Challenging the unchallenged

Institutional barriers to addressing sexual harassment in policing

Bibliographic Data

ID8400989
AuthorsLali Magsi (0009-0009-6509-876X, Birmingham City University, corresponding author), Paul Ottaro (0009-0000-1987-0063), Barak Ariel (0000-0002-6912-2546)
Year2026
Publication date2026-02-21
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe British Journal of Criminology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-0955 • E-ISSN: 1464-3529
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/bjc/azag004
OpenAlexW7130826090
LanguageEN
References cited44

Internal sexual harassment persists in UK policing, yet the social mechanisms sustaining silence remain under-specified. We report findings from a vignette-based, anonymous survey of employees in a large UK police force. Across victim and witness scenarios, participants favoured informal resolution over formal complaint, citing organizational distrust, opaque procedures, fear of ostracism, rank hierarchies, and the normalization of ‘banter’. Gendered expectations and shorter tenure further discourage challenges to harassment. Suggested reforms included clearer policies, confidential multi-path reporting, enhanced training—especially bystander roles—and restorative justice for lower-level harms. By foregrounding witnesses and men, we show how occupational solidarity and masculinity shape a bystander calculus that reproduces silence, while also identifying institutional levers for reform

Bystander effect · Covert · Economic Justice · Foregrounding · Harassment · Masculinity · Sexual violence · Silence · Witness · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies

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Open DOIOpen Access