ASSISTANT Commissioner of Police, Maxine Graham, is heading a delegation of 21 females of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) currently participating in a leadership conference in Cairns, Australia.

The team, comprising of seven other officers, seven inspectors, two sergeants, two lance corporals and two constables, is scheduled to return home on Friday, September 29, 2017
The one-week training will cover areas of event planning, Trafficking in Persons (modern-day slavery/ sex workers around the world), community relations, domestic violence/ sexuality and gender diversity in policing, leadership and management, forensic challenges, women leading from the outside, evidence-in-chief and the reality of the victim in court, operational solidarity, law society and policing, strangulation investigation , corruption and changing roles of women in law enforcement, and male-dominated hierarchical organisations, amongst others.

According to Press Officer, Superintendent Jairam Ramlakhan, the majority of employees within the GPF are men and that the police culture is looked upon as being imbued with masculinity, male values and norms.
He further explained that equality in general is seen to be an important factor in order to attract more female leaders, which is why various activities are put in place in order to increase the number of women in the organisation.

The superintendent said it is perceived that women were more social and more socially oriented in their leadership than men, which means that they focus more on relations, communication, dialogue and the group dynamics.