Conservative Young Women (CYW) has issued a statement in response to the the Independent Office for Police Conduct which found evidence of bullying and discrimination within the ranks of the Metropolitan Police Service. The statement reads:
The details of Sarah Everard’s tragic murder were shocking – not only was her killer a serving policeman, his dangerous misogynist behaviour was seemingly left unchecked by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). In October, Conservative Young Women (CYW) called for an inquiry into the apparent culture of systemic misogyny in the MPS by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC); the inquiry has resulted in truly horrifying findings.
"Disgraceful" misogyny, discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment were discovered within the ranks of the MPS. Furthermore, the IOPC report identified unacceptable attitudes and behaviour towards disabled people, Muslims and the LGBT+ community.
In recent weeks, we have also heard horrifying accounts from Dr Konstancja Duff and Ms. Yvonne Farrell about the abuse of strip search procedures in efforts to humiliate and degrade women in police custody.
CYW calls on the Metropolitan Police to immediately adopt the fifteen recommendations of the IOPC report. We also call on politicians of all parties to demand wider inquiries into the culture of policing as these issues clearly extend well beyond the Met.
The Conservative Party has long been the party of law and order. CYW acknowledges that, every day, brave police officers put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public. We are grateful to the thousands of serving police officers who do their jobs with the highest integrity. These officers are being let down by colleagues who promote sexism, misogyny and homophobia and deserve a workplace free from such prejudices.
Equally, victims of crime deserve to feel safe and supported when reporting crimes and to be confident that the police will do everything in their power to hold criminals and abusers to account.
The relationship between the police and the public is critical to maintaining the principle of policing by consent. The behaviour and culture highlighted by the IOPC report, risks serious damage to that relationship – change is required now.
CYW previously issued a statement following the sentencing the Sarah Everard’s murderer and campaigned at Conservative Party Conference 2021 for an inquiry into misogyny in the police.
