Wiltshire Police says it has already begun rooting out misogyny where it exists in every department after a damning survey revealed the scale of the problem. 

Earlier this month, a national survey of female police officers across the UK, carried out by The Police Federation of England and Wales, revealed misogyny was ‘rife’ throughout the country’s police forces.

Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson said seismic change within policing nationally has been on the cards for some time and he was pleased the county’s force had already started addressing the problem by listening to female officers' lived experiences. 

Mr Wilkinson said: “I have always been clear that for police forces to realistically, and effectively, start to beat rising violence against women and girls crimes and to increase the public’s confidence in the police service’s ability to tackle it, policing leaders would need to tackle these issues within their own workplaces first.

“Both the Chief Constable and I are determined that Wiltshire’s force will not provide a breeding ground for misogynistic behaviour. For too long, these behaviours have been explained away and female officers have been expected to accept it as ‘banter’.

“It isn’t acceptable and we now need to ensure everyone, both female and male, feels empowered and has the personal responsibility to challenge it where it exists and report it."

Wiltshire Police’s Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said work to tackle misogyny isn’t new but acknowledging its existence is just the first step to addressing the problem.

He said work to ensure culture change won’t happen overnight but as long as female officers feel empowered to challenge and have the support of their male colleagues to call out misogyny and sexism, then the force is heading in the right direction

Chief Constable Kier Pritchard said: “The existence of these issues within policing requires a change of culture.

“For this to happen, everyone within our organisation must have the confidence to call out this unacceptable and inappropriate behaviour.

“To that end, we have recently begun a proactive force-wide campaign using the lived experiences of our female colleagues who have bravely spoken about being the victims of sexism or misogyny at work. 

“These testimonies have been used to create a bespoke briefing product which we are using to hold two-way conversations with the workforce.

“This will, in time, lead to the change in attitudes and culture which is desperately needed."