THUNDER BAY — Female staff from several policing agencies gathered in the city for a unique training and wellness day last week.
Ontario Women in Law Enforcement (OWLE) gathered at the Delta Hotel in Thunder Bay with 100 women in attendance on Thursday.
Both sworn and civilian members from the Thunder Bay Police Service, OPP, Nishnawbe Aski Police Service, Anishinabek Police Service, Thunder Bay corrections, RCMP, and agents from the Canada Border Services Agency participated in workshops and keynote discussions on mental health in the workplace.
Dr. Kathryn Sinden is an associate professor in the School of Kinesiology at Lakehead University. She spoke about her research into the challenges that women face in male-dominated fields, like policing.
She hopes that women at the conference will give themselves grace, both in their jobs and in their lives.
"Women in these spaces, not only are we experiencing the work in a different way, but there's also the extra demands. We spoke today a little bit about the hidden mental load that's associated with women in work, whether that's helping to support families or aging parents and all the different facets of life, women are managing that."
She talked about a common theme she's noticed when speaking to front-line and first responders.
"I think words like 'isolation' tend to come up every now and then, and we heard a little bit of that today as well, especially when you're the first woman coming into a space. There can be a real sense of isolation and not knowing, and I don't think that's just a female experience.
"I think that happens with a lot of people... I think when we think about social exclusion at work, that's commonly experienced by women working in male-dominated occupations."
Lindsey Riddell, co-chair of the Ontario Women in Law Enforcement and a detective sergeant with the Toronto Police Service in its cyber operations unit, was happy to bring the one-day conference to the Northwest.
"It's something that we do a GTA training day every year in the fall, and we need to recognize the women all across Ontario," adding that the importance of remote services having access to the same kind of training as southern agencies is highly valued.
"As our name states, we represent all of Ontario, so we figured we really need to give these women who would probably have not had the opportunity otherwise to experience."
Riddell also hopes that having a training session in Thunder Bay will raise more awareness of OWLE, as it has been around since 1997.
