Women in law enforcement

Women in law enforcement agencies have typically been outnumbered by men. The first policewoman in Germany was recruited in 1903, the first in the USA appeared in 1910 and the first in England just a few years later. Since that time many law enforcement agencies have sought to reduce discrimination and increase the numbers of women working in this sector.

Henriette Arendt was a German Policewoman in 1903.

In 1908, the first three women: Agda Hallin, Maria Andersson and Erica Ström, was employed in the Swedish Police Authority in Stockholm upon the request of the Swedish National Council of Women, who referred to the example of Germany. Their trial period was deemed successful and from 1910 onward, policewomen were employed in other Swedish cities. However, they did not have the same rights as their male colleagues: their title were Polissyster (Police Sister), and their tasks concerned women and children, such as taking care of children brought under custody, perform body searches on women, and other similar tasks which were considered unsuitable for male police officers.

In 1930, the Polissyster were given extended rights and were allowed to be present at houses searches in women's homes, conduct interrogations of females related to sexual crimes, and patrol reconnaissance work. In 1944, the first formal police course for women opened; in 1954, the title "police sister" were dropped and police officer allowed for both men and women, and from 1957, women received equal police education to that of their male colleagues.

During the First World War a volunteer service was established by Margaret Damer Dawson and Nina Boyle. They had joined forces after seeing the trouble faced by refugees during the war. These volunteer women were allowed to officially patrol the streets of London and policemen were asked to assist them. These "Women Police Volunteers" were trained and they were intended to assist women during the turmoil of the war.

During The First World War The Women's Police Service, led by Margaret Damer Dawson, provided women officers to police the government munitions factories. Some Chief Constables and Watch Committees also choose to employ women police. Two of the first were Hull and Southampton in 1915.

As the end of the First World War several groups of women's police Voluntary Patrols were in some major cities in Great Britain. These 'well-bred' women patrolling the streets to help women and children and especially those who became involved in crime. The Voluntary Women's Force at Bath, Somerset was created in 1912. Apart from London's Metropolitan Police commissioning of a report by a "female on females in custody" in 1907, there was not any consideration given to women working within the Police Force. The Prison Service had involved women many years previously.

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