| 1. |
- Rostami, Arian, 1973-
(author)
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Police officers under pressure : sexual and gender-based harassment, stress, and job satisfaction in Sweden
- 2024
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Police officers encounter challenging and stressful situations at work, which negatively impact their health, job performance, and aspects of their lives. Regarding the gendered structure and competitive work environment of police organizations, women are under extra pressure from the pervasive gendered norms within the police organization. The aim of this dissertation is to study sexual and gender-based harassment and work-related stress as important work environment elements from a gender perspective, and to explore if and how these elements can affect police officers’ job satisfaction in the context of Swedish police work.This thesis is based on three studies: a scoping review, a quantitative study, and a qualitative study, resulting in four articles. In the scoping review study on sexual and gender-based harassment in police work in the European context 16 articles on sexual and gender-based harassment against police employees were studied. Thematic analysis was applied to obtain the main patterns across and within the included studies. In the qualitative study, data collection included one group interview and 12 individual interviews with male and female police officers. Thematic and content analysis were conducted to analyze the interviews. During the quantitative study, data were collected from 152 male and female police officers applying a set of questionnaires including sociodemographic questions, the Police Stress Identification Questionnaire (PSIQ), Sexual and gender-based harassment questions, and Job Descriptive Index (JDI). The scoping review showed that most of the European studies were focused on sexual harassment, while gender-based harassment was often overlooked or mixed with other types of harassment and discrimination. Six main themes were found in the studies; the existence of sexual and gender-based harassment, perpetrators, associated factors, consequences, individual response, and impact of organizational policies. In the mixed methods article, results from the quantitative and qualitative studies on sexual and gender-based harassment indicated that female police officers experienced a statistically significant higher percentage of gender-based harassment compared to male officers. However, there was not any significant gender difference in sexual harassment. “Sexual comments and jokes” and “mocking or telling jokes about the #MeToo campaign” by colleagues were reported as the most frequent sexual harassment and gender-based harassment items. Additionally, police officers identified the presence of toxic jargon and a culture of silence, along with ineffective or negative management styles, as organizational factors that can contribute to the perpetuation of such harassment. Also, the quantitative results on police work stress showed that police officers rated higher on the “impact on significant others” stress and “operational stress” subscales. In addition, female officers reported higher stress in these subscales compared to their male counterparts. The police officers who had experienced sexual harassment reported higher “self-image stress” and “operational stress”. Moreover, in studying job satisfaction among Swedish police officers, both male and female officers reported the highest satisfaction with “people on present job” and the lowest satisfaction with “opportunity for promotion” and then “pay”. No significant gender gap was found in job satisfaction subscales, nor was there a significant association between these subscales and experiences of harassment. However, organizational stress was negatively related to three domains of job satisfaction; “job in general”, “pay” and “supervision”. The research findings revealed that despite substantial changes in the Swedish police organization and work culture during recent decades, the issue of sexual and gender-based harassment remains persistent. This finding highlights the need for more attention to organizational factors (cultural and managerial issues) enabling sexual and gender-based harassment. The findings also underscore the higher levels of work pressure and challenges faced by female officers and the importance of challenging prevailing gender norms affecting both female and male police officers. Moreover, addressing organizational sources of stress can improve the working conditions and job satisfaction of police officers. Finally, the thesis highlights the importance of considering sexual and gender-based harassment along with work stress to create a safer and more productive police work environment.
