Burly, intimidating and aggressive. These have long been the assumed prerequisites for becoming a bouncer.
Now, the word “bouncer” itself could be on its way out after the UK’s security industry head said it should not be used because of its “macho” connotations.
Heather Baily, the head of the Security Industry Authority (SIA), said the word conjured up the image of “a large, muscular man”.
She told the Times: “It goes back to times before regulation, before the SIA. And it doesn’t reflect the professionalism that today’s licensed operatives bring.”
The SIA, a non-departmental public body that reports to the Home Office, issues licences to those working in private security. This includes nightclub door supervisors and security guarding offices and shops. Of the roughly 450,000 people who hold an SIA licence, just under 11% are women.
“I’ve asked female licence holders how they feel about that term, and they don’t like it. It’s so outdated,” said Baily.
For women in the industry, Baily’s words resonate. “A lot of women in the past believed that you needed to be a big, solid unit in order to be able to provide security,” said Di Winn, a cofounder of Labrys Security, the UK’s first all-female security company.
“It’s just not the case,” she added. “Women are perfectly able to provide security without needing to use size as a means to an end.”
While women make up a small number of overall SIA holders, data from the body shows a sharp increase in the number of female security personnel. In the past four years, there has been a near-30% rise in the number of women qualified to work security.
Winn said security training was departing from the idea of simply chucking people out of nightclubs. “SIA training is moving away from the idea of bouncing people out of nightclubs and needing big burly blokes on the door.
“Back in the 70s, 80s and probably even the 90s, it was a bouncer – very much a bouncer – but now the term is definitely being moved away from,” she said.
The private security industry is an integral part of the government’s drive to reduce violence against women. According to Baily, there are almost three times as many licence holders as there are police on the streets.
“We’re living in a culture now where women are almost used to some level of male violence,” said Winn. “Attending any kind of event where you have to walk past or through men, for some women, can be quite intimidating. Female security provides an entirely different feel.”
Baily is keen to increase the number of women working in private security. “They bring skills of attention to detail. They recognise when people are vulnerable. They manage to defuse conflict, but they also bring skills of empathy and kindness and reassurance. A woman who’s on a night out, and who’s being pestered, is more likely to approach another woman for help.
“Those kinds of skills, to recognise vulnerability, we are instilling in all of our licence holders. But that’s the skill set that women bring,” she said.
For women hesitant about a career in the field, Winn has some words of encouragement. “Women need to know that the SIA have very much changed what they’re looking for in security these days and are moving away from old practices,” she said. “Women need to know that this is a good time to be working in security. We really do make a difference.”
