This didn’t happen until June 1941 when 10 women began their training.
Prior to joining the New Zealand Police in 1962 Redshaw was in the London Metropolitan Police.
”When I came to New Zealand and joined the police women officers didn’t have a defined role as they did in London which had women officers since 1919.”
Redshaw’s time as a police officer was short-lived. Once she married she left to have a family. She then taught at various schools in Otago and the Bay of Plenty. She attempted to rejoin the police in the mid-1970s.
”My police career was curtailed. I wrote a letter asking to be re-employed but was told the police did not employ women with children. I was so annoyed.”
She again attempted to rejoin in the 1980s but by then age restrictions had come into force and she was told she was too old.
Redshaw went on to apply for a position at the Police College.
”When I went for an interview I was shown into the commander’s office where there were nine officers in uniform waiting to interview me. Talk about an interview by intimidation.
”I knew the interviewers were only allowed to ask me one personal question and I was hoping they wouldn’t ask me how many children I had as I had six. Instead, I was asked what my husband thought about me taking the job.
”But when I was shown around the college the person who took me around kept pumping me for personal information.”
Redshaw got the job and became an education officer at the Police College, with the responsibility for training youth aid officers, recruits and contributing to senior and commissioned officer courses. She then spent seven years designing a curriculum for all police training, followed by a two-and-a-half-year secondment to New Zealand Customs as their national manager for training and development.
Taking on the task of organising the celebration of 50 years of women in policing in 1991 led to Valerie writing a book documenting women’s history in the police. Her book, Tact and Tenacity, was published in 2007.
”I interviewed more than 100 women around the country and their stories are in the book.”
The book is now out of print but Redshaw donated a copy to the Gallery of History.
In 2007 Redshaw was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to education.
Redshaw’s experiences made her realise how difficult it could be for women working in male-dominated organisations.
”Without the suffragettes, New Zealand wouldn’t have had women Justices of the Peace, Members of Parliament or policewomen.”
The Gallery of History’s exhibition was created by member Beth Holden.
”A few years ago I helped in an electoral office where I learned how disengaged with voting our young people were. We need to encourage young voters. The most important thing to hold on to is democracy, especially for women and especially for indigenous women. We have to make people understand it’s important to have their voices heard.”
Gallery of History chairman Murray Holden said of the 435 women in Dannevirke who signed the petition to give women the vote only one name is known and that is J Wallace. The original petition has been lost.
The exhibition was officially opened by Tararua Mayor Tracey Collis who said she had a history of watching the women in her family stand up for their rights.
”I’m proud to come from a long line of women who have fought for us. I hope in the forthcoming election our young people will vote. It will be interesting to see how many women we get into Parliament.”