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| 2. |
- Burman, Monica, 1962-
(author)
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Straffrätt och mäns våld mot kvinnor : Om straffrättens förmåga att producera jämställdhet
- 2007
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Men’s physical and psychological violence against women in intimate relationships is a serious social problem and contravenes the political goal of gender equality. Over the last few decades men’s violence against women has become a central issue in Swedish gender equality politics. Criminal law reforms have been carried through with the objective of enhancing criminal legal protection for women and promoting gender equality. The starting point of this thesis, however, is that the ability of criminal law to promote gender equality must be questioned. Instead criminal law is at risk of producing and reproducing hindrances to gender equality and criminal legal protection for women. It is such processes in criminal law that are explored and analysed in this thesis, inspired by feminist legal theory and social constructionist theory, and through the application of discourse analysis. The main purpose of the thesis is to explore and analyze how violence, perpetrator and victim are constructed in the criminal legal discourse of men’s physical and psychological violence against women in intimate relationships and what legal or social consequences these constructions might have. A second aim of the thesis is to throw a light on and analyze two major criminal legal aspects of men’s physical and psychological violence against women in intimate relationships. Firstly, how criminal law deals with issues of responsibility for the violence. Secondly, how questions about the use of criminal law are linked to possibilities and problems from a crime victim-perspective. The analysis indicates two major problem areas. In the first, the victim is treated in relation to stereotypical conceptions of women exposed to violence. A male-gendered discourse on responsibility limits the possibilities for women to behave as actors in relation to men and still being offered the subject position of victim. In addition, a focus on questions such as “Why doesn’t she leave?” and “Why doesn’t she cooperate with the criminal justice system?” produces an understanding of the main problem of violence as being related to the victim. The second problem area concerns a tension between how criminal legal reforms, aimed at enhancing criminal legal protection for women and promoting gender equality, have been justified by the legislator and how mainstream criminal legal scholarship argues in the issue of use of criminal law.
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| 3. |
- Brandén, Jennie, et al.
(author)
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Utsatthet för sexuellt våld bland samiska kvinnor i Sverige : den Samiska HLV studien 2021
- 2023
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In: Tidsskrift for kjønnsforskning. - Oslo. - 0809-6341 .- 1891-1781. ; 47:2-3, s. 113-129
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Frågan om sexuellt våld har under de senaste åren fått ett allt större utrymme i Sápmi. I denna artikel, som baseras påden populationsbaserade studien «Samisk hälsa på lika villkor» (Samisk HLV) 2021, undersöks utsatthet för sexuelltvåld bland samiska kvinnor och män i Sverige jämfört med kvinnor och män i Sveriges befolkning. Analysen visaratt sexuellt våld mot kvinnor utgör ett mycket omfattande samhällsproblem i det samiska samhället, i minst sammaomfattning som i övriga Sverige. Samiska kvinnor rapporterar en signifikant högre utsatthet för flera former av sexuelltvåld jämfört med kvinnor i Sverige, däribland utsatthet för våldtäkt och våldtäktsförsök. Analysen visar även attsamiska kvinnor är mer benägna att söka vård samt polisanmäla efter övergreppet, vilket nyanserar bilden av en tystnadkring sexuellt våld i Sápmi. Utifrån ett urfolksfeministiskt perspektiv belyser artikeln hur könade och kolonialamaktrelationer samspelar vad gäller utsatthet för sexuellt våld i Sverige och att positionen som både kvinna och sameökar utsattheten för sexuellt våld, medan att vara man och same inte gör det. Sammantaget pekar artikeln på att bådekön och samisk tillhörighet har betydelse för utsatthet för sexuellt våld och därmed på vikten av att inkludera samiskaperspektiv i framtida forskning om, och politiska insatser mot, sexuellt våld.
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| 4. |
- Brandén, Jennie, 1984-, et al.
(author)
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Våld mot samiska kvinnor
- 2024
