Sexual harassment within the police

One of the tasks of the police is to take reports about sexual assault, investigate and to some extent prevent sexual offences. But what happens when sexual harassment and abuse takes place within the police?

The internal jargon of the police is often characterised by crude jokes and banter, and the line between jargon and harassment is not always clear. A strong internal loyalty and ‘blue code of silence’ makes it difficult to speak up about experiences of harassment from colleagues and supervisors.

We research sexual harassment within the police, and examine how harassment relates to the organizational and professional culture of the police. We study the relation between a sexualised jargon, jokes and banter on the one hand, and harassment and violations on the other. We also study internal resistance against the work to prevent sexual harassment within the police.

Research projects

Sexual harassment with the police: Crime victims, crime investigation and crime prevention

The research project Sexual harassment within the police: Crime victims, crime investigation and crime prevention examines how sexual harassment is experienced, dealt with and prevented within the police.

Grab'em by the....! Sexual harassment within the police

This research project departs from the realization that sexual harassment within the police force is not necessarily considered a problem. Instead, a sexualised jargong is often considered crucial to a professional identity as a police officer

Understanding and Intervening against Sexual Harassment at work (UISH)

The research project UISH examines understanding of sexual harassment from the perspectives of the harassed, bystanders and harassers, and how these understandings shape interventions against sexual harassment within the police.

Selected publications

What works? From what to how

It is not enough to know what sexual harassment is. You also need to know how to handle the problem. Forum play, used in police training, fosters recognition and solidarity, while providing practical training in how to intervene. The method shifts the focus from sexual harassment as an individual violation to a shared collegial concern.聽

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Malin Wieslander, Silje Lundgren聽

鈥淭hat鈥檚 just how he is鈥�, 鈥淪kip the PC BS鈥�, 鈥淢eToo has gone too far,鈥� 鈥淚t was only a joke.鈥� Such responses are common to initiatives to counter sexual harassment within the police. This resistance must be addressed for change to be possible, in particular if change is perceived as challenging positive aspects of a workplace culture, rather than simply targeting individual 鈥渞otten apples.鈥�

The article discusses cases of sexual harassment in the police that include abuse of power and quid pro quo and thus constitute sexual corruption. The article shows how an institutionalised sexualised banter within the police, which often includes offers of favours or threats to withhold something, de facto enables corruption, i.e. abuse of power for personal gain, but is often dismissed as jokes or banter.

cloth badge with the text 'police'. — Photographer: bildfokus

Silje Lundgren, Malin Wieslander (2024)

The study documents 20 different reasons why victims and bystanders of sexual harassment in the police do not speak up about or report their experiences. The study suggests that the esprit de corps of the police can be used as a strength to reframe sexual harassment from an issue of legal offences to an issue of collegial concern.

Silje Lundgren, Malin Wieslander (2024)

The article shows how police officers' duty to report reproduces a criminal logic and contributes to silence around sexual harassment. The criminal logic individualises the issue, raises the bar for what is considered harassment, and closes off alternative approaches of dealing with harassment within the organisation.

In media

Sexual harassment in the police: Wants to make the work environment part of the solution

Read the article with Silje Lundgren in Nordic Labour Journal

In the Nordic research project UISH, researchers from Norway, Sweden and Iceland are developing methods to prevent sexual harassment in the police by making colleagues, leaders and the wider work environment part of the solution.

Read the article: Nordic Labour Journal, 2026-09-16

Contact

Organisation

Division of 糖心直播, Teaching and Learning (PEDI)

Teachers' work and students' learning are in focus at the Division of 糖心直播, Teaching and Learning. This focus covers basic and advanced levels as well as graduate studies and research.

Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning (IBL)

Human behaviour and learning is the focus for education and research at the department. We educate students and scientists that are well equipped to meet future challenges in society and working life.

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Gender studies (TEMAG)

At Tema Genus, we conduct research, PhD training, undergraduate and master鈥檚 education, and social outreach, all with a foundation in interdisciplinary gender studies and often together with international collaborators.

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