”Grab’em by the…!” Challenges and resistance to work against sexual harassment within the Swedish police force

Research problem and specific questionsThe point of departure of this project is that sexual harassment between colleagues is not necessarily considered a problem within the police force, despite available testimonies and statistics.

Instead, a sexualised jargon is often considered crucial to a professional identity as a police officer, and accompanies the process of learning the profession ‘the hard way’.

Studying practices of resistance when sexual harassment is raised within an organisation helps identifying challenges to work against sexual harassment.The project will answer the following research questions:How is resistance expressed within the police force when sexual harassment is raised within the organisation?What is the relation between jargon, jokes, open-mindedness, and insults and harassment?What is expected of bystanders when there are conflicting views of what constitutes harassment?Which are the conditions for managers and safety representatives to fulfil their notification requirement in cases of sexual harassment?The project contributes with a so-called ‘perpetrator perspective’ which has been identified as an important knowledge gap in previous research, i.e. a study of those who harass other and factors that enable harassing.Data and methodThe project has a qualitative design, using methods such as participant observations, interviews with employees, trainees, managers, and safety and trade union representatives, and a document analysis.

Theoretically, the project is based on theorisation of everyday resistance within organisations.Plan for project realisationThe project period is three years (2023-2025). The project is carried out by a project team in dialogue with an advisory board.

The project applies for approx. 4.770.000 in funding, which mainly covers salaries.RelevanceThere are a number of challenges to work against sexual harassment across sectors and professions.

The project contributes with knowledge about resistance to work against harassment, and how cultures of silence, relations of dependence and retaliations affect organisations’ work against sexual harassment.

The results of the project will contribute to improving the conditions of organisations to work against sexual harassment and strengthen their work environment management.