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Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- I den här rapporten presenterar vi resultat från forskningsprojektet ”Våld mot samiska kvinnor” som 2021-2024 genomförts av forskargruppen Lávvuo vid Umeå Universitet, på uppdrag av Sámediggi (Sametinget i Sverige).Rapporten består av en kvantitativ och en kvalitativ del, samt fem åtgärdsförslag riktade till Sveriges regering.De kvantitativa resultaten i korthetDen kvantitativa delen av rapporten baseras på enkätundersökningen Samisk hälsa på lika villkor som genomfördes 2021. Resultaten har jämförts med Sveriges befolkning genom den nationella enkäten Sexuell och reproduktiv hälsa genomförd 2017. Det övergripande mönstret är att kvinnor är betydligt mer utsatta för våld än män, samt att samiska kvinnor 2021 uppger en högre våldsutsatthet än kvinnor i Sverige 2017, för de flesta typer av våld.Över hälften av de samiska kvinnorna har utsatts för sexuellt våld (55,5 procent), sju av tio har utsatts för psykiskt våld (68,5 procent) och nästan var tredje för fysiskt våld (27,9 procent).En större andel samiska kvinnor än kvinnor i Sverige i stort uppger utsatthet för de grövsta formerna av sexuellt våld, såsom våldtäktsförsök (14,1 jämfört med 10,6 procent) och våldtäkt (10,3 jämfört med 7,0 procent).En större andel samiska kvinnor än kvinnor i Sverige i stort uppger utsatthet för psykiskt våld, både sammantaget (68,5 jämfört med 50,9 procent) och vad gäller alla de former av psykiskt våld som undersöktes.Även när det gällde fysiskt våld rapporterade samiska kvinnor (27,9 procent) en högre utsatthet jämfört med kvinnor i Sverige (22,0 procent).Samiska kvinnors utsatthet för våld varierar med både ålder och geografi. Överlag var utsattheten högst bland kvinnor yngre än 45 år. Geografiskt var utsattheten för sexuellt och fysiskt våld högre bland samiska kvinnor i mellersta och södra Sverige, med undantag av Stockholmsområdet. För psykiskt våld hade samiska kvinnor i Jämtland Härjedalen en högre utsatthet.Det finns flera starka samband mellan olika typer av våldsutsatthet och psykisk och fysisk ohälsa. Upprepad våldsutsatthet (fler än en gång) är förenat med ännu högre risk för ohälsa, särskilt psykisk ohälsa. Starkast är detta samband när det gäller stress och självmordstankar.När det gäller diskriminering och rasism uppger en betydande andel av samer i Sverige att de utsatts någon gång i livet. Liksom för andra former av våld i denna undersökning visar analysen att en högre andel samiska kvinnor (44,5 procent) utsatts jämfört med samiska män (37,0 procent).HBTQ-samer är mer våldsutsatta än andra samer. Detta gäller sexuellt våld (64,6 jämfört med 30,9 procent), psykiskt våld (81,7 jämfört med 58,4 procent) och fysiskt våld (43,8 jämfört med 25,5 procent).De kvalitativa resultaten i korthetDen kvalitativa delen baseras på intervjuer med professionella som arbetar inom samhällets stödstrukturer för våldsutsatta i olika delar av den svenska delen av Sápmi.Intervjustudien visar att våld mot samiska kvinnor är en fråga som behöver förstås i relation till den bredare politiska och historiska, koloniala, och könade kontext som våldet utspelar sig i.Frågan om våld mot samiska kvinnor osynliggörs och beskrivs som svår att adressera – både i det samiska samhället och i majoritetssamhället.Kunskapen om det samiska samhället är låg inom samhällets stödstrukturer. Deltagare beskrev att samiska perspektiv saknas i styrdokument kring mäns våld mot kvinnor och i befintlig terminologi. Detta gör att förhållanden i det samiska samhället som kan påverka den våldsutsattas situation negligeras i mötet med samiska klienter, patienter och brukare som utsätts för våld.Frågan om våld mot samiska kvinnor beskrevs som ”känslig” och ”laddad”. Sammantaget framträder ett stigma kring frågan och en oro för att ”göra fel” eller bidra till fördomar och rasism mot samer, både i det samiska samhället och majoritetssamhället.Problemet med våld mot samiska kvinnor beskrevs som svår att adressera inom en redan marginaliserad samisk kontext, där värnandet av samiska kollektiva rättigheter har prioriterats.Det finns en rad särskilda förhållanden knutna till det samiska samhället som är viktiga att ha kunskap om och vara lyhörd för i mötet med våldsutsatta samiska personer och i arbetet för att motverka våld mot samiska kvinnor.Närheten och lokalkännedomen i mindre samhällen beskrevs som styrkor, men samtidigt lyftes utmaningar såsom bristande anonymitet, resurser, kompetens och insatser. Svårigheten att vara anonym och långa geografiska avstånd till samhällets stöd beskrevs som extra påtagligt i det samiska samhället. Stark samhörighet i det samiska samhället beskrevs som positivt men också potentiellt problematiskt när det gäller den utsattas situation.Bristande tillit till myndigheter bland samer är en potentiell barriär för att nå och stötta våldsutsatta samiska kvinnor. Den bristande tilliten relaterades till både historiska och samtida erfarenheter av okunskap, förtryck, rasism och diskriminering.Deltagare beskrev ojämställdhet och tystnad kring våld mot kvinnor i det samiska samhället, och att våld mot kvinnor ofta hanteras internt. Tystnaden knöts till en lojalitet med samiska män, ett ideal att samiska kvinnor ska vara starka och klara sig själva, samt en vilja att skydda familjen och det samiska kollektivet.Ett centralt hinder för utsatta kvinnor att lämna en våldsam relation beskrevs vara rädslan för att uppbrottet skulle innebära förlust av deras samiska sammanhang. Ens samiska identitet beskrevs till exempel som nära knuten till platsen och markerna och därmed som svår att upprätthålla vid flytt till en annan ort för att söka skydd.Åtgärdsförslag till Sveriges regeringBaserat på de utvecklingsbehov som identifierats genom detta forskningsprojekt utmynnar rapporten i fem åtgärdsförslag riktade till den svenska regeringen.Uppdra åt Sametinget att följa upp och samordna arbetet för att motverka våld mot samiska kvinnor.Utforma en nationell policy för att motverka våld mot samiska kvinnor.Utveckla stödstrukturer för våldsutsatta samiska kvinnor och flickor.Genomför kortsiktiga utbildningsinsatser.Säkra långsiktig kunskapsproduktion och kompetenshöjning.
