The impact and experience of female police officers in peacekeeping missions: A qualitative exploration

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the differences in experiences between female and male police officers deployed in United Nations peacekeeping missions. In the last decade, the United Nations Police (UNPOL) have pushed to increase the percentage of female officers deployed to peacekeeping missions. These UNPOL officers are at the forefront of post-conflict police reform. Police reforms can have a serious impact on how females are treated in UNPOL and in the host nation. UNPOL officers face various challenges, including difficulties transitioning into a multicultural environment and the physical dangers they must circumvent in a peacekeeping mission. The differences between male and female officers are discussed to provide insight into the impact of the missions and the policy implications to improve the effectiveness and efficacy of the missions.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender
• UNPOL
• Police Reform
• Peacekeeping

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declaration of conflicting interests

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Notes

1. All the female officers identified as a woman and all the male officers identified as a man.

Additional information

Funding

The author received no funding or financial support for the research, authorship, or publication of this article.