearms division.
“It was a massive challenge for any police officer, not just for a female,” she told Newsnight. At first, it was terrific, and the training was excellent, she said, but then she began to see some “horrific behaviour”.
She states she was wrongly charged with throwing her utility belt with a loaded gun when she challenged that behaviour.
The last straw was an email in 2018 from her senior official which said two female firearms officials should not be working together when there were male officers on duty.
In the email, he stated, “Other than the apparent differences in physical ability, it makes more sense from a search, ratio of testosterone view”.
Ms Malone said it was not easy to set in a grievance.
“The time you do that, you have a mark on your back,” she said. “It was similar to Russian Roulette. Either set a grievance in and lose my job, or don’t put in the grudge, and then I lose my job because I’m getting charged of throwing weapons, which didn’t occur.”