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| 5. |
- Burman, Monica, Professor, 1962-, et al.
(author)
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En berättelse om uppkomst och fall av en kritisk rättsvetenskaplig genusmiljö
- 2020
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In: Dette brenner jeg for!. - Bergen : Fagbokforlaget. - 9788245033120 ; , s. 59-84
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Detta kapitel innehåller en berättelse om och våra reflektioner kring erfarenheter av en påtvingad nedläggning under 2018 av forsknings- och utbildningsmiljön Juridiskt forum (Umeå Forum for Studies on Law and Society). Vi börjar i en meta-berättelse om utveckling, framgång, motstånd och fall. Ur denna berättelse har två teman utkristalliserats: Exkludering av genusrättsvetenskap från utbildning och forskning samt Genusrättsvetenskap och genusrättsvetenskapare som arbetsmiljöproblem(et). Dessa kontextualiseras som uttryck för den rättsdogmatiska traditionens motstånd mot de kritiska ontologiska och epistemologiska utmaningar som den nordiska genusrättsvetenskapliga traditionen och socio-rättsliga studier representerar. Vi hävdar att motståndet på institutionell, akademisk och personlig nivå i grunden handlar om en djup oförmåga och ovilja att hantera mångfald, kritik och utveckling. När nu denna kamp är över, och vår gränsöverskridande, kritiska miljö har eliminerats så finns det ändå inga vinnare. Istället anser vi att utvecklingspotentialen för den snäva rättsvetenskap som produceras i Umeå idag är låg, vilket underminerar möjligheterna till att uppfylla förändringsbehov i juristutbildningen. Motstånd har ständigt varit närvarande under genusrättsvetenskapens nära 40-åriga nordiska historia och andra starka genusrättsvetenskapliga miljöer och enskilda forskare har gått liknande öden till mötes som vårt. Ändå slutar inte vår berättelse i pessimism. Nedläggningen av Juridiskt forum kan inte hindra utvecklingen. Genusrättsvetenskapen i Norden har satt sig och utvecklas starkt som akademiskt ämne. Efterfrågan är stor från juriststudenter och volymen på expertuppdrag, forskning och publikationer är omfattande. Viktiga samhällsutmaningar ställer nya kunskapskrav på framtidens jurister. Genus och rätt är utan tvekan en del av denna kunskapsutveckling i Norden.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Burman, Monica, Professor, 1962-, et al.
(author)
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Women's human rights in the governance of the Arctic : gender equality and violence against indigenous women
- 2018
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In: The Yearbook of Polar Law. - : Brill | Nijhoff. - 1876-8814 .- 2211-6427. - 9789004342415 ; 9:1, s. 53-78
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Previous studies show a lack of deference and activities when it comes to women's human rights and gender equality in the multi-level governance of the Arctic. According to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, women in the Arctic are vulnerable, in particular indigenous and rural women. Their rights are not upheld in the Arctic states for example when it comes to exposure to violence, equal participation in governing bodies, and economic self-support. The public governing bodies have almost no focus on gender equality at all, despite far-reaching international obligations and, for several of the states, national ambitious agendas for gender equality politics. International instruments with obligations to strive for gender equality, such as the CEDAW, the ILO Convention 169 and UNDRIP, are scarcely referred to and not sufficiently implemented by the public governance bodies. The aim of this article is to raise awareness of the obligations set up by human rights documents to promote women' rights in the governance of the Arctic, in order to put pressure on the states to develop strategies for a future gender equal governance. We have a special focus on the general lack of awareness within public governance, and on men's intimate partner violence against indigenous women.
