Jane Townsley
Specialist in gender-responsive policing and women’s empowerment in law enforcement.
Jane’s Work
Lead Operational Planner for the British Transport Police Olympic and Paralympics Project.
Jane’s final position prior to retirement was as project manager and lead operational planner for the British Transport Police (BTP) Olympic and Paralympics project, a five-year project with a total budget of £24.9 million. Her team delivered BTP’s largest ever policing operation in what was the UK’s largest ever peacetime security operation. Jane’s role involved the management of all areas of event planning, resources, logistics, briefings, testing and exercising, communications and media, staff welfare, command and control systems, structures and processes, community engagement and counter terrorism and search. Jane managed the delivery of all aspects of the operation and at its conclusion produced a detailed debrief report to ensure lessons were learned for future planning of major events. The success of the operation was achieved at the same time as efficiencies were being identified resulting in overall savings of £5.81 million. For this achievement Jane received a formal commendation.
Development of Knowledge Products and Policy Advice.
Since retiring from policing in 2013, Jane has accumulated over 12 years of international experience in gender and policing through various consultancies, providing expert advice, capacity building, and training, including post-conflict and conflict-affected environments. Jane has developed several knowledge products with international organizations, three examples include the UN Women Global Handbook on Gender-Responsive Police Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence, the EAPCCO Handbook on Gender Responsive Law Enforcement, and a three-day pilot training with INTERPOL on Gender Responsive Leadership titled Championing Change: Inclusive Leadership for Law Enforcement.
Jane has developed and provided strategic and policy advice on gender issues within policing. Examples include contributing to a report on sexual harassment in the workplace for the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine and developing the Gender Equality Agenda and Action Plan 2021-23 for Kosovo Police, which addressed both internal strategies for women in policing and service delivery to women and girls in local communities. Most recently Jane provided technical advice for the Elsie Initiative Funded Research, Advancing the Meaningful Participation of Women in UM Peace Operations by Supporting Personnel with Caring Responsibilities, led by Monash University, Australia.
In depth lived experience of gender in policing at both organisational and national levels.
Jane’s successful policing career provided her with in-depth lived experience of gender in policing at both organizational and national levels. Notably, she was involved in developing and implementing UK Policing’s Gender Agenda, which transformed women's roles within the service. Throughout her career, Jane was involved in issues that particularly affect women within the service, representing their perspective on various committees within the force, nationally on behalf of the British Association for Women in Policing (BAWP) and internationally as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Women Police (IAWP). Following her retirement in June 2013, Jane received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the BAWP.
For over 24 years, Jane has been involved at board-level with the International Association of Women Police (IAWP) which has provided her with deep exposure to global gender and diversity in policing. Jane’s various IAWP roles, including six years as President has involved engaging with a wide range of audiences and stakeholders, including government ministers.
Delivering and Designing Training Courses.
During Jane’s master's degree studies in Security, Conflict, and International Development, she concentrated on gender issues. Her dissertation examined the impact of gender-responsive policing on women within law enforcement, police organizations, and the communities they serve in conflict-affected countries in the Western Balkans. As a result of Jane’s findings and her own lived experiences, she designed and delivered bespoke training courses on leadership and empowerment of women in policing, including that of operational command. Two very successful programs were subsequently delivered in both Albania and Kosovo resulting in several of the female officers achieving promotion to leadership positions.
Jane’s experience with victims/survivors of Gender-Based Violence.
Throughout my police career, I gained practical experience of dealing with victims/survivors of GBV and the investigation of such crimes, including historical child abuse and sexual violence. I am the Co-Author and global technical advisor for the implementation of the UN Women Global Handbook for Gender-Responsive Police Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence (operationalizing Module 3 of the Essential Services Package), and have supported the implementation of the Handbook in several countries, notably but not limited to: Kosovo, Bangladesh, Egypt, Tanzania, Cambodia, Iceland, South Africa. I am the Author of the EAPCCO (East African Police Chiefs Cooperation Council) Gender Responsive Law Enforcement Handbook, which includes a module on handling GBV. Examples of other GBV knowledge products I have developed are peer-to-peer guides for police middle managers and first responders to VAWG. Two examples of my development and delivery of bespoke GBV training include:
· First Responders to GBV training to Bangladesh Police Officers based in Cox's Bazaar and those responsible for the safety and security of the Rohingya Refugee Camps. I subsequently trained several male senior officers of the Bangladesh Police Armed Policing Battalions. responsible for the safety and security of the refugee camps in Cox's bazaar, to enable them to deliver the 1st Responders GBV course I had developed to ensure it was sustainable. Subject to Violence for Bangladesh Police, both in Cox’s Bazaar and Dhaka.
· Training to both police middle managers and 1st responders in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Community Solutions to Combatting Gender Based Violence GBV and the completion of an assessment of Cambodia National Police Domestic Violence Hotline resource capacity reporting my findings and recommendations for improvement. I subsequently developed and delivered GBV training for specifically tailored for Hotline staff and mentored several of the participants to form a GBV peer-to-peer group to cascade their learning. They also supported my delivery of Community Solutions to Combatting Gender Based Violence training to police officers based in three border districts.
“I have been fortunate to benefit from many opportunities throughout my policing career, during my involvement with IAWP and subsequently as a consultant. These have enabled me to not only share some of my ‘lived’ experiences and learning for the benefit of others, many of whom have fewer opportunities or resources compared to those I have enjoyed, but also to learn from others and experience many diverse cultures. I believe that celebrating International Women’s Day is important to recognise the commitment and resilience of women in policing globally, who despite on-going challenges, continue to serve their communities diligently improving access to justice for all. This is particularly pertinent this year, with the 2026 theme being Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls.”
Publications
(Co-author) Chapter 9 - Women in Culture, Diversity and Criminal Justice – Towards Culturally Safe Criminal Justice Systems (2023) – Routledge ISBN 978-1-032-19187-4
Co-Author) UN Women Handbook on Gender Responsive Police Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence. Available at: https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2021/01/handbook-gender-responsive-police-services
(Co-author) Risks versus Transformational Opportunities in Gender-Responsive Security Sector Reform. Journal of Global Security Studies, 0(0), 2020, 1-16 doi: 10.1093?jogss/ogaa028 Research Article