Female officers stay in policing because they love the work. Many believe that it's the best job they could ever have with generous pay and benefits. They believe that they are changing the culture of policing. They are serving their communities and serving as mentors to younger women.
Like their male colleagues, women may leave the profession due to occupational stress, dissatisfaction, burnout, performance problems and physical illness.
They are also leaving due to sexual harassment and discrimination, gender-biased personnel policies, limited assignment opportunities, and the brass ceiling that keeps women out of the command structure.
What's not recognized is that many female officers are leaving law enforcement due to abuse by an intimate partner — who is often another officer.
If you are a police officer or firefighter who is a victim of domestic abuse, you have to deal with the impact of abuse on your professional life as well as personal life.
When the abuse occurred, you were probably stunned by your partner's behavior. As a female firefighter or officer, you were also embarrassed both personally and professionally. Something like this wasn't supposed to happen to you. You may be the officer assigned to the domestic violence unit. You may be the paramedic who treats abuse victims.
You have all the same reasons other women have for not leaving your abusive relationship. You may love your partner and be committed to doing everything possible to save your relationship. You may still hope that s/he will get help and be able to stop their violent behavior. You may be embarrassed, ashamed, or feel responsible for the abuse. If you have children, you want to do what's best for them. You want to avoid the stigma of divorce. There are financial considerations.
Lesbian officers face a myriad of problems. You may have believed that being in a relationship with a woman [personal account] would free you from having to deal with control issues, and certainly from violence.
You probably feel very alone. There are many reasons not to tell your family and friends, especially if you still hope that things will work out. You don't want them to know what he's done to you. You might be afraid that one of them will take matters into their own hands and go after him or report him to the department. You know that they will pressure you to leave your abuser.
And leaving your abuser may also mean that you lose your career.
Back to topThe Impact of Police-Perpetrated Domestic Violence
Crossing the Threshold: Female Officers and Police-Perpetrated Domestic Violence
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