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| 8. |
- Gunnarsson, Åsa, 1958-, et al.
(author)
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Economic dependence and self-support in family, tax and social law
- 2019
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In: Nordic equality at a crossroads. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 9781351152327 - 9780815390732 ; , s. 135-166
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This chapter analyzes the internal contradictions of family, tax and social welfare law with regard to their implicit assumptions of family and dependence. It explores how law can contribute to the resurrection of gender inequalities, an approach other than the traditional one is needed. The chapter utilizes a descriptive approach in order to identify how sex inequalities are resurrected in sex-neutral legislation. It shows how residence-related family support benefits and social assistance provisions are based on a presumption of maintenance obligations within the family. Contemporary Swedish family law is characterized by secularism, individualism and equality. Economic independence for women is a central policy goal for sex equality. Residence-based benefits are primarily based on the need for support. The common feature of these benefits is that they are supposed to provide basic welfare security for families with children.
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| 9. |
- Jonsson, Elin, 1981-
(author)
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Konstruktioner av den sexuella familjen : styrning av föräldrablivande i rättslig reglering av assisterad befruktning och juridiskt föräldraskap
- 2023
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This doctoral thesis deals with the Swedish legal regulation of becoming a parent. It covers the regulation of legal parental status and of health care-provided assisted reproduction. The family law and medical law that in these regards can have an impact on individuals’ potential to become parents have both undergone many changes in the last few decades. The aim of the thesis is to make visible how becoming a parent is regulated on a formalized level, and how the regulation of parenthood has been constructed on a discursive level. The thesis’s critical approach thus includes understanding law as an arena for power exercised through legal provisions as well as knowledge production.In the first of the main chapters the current Swedish legislation on insemination, in-vitro fertilization, establishing legal parenthood, recognition of foreign decisions, and national and international adoption is described and analyzed. This is followed by chapters that deal with constructions of ideals, expectations, and other understandings of law and potential parents respectively. This serves the purpose, among others, of illuminating the interplay between diverse legal sources and areas of law. In preparatory works that record lawmakers’ reasoning on the regulation, assumptions that the thesis identifies involve the law’s consistency and at the same time inclusivity. These legal traits have proved to be contradictory, not least when uniform regulations shall apply to a plurality of family forms.In both the formalized- and discursive-level analyses, two parents that are a different-sex, cisgender couple with biological children conceived through sexual reproduction are observed to function as the natural or self-evident default. Drawing on the concept of the sexual family model, the thesis demonstrates ways in which the contours of that model are still operating within Swedish law. It concludes further that the coercive and discursive effects of the law can be said to altogether regulate reproduction towards family formation that mainly corresponds to the sexual family model.
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| 10. |
- Rostami, Arian, 1973-, et al.
(author)
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Job satisfaction among Swedish police officers : The role of work-related stress, gender-based and sexual harassment
- 2022
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In: Frontiers In Public Health. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 2296-2565. ; 10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The aim of this cross-sectional study is to increase our understanding of job satisfaction in Swedish police officers by taking into account work-related stress, and sexual and gender-based harassment. Data were collected from 152 police officers working in vulnerable areas in Stockholm using sociodemographic questions, the Police Stress Identification Questionnaire (PSIQ), Sexual and gender-based harassment questions, and Job Descriptive Index (JDI). The obtained results indicated that male and female police officers reported the highest satisfaction in “people on your present job.” The lowest score of job satisfaction in both male and female police officers was related to “opportunity for promotion” and then “pay.” There were no significant differences in the subscales of job satisfaction between male and female police officers. The older and more experienced officers, the less satisfaction was reported in “job in general” and more satisfaction reported in “pay.” Comparing job satisfaction between patrol officers and those officers who worked in internal services showed police patrol officers had higher job satisfaction in “job in general,” “work in the present job,” “opportunity for promotion” and “supervision” compared to their counterparts in internal services. There were not any significant differences between the subscales of job satisfaction between male and female police officers. There was not any significant association between job satisfaction subscales and having experience of sexual or gender-based harassment. Among various subscales of police stressors, organizational stress was in negative relation with three domains of job satisfaction; “job in general,” “pay” and “supervision.” Also, hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed organizational stress was most often of predictive impact related to various job satisfaction domains in police officers.
