C. 374. M. 144. 1927.1V. ^6 Members of the League.] (C

'Distributed to the Council and C. 374. M. 144. 1927.1v. ^6 Members of the League.] (C. T. F. E. 3 3 1 .) Geneva, August is t, 1927. LEAGUE OF NATIONS TRAFFIC IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN COMMITTEE THE EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN THE POLICE. Note by the Secretary- General : In conformity with the request of the Traffic in Women and Children Committee of the Advisory Commission for the Protection and Welfare of Children and Young People, the Council of the League of Nations, at a meeting held on June 17th, 1927, decided that a summary of the information in the possession of the Secretariat of the League of Nations relating to the employment of women police in the different countries should be transmitted to all Governments. The Secretary-General has the honour to communicate herewith the summary in question. I ntroduction . During its second session (March 1923) the Advisory Committee on Traffic in Women and Children passed the following resolution : "The Advisory Committee, having regard to the useful work done by women police in countries where they have been employed, recommends that women as well as men should be employed among the police engaged in dealing with prostitution." The Council, when considering this resolution, was unanimously of the opinion that, while the question with which it dealt was of entirely domestic concern, it might nevertheless be of interest to the Governments to know the view of such an expert body as the Advisory Committee, The Council therefore instructed the Secretary-General to forward this resolution to the various Governments. At the third session of the Advisory Committee (April 1924), it was decided that the question of women police should be raised at the next session of the Committee when the decisions reached at the Graz Congress would be known. This Congress, the Sixth International Congress for the Suppression of Traffic in Women and Children, was held on September 18th, 19th and 20th, 1924; it carried the following resolution unanimously: “That, in view of the experience gained as to the benefits accruing from the employment of carefully selected and adequately trained policewomen in dealing with delinquent women and children and in the prevention of delinquency, the National Committees are requested to urge on their respective Governments the necessity for incorporating a sufficient number of women, with adequate powers and status, in every police force. ” This resolution of the Graz Congress was considered by the Advisory Committee at its fourth session. The Committee adopted the following resolution, which was approved by the Council on June 9th, 1925: “ The Advisory Committee had under consideration the resolution on the subject of the employment of women police adopted by the Congress at Graz convened by the International Bureau for the Suppression of Traffic in Women and Children in September 1924. “ The Advisory Committee is impressed by the experience gained in several countries showing that women can give effective and valuable service in police work, especially in the prevention of certain classes of offences, and hopes that the question of the use of the services of women in police forces will receive the fullest consideration of the Governments." Publications of the League of Nations IV. SOCIAL 1927. IV. 7. The matter was considered during the fifth session of the Traffic in Women and Children Committee (March 1926) and the following resolution was passed: “The Committee has noted the increasing interest which has been shown in the question of the employment of women in the police of several countries in all m atters affecting the protection of women and children and, as these countries are of opinion that such appointments will largely tend to decrease the evils of the traffic in women requests the Council of the League to instruct the Secretariat to apply to all States for full information on the subject. “ Such information should be classified for presentation to the Committee at its next session." Thirty-four 1 answers have been received from thirty-three Governments in reply to the circular letters communicating these resolutions of the Advisory Committee. Full extracts from these replies have been arranged in alphabetical order at the end of this report. These extracts are preceded by a tabulated summary. The amount of information given in the answers varies greatly. Some Governments have limited their answers to statements of facts — either that they do not employ women in the police, or, if they do, have only stated the number of policewomen, the character of their duties, etc., without further comment. Other Governments have communicated fully the results of their experience. Opinions vary considerably in the different countries with regard to the suitability of women for police services. The countries favouring the employment of women police speak highly of their work — for example, the Government of Australia states that it has now realised that women police are a necessity; the Finnish Government finds women necessary in the police, and adds that they discharge their duties in an exemplary manner; the Government of the Netherlands states that it is generally admitted to be a great advantage to have women in the police for duties of a predominantly social character. The Argentine Republic considers the employment of women, particularly in the Investigation Branch,“ of the greatest importance ”. In Egypt, women assisting the police are said to “render very great service to the police ”, In Czechoslovakia and Roumania, the work of women police is well reported on as regards the protection of women and children. The countries which consider the employment of women police impracticable have expressed themselves as follows: The Greek Government has declared that conditions in Greece preclude the employment of women for the purpose of supervising public morals ; and in France it is stated that it is exceedingly doubtful whether women’s co-operation in the work of supervising the suppression of prostitution would be favourably received by public opinion. On the other hand, this is exactly the field where women are employed in the Estonian police, for in Estonia women are responsible for the registering of prostitutes, their medical examination and the control and supervision of the conditions under which they live. The Union of South Africa employed women police some years ago but states that it cannot be said they were an unqualified success and their employment has been discontinued. S u m m a r y o f t h e P o s it io n w it h r e g a r d to t h e E m p l o y m e n t o f W o m e n P o l ic e . (a) Seventeen countries (Argentine, Australia, Czechoslovakia, the Free City of Danzig, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Great Britain, Irish Free State, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Roumania, Sweden, Switzerland, United States) have declared that they employ women in their police forces or employ women to assist the police. (b) Thirteen countries (South Africa, China, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, India, Japan, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, Monaco, Siam, Venezuela) do not employ women police. The British Colonies are in the same position. The Governments of the Dominican Republic and of Venezuela, though not employing women police, have expressed themselves favourably as to their utility. (c) Three countries have been placed under the heading of “ Special Cases ” in the summary tabulated at the end of this report — namely: Belgium, Iceland and Poland. Belgium has stated that there is nothing in the Belgian laws to prevent the admission of women into the local police. It seems, however, from the answer received, that the communes do not appoint policewomen. Iceland is among those countries where women police are not employed, but the Commissioner of Police in that country has authority to em p lo y women in specific cases where the need arises. T h e Polish Government states that there is nothing to prevent women from being employed for the purpose of supervising prostitution, but it does not give any information as to whether women police officers have actually been appointed. 1 The British Government having given a separate reply on behalf of the British Colonies not possessing responsible Governments, the number of answers has been taken as thirty-four. Ca t e g o r ie s o f W o m e n w h o a s s is t t h e P o l ic e . The various replies received indicate a very wide range in the type of woman employed for police duties. Several countries reply that they employ women as constables — namely : D enm ark, Great Britain, Norway, Roumania, Sweden, United States of America. New Zealand empl°ys police matrons who not only perform work at the police station but also supervise public places. In Danzig, a policewoman is described as an assistant in the Criminal Division. As already stated, Estonia employs women as police des mœurs and states that the personnel com prises an inspectress, a woman doctor, a Sister of Mercy and one woman police officer. Finland employs three nurses as well as five policewomen for police work. In the Netherlands, it is mentioned that there are women police with the rank of inspectress in certain tow n s. At The Hague and Rotterdam it used to be found preferable to appoint nurses, but, at the present time, the appointments in these towns are giv en preferably to women lawyers. In Egypt, two European women are attached to the Governor’s Office in Alexandria, and the Governor’s Office in Cairo also employs European women to deal with matters connected with public morality. Observations o n t h e Co n d it io n s o f W o r k a n d t h e D u t ie s o f P o l ic e w o m e n .

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