The Icelandic police is way behind when it comes to gender quality, especially with regard to sexual harrassment and levels of trust between male and female officers.
Vísir reports that, according to research conducted by the University of Iceland for the National Commissioner of the Icelandic Police, 31% of female officers and 4% of male officers said that they had been victims of sexual harrassment in the workplace. 24% of female officers and 17% of male officers also said they were bullied. In both sexual harrassment and bullying, the perpetrators were almost always identified as male officers, either superiors or colleagues.
When compared to the fact that only 12.6% of the police force is female – and that one in ten female officers left the force in 2010 – the gender inequality becomes even more apparent.
The research shows furthermore that male officers did not, for the most part, regard female officers as equal peers. This position was most likely to be held by officers in the 20 – 29 age range. Researchers believe this is because older male officers, who have worked alongside female officers longer, have had their misconceptions proven wrong for a longer period of time than the younger ones.
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