North Wales Police unites with UK forces for gender equality campaign

North Wales Police came together with forces from across the UK yesterday (Tuesday, 5th July) as part of the international gender equality campaign – HeForShe.

For the past five years, all UK forces have been signed up to the UN Women’s initiative and are working together to solve gender inequalities found within policing and to work to combat domestic abuse and sexual abuse in society.

The HeForShe movement seeks to engage men, and people of all genders, to stand in solidarity with women to create a united force for gender equality.

Yesterday’s event at the Kia Oval Conference Centre, Kennington in London - hosted by the National Crime Agency (NCA) - was held to share good practise and refresh the UK forces’ HeForShe commitments, in recognition of the progress made so far.

It also provided updates on three new commitments, agreed with the UN.

The first is to address the gender imbalances in middle management teams within police forces, in particular the ranks of Sergeants and Inspectors.

The second is to address and remove the sexism and misogyny, where it exists, in police culture.

And finally, support the annual reporting of gender equality information.

North Wales Police Chief Constable, Carl Foulkes, HeForShe Policing UK Lead, said over the past five years, all forces have worked hard to make progress towards gender equality.

He said: “A strong network of HeForShe allies has been created and three annual reports have been published so far, capturing the progress being made to solve gender inequalities found within policing.

“Over the past five years, great steps have been taken to increase the number of women joining as police officers, and in addition to this, we have seen growth in representation of women in senior roles.

“However, it is important that we do not lose focus. We need to ensure that the increased number of women who have joined have the right development opportunities to address the gap of women who are under-represented within middle and senior management posts.

“This is an exciting time for us to build on the progress made so far and accelerate change towards gender equality.”

During the event, the NCA also made its own commitment to HeForShe, and joined the UK policing network working towards gender equality.

NCA Director General Graeme Biggar said: “The NCA is committed to pursuing gender equality and joining HeForShe is an important part of strengthening our wider culture of inclusion.

“We continue to embed activity that is part of the HeForShe commitment, such as holding mentoring events for International Women’s Day, anti-misogyny events and male-focussed menopause awareness sessions.

“We are determined to continue building towards an Agency that is truly representative of the public we serve, as well as one that supports and encourages all our officers to reach their full potential. That then helps us be ever more effective in tackling serious and organised crime and protecting the public.”

Since its launch by UN Women in 2014, the HeForShe movement has engaged millions of men from around the world, including Heads of State, CEOs and global leaders in advancing women’s rights.

Picture: Chief Constable Carl Foulkes and the Director General from the NCA, Graeme Biggar.