Women on Duty

A monumental event in the history of female emancipation occurred in Grantham, Lincolnshire, on 27 November 1914: the first female police officers went on duty. The government's decision to Employ the Women Police Volunteers was an outcome of the wider push for female liberation, with the Suffragette Movement at its heart. In the years leading up to the First World War, crimes involving women such as prostitution and drug abuse were on the increase; sexual prejudice and social constraints meant that the traditional male police force was unable to cope with these issues fairly and effectively. Women activists seized the opportunity to set up female volunteer police forces to tackle these problems by unique methods-concentrating on vulnerable men and women, discreetly monitoring pimps and dealers, and actively discouraging young girls from entering a life of vice. Behind the movement was an urge to push women into the male-dominated roles left vacant during the war. The first policewomen faced great prejudice and hardship, and were often placed in isolated, vulnerable positions-but they quickly found strength in their growing numbers. This book describes the difficulties these pioneering women faced, their experiences in becoming figures of authority, and their inexorable rise to equality against the backdrop of the Suffragette Movement. 27 November 1914 was not just a victory for the advocates of policewomen-it was a turning point for the entire women's movement.