‘Just the way things are’: gender equity and sexual harassment in the South African Police Service

Abstract

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has been confronted with the complex task of organisational transformation. This article explores the process of gender equitable reform in the SAPS in the post-apartheid period and argues that although the SAPS has drafted a Sexual Harassment Policy, it has not been pro-active in combating sexual harassment within its own ranks. The research reveals that despite advances in terms of gender representation at all levels of the organisation, systemic gender discrimination persists. While the SAPS has become a more gender representative organisation than most police services elsewhere in the world, it has not challenged the underlying causes of gender discrimination. This has profoundly influenced the way the police service, and its female and male officers, have responded to sexual harassment.