The Police Service of Northern Ireland has begun an action plan to encourage more women officers and to ensure they are better represented at higher ranks.
The Gender Action Plan, launched in Belfast yesterday, contains a range of objectives. But, according to Asst Chief Constable Judith Gillespie, the primary aim is to set a target of 26 per cent female officers by 2010.
Ms Gillespie, Northern Ireland's most senior policewoman, told The Irish Times the PSNI wanted to make its structures "more representative right across the board".
She added: "We have done quite well in attracting female recruits. About 35 per cent of trainees coming through the training centres are female, and that's a success story."
But the situation was more gloomy at higher ranks and within the specialist units such as crime investigation and intelligence, traditional male domains.
She said the police service needed to help foster role models for female officers and to provide mentors for those who wished to advance their careers.
"Male staff need to take more of an interest in female staff in their particular areas and encourage them to apply for specialist posts which have been seen as a male domain."
Women within the PSNI had tended to wait until confident of promotion before applying, she said. Men on the other hand tended to try earlier for promotion.
She denied that policing in Northern Ireland was inherently sexist, but claimed that some attitudes within the service reflected some wider public attitudes.
"It would be naïve to say anything else," she said. "This service is representative of society, and in society there are some sexist attitudes. There are still people who think that women should be at home minding the children."
The plan was drawn up under the requirements of the Police Act, 2000, and influenced by the Policing Board.