Men have to accept women in non-traditional roles

Thailand has come a long way in terms of educating people about why gender discrimination is wrong, and in reducing the number of incidences of the problem. But some female students at the police cadet school still say they feel like victims of sexual discrimination. Some of their male colleagues are uneasy about seeing female counterparts doing a job that was once reserved almost exclusively for male officers. One female police officer has said that the sexual discrimination was so severe during her time in the police force that she once considered quitting.

Female students are subject to unfair treatment when they assume a role that their male colleagues believe should be preserved for men. This is especially true if the role is considered a masculine one and involves the use of machinery or weapons. It does seem the case that some men feel uneasy about having women perform the same tasks as them. And as a result, some female cadet students feel they suffer discrimination via the “silent treatment” at the workplace. 

Of course, sexual discrimination within the armed forces and the security apparatus of a country is not limited to Thailand. In fact, the unequal treatment of women behind “boot-camp doors” also happens in many Western countries. In some countries, the treatment of women is so severe that it constitutes sexual harassment. Indeed, it’s hard to understand how some men believe sexual assault is a way of demonstrating male superiority over female colleagues.

Cases of sexual discrimination reported in The Nation recently have involved the silent treatment meted out by male cadets to put the pressure on their female counterparts. The report also noted that some male graduates of the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School do not accept female cadets because they believe women have no place in their system.

One female student said about 70 per cent of male students still had a bad attitude towards female police cadets. Some of these men express their feelings clearly, for example by not stopping to salute senior females as required by regulations.

This attitude must be changed. Male students need to understand that the presence of female cadets and officers in fact promotes the efficiency of operations in their units. Female officers offer alternative attitudes and methods to complement the masculinity that dominates the police and armed services. Women bring a different perspective to difficult situations, and this can be of great benefit when a particular scenario requires something more sophisticated than brute force or intimidation.

The presence of female cadets should also promote a better and more diverse learning environment in this male-dominated world. It should be taken as an opportunity to learn about and to recognise different weakness and strengths, and how their application produces different results. This can only contribute positively to the handling of future real-life assignments.

Male cadets need to be taught to feel secure about themselves, and to know that female cadets are not a threat to their masculinity. Such insecurity can become a weakness when there’s a need to accomplish a given mission. After all, law enforcement is a hard enough job without psychological problems getting in the way. And that’s why the cadet school should be the place to adjust the attitudes of these male students – to help them graduate as stronger individuals, not make them weaker by allowing them to succumb to and propagate gender prejudice.

The effort to correct this attitude thus requires a top-down approach through every level. Female cadets must be treated equally and higher-ranking officers should set an example for their subordinates by ending sexual discrimination in their units. 

Once these young officers realise the negative consequences of discrimination, they will be in a better position to know how to settle the kind of disputes between people they’ll come across in their working lives. After all, discrimination and wrong attitudes are a source of division and violence. It is better to address the root causes of discrimination in our educational institutions and from the earliest age possible.