Kanagawa Prefecture has taken a mighty leap into the 21st century. As of February, the prefecture’s police say, they’ll stop the practice of issuing skirts to female officers.
Kanagawa governor Kuroiwa Yuji announced the prefecture’s intent to change the policy of issuing skirts to female officers back in November 2023. Until now, the prefecture has issued all new female officers with six pairs of pants and six sets of skirts. The impractical uniform dates back to a time – about 20-40 years ago – when female officers were, as a rule, assigned strictly to traffic cop duty.
It turns out, however, that few female officers actually wear the skirts they’re issued. The vast majority stick with the pants, as chasing down suspects and dealing with drunk office workers in a skirt isn’t very practical.
“Female officers always dressed in skirts back in the day,” says Yokohama Police Section Chief Terasaki Fumi, who recounts using two layers of stockings to keep her legs warm in the winter.
Official footwear for women back in the day also included pumps with a heel. Terasaki, an exception to the rule who started her career as a station officer in 1983, recalls being left behind when it came to handle “dangerous” calls, such as the discovery of a dead body. Female officers in that day were also generally forbidden from driving patrol cars, relegated instead to the passenger’s seat.
Terasaki says the skirts also opened female officers up to sexual harassment. She recounts how a manager told her he always touched new female recruit’s legs. (Terasaki replied that, if he tried it with her, she’d place him under arrest.)
Since the issuing of police uniforms is a matter of law, the change required passing new legislation. The new bill, introduced in November, stipulates that new female recruits will be issued nine sets of slacks.
The change, which has been approved by the prefectural Assembly, will go into effect in February 2025.
While the bill is an improvement, there’s still more work to be done. Terasaki says that many police agency buildings in Japan were built decades ago when sexist attitudes were still prevalent. As a result, some still don’t even have toilets or changing facilities for female employees.
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