ABSTRACT
Regardless of developing or developed economies, the masculinised police organisational culture is an impediment to accepting women as equal partners. Kenya is no exception because policing is a male-dominated occupation and women are underrepresented and undervalued. Furthermore, breaking the hard rock macho police culture is a challenge in countries such as Kenya where the local culture is still patriarchal. This chapter presents a case of gender reforms in the Kenya Police Service (KPS) in improving the status of women towards gender equity and equality. Using grey literature, first, the chapter provides an account of gender reforms in KPS in the past decade, and through recent empirical research the chapter illustrates the ‘organizational readiness’ in accepting women as an integral part of policing. We discuss and conclude the role of gender reforms to resonate with the worldwide mantra of 30% representation of women in policing and the need for empirical research to reinforce the status of women policing.
