Triple Jeopardy? Black and Asian Women Police Officers' Experiences of Discrimination

Thomas Ellis, University of Portsmouth
Claire Nee, University of Portsmouth

ABSTRACT
This was an exploratory study into a hitherto unexamined area of discrimination within the police force of England and Wales: the triple discriminatory effect of racism and sexism that female police officers from ethnic minorities encounter. A summary of the theoretical perspective used is given, followed by a discussion of our results, from interviews with black and Asian female police officers, white female police officers, and black and Asian male police officers in the context of relevant existing research evidence from the United States. We found evidence to suggest that female ethnic minority officers suffered from sexual or gendered harassment and discrimination in addition to the sort of racism suffered by their black male colleagues and the sort of sexism suffered by their white female counterparts. The implications of this for future anti-discrimination policy are discussed, including some tentative policy suggestions.

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Updated 05/20/2006