QUT Centre for Justice member, Associate Professor Danielle Watson has published a piece in The Interpreter titled, “Pacific women in policing: Seen but still not heard”.
The piece examines how gender equality reform in Pacific policing has become highly visible, yet often stops short of redistributing institutional power. Drawing on regional examples from Solomon Islands and Samoa, it reflects on the resilience and adaptability of patriarchal structures within law enforcement and questions whether representation is being mistaken for influence.
Read the full piece here.
Danielle Watson is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow in the School of Justice. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of the South Pacific and an Affiliate of the Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI). Her research focuses on Pacific regional security, border security, policing, police/community relations, policing culturally and linguistically diverse communities and plural regulatory systems in the Caribbean and Pacific. She conducts research on (in)security in Pacific Island countries, capacity building for security service providers, recruitment and training as well as many other areas specific to improving security governance in developing country contexts. Her research interests are multidisciplinary in scope as she also conducts research geared towards the advancement of tertiary teaching and learning.
In 2026 Danielle will lead a QUT Centre for Justice Briefing Paper Series on Cross Disciplinary Insights on Pacific Security and Justice, due for release in July.
This series is being developed in conjunction with Solomon Islands Australia Partnership, University of the South Pacific and Solomon Islands National University. This special edition will explore Australia’s relationship as a good neighbour to the Pacific, and will seek to build collaboration in the following research areas:
- Education
- Security
- Climate/Sustainability
- Health
- Gender
Read more about the series here, including Author Guidelines.
Cover image Pita Simpson/Getty Images
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