Why symbolic gender equality works in the disservice of women police officers in the Pacific

Global initiatives to advance gender equality in policing have promoted the increased representation of women in law enforcement. However, these efforts often overlook the institutional and cultural barriers that continue to disadvantage women officers. Drawing on 100 semi-structured interviews with male and female constables from the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force, this paper examines how gender equality frameworks, when implemented without attention to local contexts, can produce unintended consequences for women’s wellbeing and professional development. The findings reveal persistent challenges, including discriminatory workplace practices, limited institutional support and societal expectations that undermine women’s credibility, career progression and workplace experiences. Although gender equality initiatives seek to improve fairness and inclusion, they frequently fail to address the deeper structural and cultural inequalities shaping women’s participation in policing. The paper argues that meaningful reform requires gender-responsive, context-specific approaches that move beyond numerical representation to prioritise wellbeing, equity, institutional accountability and sustainable organisational change.