§ Ms. RichardsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) whether he has issued any circular relating to the trend in the role of women police officers in relation to crime involving women and children, as recommended by the Women's National Commission;
(2) what circulars he has issued following the Women's National Commission's 1985 recommendation that he issue a further circular, following up H.O. 25/83, on the continued problem of the under-reporting of crimes of rape and sexual assault, and the special needs of victims in relation to rape trauma syndrome.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggThe deployment of women police officers is an operational matter for chief officers of police in the light of the overall needs of their force and the requirements of equal opportunities legislation. Home Office circular 69/1986, which contains the responses agreed with chief officers to the report of the Women's National Commission on violence against women, recognises the valuable role which women police officers may play, subject to the operational requirements of individual forces.
The responses to the report also specify measures to ensure that sexual assaults are accurately and fully recorded and confirm the importance of making police officers who are involved in the investigation of serious sexual offences aware of the special needs of victims.