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| 11. |
- Rostami, Arian, 1973-, et al.
(author)
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Sexual and gender-based harassment against police employees in European countries : a scoping review
- 2024
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In: Journal of Sexual Aggression. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1355-2600 .- 1742-6545.
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sexual and gender-based harassment is a work environment concern, especially in hierarchical and male-dominant organisations such as the police. This scoping review aims to examine the existing literature on such harassment against police employees in Europe to identify the available knowledge and highlight the gaps for future studies. Following the Arksey and O'Malley framework, 16 relevant articles were analysed. Most of the studies were focused on sexual harassment, and gender-based harassment was mostly absent or mixed with other discriminations. The analysis resulted in six main themes: existence of sexual and gender-based harassment; perpetrators; associated factors; consequences; individual response; and impact of organisational policies. The findings demonstrate that such harassment remains prevalent among police employees, emphasising the need for continuous and rigorous supervision, evaluation, and comprehensive revision of policies by police authorities. This study recommends further research to address the identified gaps in this field.PRACTICE IMPACT STATEMENTThe findings presented in this article have the potential to significantly advance the field of police research in Europe by providing a comprehensive map of existing knowledge and identifying important gaps within this research domain. Moreover, the study facilitates the application of more accurate and comprehensive methodologies. Additionally, the outcomes of this research can directly benefit police authorities by offering insights to enhance organizational culture and the work environment for police employees.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Rostami, Arian, 1973-, et al.
(author)
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Work-related stress in relation to gender-based and sexual harassment among a group of Swedish police officers
- 2023
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In: Nordic Journal of Studies in Policing. - : Universitetsforlaget. - 2703-7045. ; 10:1, s. 1-17
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this cross-sectional study, we investigated work-related stress, gender-based and sexual harassment among police officers working in vulnerable areas in Stockholm. Data were collected from 152 police officers using a set of questionnaires. The results indicated that job stress in “impact on significant others” and “operational stress” were reported as the two most highly rated work-related stress in police officers. Female police officers rated higher stress in “impact on significant others” and “operational stress” compared to their male counterparts. Job experience was correlated with two stress subscales only in female officers. Working as patrol officers and more than one shift were negatively associated with some stress subscales among male officers. The male officers who had experience of sexual harassment reported higher “self-image” stress and “operational stress”, whereas the female officers had higher “self-image” and “confrontation with death” stress. After controlling for gender and job experience, sexual harassment had a significant relationship with “operational stress” and “self-image stress” in police officers.
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| 14. |
- Öhman, Ann, et al.
(author)
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'The public health turn on violence against women' : Analysing Swedish healthcare law, public health and gender-equality policies
- 2020
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In: BMC Public Health. - : BioMed Central. - 1471-2458. ; 20:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article focuses on policy and law concerning violence against women as a public health issue. In Sweden, violence against women is recently recognized as a public health problem; we label this shift "The public health turn on violence against women". The new framing implies increased demands on the Swedish healthcare sector and its’ ability to recognise violence and deal with it in terms of prevention and interventions. The aim was to describe and discuss the main content and characteristics of Swedish healthcare law, and national public health and gender-equality policies representing the public health turn on violence against women. Through discursive policy analysis, we investigate how the violence is described, what is regarded to be the problem and what solutions and interventions that are suggested in order to solve the problem. Healthcare law articulates violence against women as an ordinary healthcare issue and the problem as shortcomings to provide good healthcare for victims, but without specifying what the problem or the legal obligation for the sector is. The public health problem is rather loosely defined, and suggested interventions are scarce and somewhat vague. The main recommendations for healthcare are to routinely ask patients about violence exposure. Violence against women is usually labelled "violence within close relationships" in the policies, and it is not necessarily described as a gender equality problem. While violence against women in some policy documents is clearly framed as a public health problem, such a framing is absent in others, or is transformed into a gender-neutral problem of violence within close relationships. It is not clearly articulated what the framing should lead to in terms of the healthcare sector's obligations, interventions and health promotions, apart from an ambivalent discourse on daring to ask about violence.
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