Preserving masculine dominance in the police force with gendered bullying and sexual harassment

Sexual harassment within the police force has been documented in different countries, yielding similar results across different cultures. On the other hand, bullying has not been documented to the same extent within the police force or in police work. Building on a survey of the entire Icelandic police force, we draw links between bullying and sexual harassment and show both as one gendered phenomena. Our findings reveal that women experience both bullying and sexual harassment more frequently than men, with men being the perpetrators. The gendered manifestation of sexual harassment and bullying can be seen as a component in a culture of exclusion/inclusion. We thus conclude that both bullying and sexual harassment are conscious or unconscious ways of preserving the gender hierarchy within the police force.