I’m an ex-officer – sexism in the police no longer surprises me

The recent Panorama programme, Undercover in the Police, was a shocking indictment of the state of the culture within the Met.

Now the BBC has revealed that more than 300 people have contacted them since watching, with their own stories of police racism, corruption, misogyny and bullying. 

Having spent over 10 years between 2004 and 2015 working as a police constable in the Met myself, I watched Undercover in the Police because I was interested to see if anything had changed since I forced myself to fit into the ‘boys club’ that I found makes up the force.

Devastatingly, the programme showed me nothing has changed. 

For those who haven’t seen it, the programme followed Rory Bibb – an undercover reporter posing as a DDO (a designated detention officer) – as he worked in the custody suite at Charing Cross Police Station. He recorded the behaviour of the officers around him, and the footage is shocking.

First, the misogyny. Two sergeants are filmed laughing about a rape allegation, and one – PS Joe McIlvenny – is later recorded describing a female detainee by saying, ‘I’ve paid money to go to clubs and see women dressed like this’.

It’s distressing to hear that amongst the hundreds who have reached out since the programme, the BBC has been contacted by a woman – Ava – who states that she had exactly the same experience with police when she reported domestic abuse while pregnant. 

She was left feeling like the police didn’t believe her, telling her that ‘nobody gets raped more than once.’ 

The programme also exposed racism. Islam was described by one officer as a ‘serious problem’, and Muslims were declared by another to be the people who caused the ‘most crime’ across London.

Ava – a Black woman – suffered not only sexism and humiliation at the hands of the officers she spoke to, but also said the colour of her skin meant ‘everything was stacked against me.’

She added: ‘The language they used and how dismissive and mocking they were, was both misogynistic and racist.’

While watching the programme, I expected racism and I certainly expected misogyny, but what truly shocked me was the unjustifiable violence.

I thought police brutality was mostly a thing of the past, that we’d learnt from avoidable deaths in custody, but it seems to me that police officers seem comfortable increasingly resorting to unnecessary force.

Instead of being ashamed of their behaviour, these officers brag about it. But bragging only occurs when the right people are around, and the programme also exposes the culture of secrecy that has pushed the racists, sexists, and bullies underground.

Sadly, the programme brought me right back to the mid 2000s, when I was a new recruit.

At one point in the show, a clearly uncomfortable female officer leaves a group of male colleagues as they begin to discuss a woman wearing no underwear. 

It reminded me of the multiple times I was made to feel uncomfortable by the male officers around me, how they constantly talked about sex at work, how pornography was shoved in my face, and how I was quizzed on my sex life. 

At the time, I’m ashamed to say I went along with it. There was, and still is, a culture of silence within policing, and anyone who goes against the grain is ostracised and cast out. You had to be ‘one of the lads.’ 

On the occasion where I did speak to a sergeant about it, I was encouraged not to make it official. 

It’s now been 10 years since I left the Met, predominantly so that I could spend more time with my young children,  but I regularly speak to current officers who tell me nothing has changed. 

Female officers in particular reach out to tell me that they still feel like they can’t speak out about the sexism they face at work. 

Recently an officer told me that she was being harassed by a sergeant, and when she told him she didn’t fancy him, he stopped giving her overtime.

I do try and encourage these women to speak up, but it’s hard to convince them when doing so risks losing not only friends, but their whole careers. 

Unfortunately, nothing will change in policing until whistle-blowers are celebrated and encouraged.

Sergeants should take every complaint brought to them by their PCs seriously, and be enthusiastic about ‘going on the record,’ instead of discouraging it. But this would involve a culture shift so enormous that I’m not even sure it is possible.

Thankfully, after the release of the Panorama exposé, the Met reacted quickly – eight officers and one staff member were immediately suspended, with two further officers taken off front line duties.

While it is excellent that the Met have been coming down harder on discrimination – the force says that more than 1,400 officers and staff have left or been dismissed since 2022 for failing to meet standards – the programme shows like-minded cops clearly sticking together.

I believe everything that happens at Charing Cross is also happening at every police station across the UK. 

And today’s BBC report seems to support this, stating that the experiences of the women who contacted them span police forces across England. This is not a Charing Cross problem and it’s not even a Met problem – it’s a UK policing problem.

While some will say exposes like the Panorama programme do more harm than good, and turn women away from policing, I say that they are critical in unveiling the true culture within forces. 

They also let women know they are not alone. One of the women spoken to by the BBC said, ‘Watching Panorama, I realised I must be one of thousands, I’m not the only one. I thought I was.’ 

While I am heartbroken to hear that so many women have suffered at the hands of police, I believe investigations like BBC Panorama’s will mean that in the future women will feel safer speaking out, more secure in the knowledge that their voices will be heard. 

Police forces across the UK have a tough job to win back women’s trust, but they can start by listening to them, respecting them – and believing what they say.

A version of this article was first published on October 2, 2025

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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