Nowadays it has become a common occurrence to see female police officers in Malta, but it wasn’t always like this.

The first five female police officers were recruited back on the 4th June 1956 and stationed in Valletta.

They used to assist with work at the police station and even help with murder investigations and immigration cases. They in fact, helped in the infamous case of the murder of little Twanny Aquilina.

Even though they used to conduct many patrols, they were never allowed to patrol without any male police supervision.

They were not even allowed to leave their home with their uniform but had to change at the police station itself, unlike other male police officers.

Unfortunately, back then they had to stop working if they decided to get married and were paid much less than their male equivalents.

In fact, their pay was only 4 shillings and 4 pence a day, €1.23 by today’s currency.

The photo shows Rita Refalo (left) and Joan Cuschieri (right) walking by Valletta’s city gate in their smart khaki uniform.

Alongside Rita and Joan, Mary Apap, Maria Cristina and Salvina Attard were also recruited. Both Rita, Salvina and Maria were Gozitan.

Being Gozitan and working in Malta is still somewhat a challenge these days, let alone in the 1950s when travel between the two islands was that much more difficult.

Before they were recruited, they had to sit down for an exam where they were tested in Mathematics, English and Maltese.

'Il-Puliziija' magazine - March 2017, Volume 24

They even had to cut their hair to shoulder length as they were not allowed to have long hair.

In 1962 and 1967, more female police officers were recruited and by 1967, Malta even had its very own first woman sergeant.

Facebook/The National Archives of Malta