16 Days, 2 Conferences, 1 Global Message

A full week has passed since our historic IAWP journey to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for the 1st Emirates Women Police Conference. I have checked in with both Myra (below left) and Margaret (below right) and they report they are recovering from the jet lag, but still digesting the totality of our experiences. I am sure we will reflect on this for many years to come.

The IAWP was invited to take part in the Emirates Women Conference through the dedicated work on the Region 16 Coordinator, Steph Harding. During our time together, I learned that Steph has worked overseas in eight assignments. She is well versed in the customs of many countries and helped us to follow proper decorum while we were in UAE.

Steph worked hand in hand with the President of the newly affiliated Emirates Police Women Association, Amnah. IAWP board members were thrilled to learn that she will be taking a larger role on the IAWP board in the near future.

During the opening ceremonies (photo below) we had ample opportunity to meet and take photos with women from all over the middle east. This photo features IAWP board members with a police officer from Abu Dhabi police.

The photograph below features my name (top line) and my rank (bottom line) written in Arabic. The scrip is so beautiful I asked a member of the Abu Dhabi police to write it out for me. Over 700 delegates participated in this event, travelling from countries such as Amman, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Syria and all over the UAE. We were able to communicate with most in English and both Margaret and I even took advantage of our French to speak with officers from Syria. (Margaret is much more fluent than I am but I managed ...LOL...I have resolved to improve my oral French very soon!)

I must admit I was very naive about women in policing in the middle east. Officers from Jordan (below) told me that their country has advanced the rights of women for many years. Now, women are able to work in any police assignment that men can, they are afforded equal pay for equal work and they have full support of the government and the Jordanian Royal Family. The photograph below is me with a Forensic Specialist (far left), an officer on UN assignment (left of me), a Police Prosecutor (right of me) and the Officer in Charge (far right).

The Abu Dhabi Police have set a very high standard for conferences. However, when we parted ways, many of the delegates were busy talking and planning for the second women police conference in the region. Clearly, the presentations on leadership, forensics, Interpol, and career planning started the momentum to continue with training for future generations of women police.

1st Asia Region Women Police Conference

Dhaka, Bangladesh was our IAWP home for the second week of the journey. In the photo above I am standing with officer from the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, which is a division of the Bangladesh National Police.

The entire city was decorated, much like the driveway here, with posters and flags in honour of this conference. This photo (above) is the view approaching the dorm at the Bangladesh Police Staff College. The IAWP board meeting took place here and so did the program portion of the Asian Women Police Conference. It proved to be a fantastic venue for both events.

Region 3 Coordinator, Donna Saucier (above right) poses with one of the two officer from Indonesia (above left) who attended the conference in Dhaka. The Indonesian officers were proud to stand up and invite all delegates to attend the Second Annual Asia Women Police Conference in Indonesia next year.


Region 15 Coordinator Amena Begum put hours of effort into coordinating this conference. During the "Developing Women Police Leadership" panel discussion she spoke up and stated that she was a "situational leader" in that she was given the situation of coordinating the conference and simply rose to the challenge. I think she is being a bit modest in her efforts. This conference attracted officers from Indonesia, Pakistan, Maldives, and Nepal.

The conference topics covered included Domestic Violence investigations, leadership, gender specific policing, and an introduction to UN Police missions. My only regret...I could not take in every session...

The photo above features me and Donna Saucier in front of one of the hundreds of banners displayed for the opening ceremony. Donna was photographed as frequently as Margaret in her Delaware State Police uniform.

What next?

That is the question I was asked repeatedly in Abu Dhabi and in Dhaka. I now realize that I have so much more to learn about women in policing in other countries. Some have very similar challenges to us in Canada...work/life balance and juggling family priorities for example...and some have very unique challenges...overcoming a society views that still believes women should not work as police officers, that we may not be strong enough.

The future is exciting for women in policing and for IAWP. I look forward to many more global events where women can share experiences and challenge each other to think in new ways. We have started a wave of dialogue that will only help to strengthen women in policing all over the world.

The global message I want to leave all of you with is borrowed from the Inspector General of the Bangladesh Police who stated during his remarks at the Opening Ceremony "The nation should be proud of you for taking up this challenging career."

We should all be proud of ourselves!