A former Met Police officer has said she witnessed her male colleagues share “revenge porn” while at work. Alice Vinten, who spent 11 years in the Met, said she saw fellow officers share pictures that had been sent in confidence by their girlfriends, who were often also in the police force.
Ms Vinten said she experienced sexism throughout her career as a frontline police officer, and even had male colleagues randomly show her pornography. She added that officers also made jokes about her giving oral sex while she was eating a banana.
“I remember them taking the mick out of one of the younger officers because he had got an STI from a prostitute. There was even stories of them using prostitutes in this country,” she said.
“There were things that would now be considered revenge porn. A number of the police officers had seen intimate pictures and they would share them around.”
Ms Vinten said she overheard police officers say 99% of rape cases were regretful sex, and “women would cheat and say it was rape to get out of it”. She added: “We were always told never to apologise, never admit to doing anything wrong – that kind of attitude really does not help. If you root out the people who make these comments you root out the really bad ones.”
A damning review into the Met Police has accused the force of being institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic. The Metropolitan Police has failed to protect the public from officers who abuse women, organisational changes have put women and children at greater risk and female officers and staff routinely experience sexism, Baroness Louise Casey’s report said.
The 363-page report found that violence against women and girls has not been taken as seriously as other forms of violence. It found that there is widespread bullying in the Met, with a fifth of staff with protected characteristics – for example, race, sexuality or disability – being victimised.
“Female officers and staff routinely face sexism and misogyny,” the report said. “The Met has not protected its female employees or members of the public from police perpetrators of domestic abuse, nor those who abuse their position for sexual purposes.
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“Despite the Met saying violence against women and girls is a priority, it has been treated differently from ‘serious violence’. In practice this has meant it has not been taken as seriously in terms of resourcing and prioritisation.”
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