Sexism and Misogyny Training (581A/23)
Request
Is your force delivering formal training to improve the internal culture regarding sexism and misogyny?
If yes:
- What is this training/what does it look like?
- Who delivers it?
- Is this delivered to all staff members (e.g., police officers and senior leaders)
- How long have you offered this particular form of training for?
- What is the duration of the training – e.g., an hour, a day?
- Is the training in person, or online?
- Is it mandatory to complete it, or optional?
- How do you track who has completed it, and its impact?
Response
In December 2021, the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing set out immediate actions for all forces to bring consistently high standards to the police response to violence against women and girls.
Since this date, West Midlands Police has implemented and met the actions set out.
A key part of the actions is responding to allegations of police-perpetrated abuse and addressing sexism and misogyny within policing.
The report measures data from October 2021 to March 22, so it is important to point out that the data is already a year old. During this time, 653 conduct cases against 672 individuals were flagged as relating to violence against women and girls by police forces in England and Wales as well as the British Transport Police (BTP). In the same period, 524 public complaint cases against 867 individuals were recorded. In total this equates to 0.7 per cent of the police workforce employed in March 2022.
At West Midlands Police, we take these matters extremely seriously and we want to be really clear that there is no place in policing for these behaviours.
Sexism and misogyny are simply unacceptable especially when it is done by a police officer who holds a position of power and someone the public should trust.
We are taking action to root out and take action against those who are misogynistic, racist or homophobic or who have disrespectful attitudes and behaviours, there is simply no place for this sort of individual in policing.
We want our officers to uphold the highest of standards so you have the utmost confidence in them.
Sexual harassment training has almost been completed for everyone who works at West Midlands Police. This is bespoke training which was created working in partnership with RSVP (Rape & Sexual Violence Project – formerly Rape Crisis), Black Country Women’s Aid and CRASAC (Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre), known to us as The Consortium. We’ve been working with The Consortium since April 2018 to explore and understand the issues at WMP.
This training is being delivered to all staff within the organisation, including all senior leaders who received an in-person input from the Consortium.
This is mandatory learning on the college of policing online learning platform and was launched in December 2022. The package is approximately 30 minutes long.
Over 8,000 members of WMP have already completed this course, this is tracked via the governance of the VAIWG (violence, abuse and intimidation against women and girls) board lead by Assistant Chief Constable Hill.
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