The British police force remains an overridingly white and male institution. Yet in times of crisis it is to this police force that women must look for protection or redress. This book takes a look at many areas of policing in relation to women in Britain and Northern Ireland today. It includes contributions from women personally affected and those working in a wide range of fields: feminist and anti-racist campaigns and support services, the peace movement, local government police monitoring, as well as lawyers and feminist researchers. What happens when girls and women seek police help in cases of rape, child abuse, domestic and racial violence? What about those who are subjected to unwanted police attention, which could often be labelled harassment - as political activists, lesbians, black women, Irish and Greenham women, as women coming up against the immigration law or the Mental Health Act, or women working as prostitutes? The final section examines closely who the police actually are and considers the changing balance of police powers in the light of recent legislation.