More women wanted in Pacific police forces
Updated
Police women in Pacific island countries will have a better chance of getting front line positions if Samoan policewoman Siripa Uelese has her way. She is leading the call for police women to be given equal opportunities and not to be placed in desk jobs if they are capable of performing other roles - such as crime scene work.
Presenter: Kate McPherson
Speakers: Siripa Uelese, Chairwoman for the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Women's Advisory Network; Dave Potaka, Secretariat Officer of the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police
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MCPHERSON: Siripa Uelese is the Chairwoman of the Women's Advisory Network, which is part of the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Secretariat, or PICP. The PICP is made up of 21 member countries and territories in the Pacific which account for 75-thousand serving police officers. In her role representing women's interests, Siripa Uelese says she wants to change the attitude within the police forces of Pacific Island countries, especially when it comes to what women can and cannot do.
UELESE: A common problem in the Pacific is the respect that the men have for women. They say you should stay here it's not safe for you and you would ask 'Why?', 'Because you're a woman'. But then we have the same skills, we have the same experience and yet we've been under-utilised.
MCPHERSON: Ms Uelese says she wants to see more Pacific policewomen in leadership and management roles. Dave Potaka is the Secretariat Officer of the Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police. He says the role of women in police work does need to be assessed.
POTAKA: I think it's something that needs to be worked through; women are quite capable and are getting paid the same amount of money as the men are so there's no reason why they can't, they have the same abilities. It's been pointed out to me that the only thing that they probably can't do is search male prisoners as men can't search women prisoners. So otherwise they should be able to do the job exactly the same.
MCPHERSON: Siripa Uelese says the Women's Advisory Network wants to support more women entering the police workforce, but finds many are discouraged at the thought of a desk job.
UELESE: Because they're policing organisations they are very dominated by men and they have females wanting to come into the policing organisation. They are quite discouraged in a way that they will be only used for secretarial work, you know that kind of job, just filing things behind a desk and not being able to go out in the field and do investigation, that is one of the things that does discourage women to join in.
MCPHERSON: Ms Uelese says some Pacific Island countries are making real progress in the equal opportunities arena, but more needs to be done, including engaging men in the discussions women have.
UELESE: The best way is to get them involved, get the men involved in our networks, we can invite them to attend our workshops and our meetings and get them to see what we're really representing. We don't want to override them, we need to be equal partners. So then getting them involved in our networks is the best thing to get their support.
MCPHERSON: Dave Potaka says the role of women in policing in the Pacific is many years behind New Zealand. He says the Women's Advisory Network is in a position to advise the Chiefs of Police in the Pacific on how opportunities for women can be equalized.
POTAKA: I guess there's a huge variance between a lot of the nations out there due to population base etc., etc., but in general terms I suppose you could say that the islands are probably back where we were in New Zealand maybe 20 years ago as far as the roles of women and policing 20 years ago in New Zealand and were probably equivalent now. So the changes that are required are going to be slow but I think the Women's Advisory Network can go a long way in advising the chiefs and trying to get some change.
