ACTIVISTS held a candlelit vigil outside Gwent Police's headquarters last night, demanding institutional change and more protections for women and girls.
Bearing signs that read "police yourselves" and "who do you call for help when your abuser is in the police", the group held their protest to mark the International Day to End Violence Against Women and Girls.
The vigil outside Gwent Police HQ follows what The Women's Equality Party called "allegations of shocking abuse" and "the revelation of misogynistic, racist and homophobic WhatsApp conversations between officers in the force".
The protest was supported by the wife and daughter of Ricky Jones, the officer at the centre of the abuse allegations, which arose after messages were found on his phone after he took his own life.
Earlier this month, when news of the allegations broke, they said they felt unable to report it to the police because of his links to the force.
His daughter said: "The police are there to protect women and girls from abuse, but only if your abuser is not a police officer.
"Gwent Police say that they are committed to ending abuse of women, but have a long history of protecting abusers in the force as opposed to protecting victims.
"Gwent Police have the opportunity to change their culture, to lead the way when it comes to how UK police forces respond to victims of police abusers. We want to be proud of our police force, don't let us down."
Hanna Andersen, leader of The Welsh Women's Equality Party, said: "I want people to see the way this police force failed this family, and the things that police officers say about women behind closed doors, so that they understand how hard it is for women to seek help and why sexual violence against women is all but decriminalised. This is simply not good enough."
Mandu Reid, who leads The Women's Equality Party, said she was "tired of being told that it's a few bad apples".
"How much more evidence does the home secretary need that misogyny is baked into police forces across the UK?" she asked. "It’s not enough to simply investigate these forces as though they are isolated incidents.
"Unless there is a proper inquiry, with statutory powers, the culture in our police forces will never change. That means fewer women will come forward to report violence against them, and more perpetrators will get away with it - including police officers themselves."
The police watchdog the IOPC has now launched an investigation into the conduct of Gwent Police officers after allegations of racist, misogynistic and homophobic messages surfaced.
Gwent Police have confirmed they have suspended three officers in relation to the allegations. Wiltshire Police are independently investigating the Gwent force.
Following news of the allegations, Gwent Police chief constable Pam Kelly said:"The content shared with us is vile and these views have absolutely no place in Gwent Police.
"While the independent investigation is underway we’re unable to comment on the individual allegations but we have demonstrated that we do take professional standards of behaviour extremely seriously and will take action against any officer or staff member breaching them regardless of rank."
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