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| Heidi J. T. Exner |
Until recently, the traditional route to becoming a private eye (PI) had been police or military service, and the male-to-female ratio was wildly skewed. Female private investigators were not unheard of, but they were the exception and not the norm. In 2025 the male-to-female ratio has improved, but it is still a male-dominated industry. In my personal experience, I have never had an issue with my clients due to my gender. I have, however, had numerous problems with my male peers. I knew I was not the only female private investigator who had these experiences, but I never knew the full extent of this.
I was curious, and this led me to design and administer a global survey on the topic.
We’ve seen countless studies within the legal profession designed to address issues ranging from racial, gender or age discrimination to mental health concerns and everything in between. I have always applauded Canada’s legal community for making such admirable efforts to address difficult issues head-on, especially those that address gender issues explicitly or examine the intersection of gender and other issues.
Although I am proudly part of the legal community, I consider myself a consultant and investigator first and foremost at this time. My peers are, therefore, comprised of numerous circles: private investigators, fraud examiners, risk management professionals, business owners, and yes, also lawyers. I have often chuckled at the irony of investigators’ relative lack of investigation into matters that affect our peers. Are we not supposed to be curious individuals who are adept at uncovering truths? Where is our passion to advance our chosen field?
It turns out the passion is here. It has been waiting for the right time to emerge.
I pitched my study and obtained unanimous board approval from the Council of International Investigators (CII), and I first circulated it among this global group at the beginning of February.
I am aware that shining a light on the sorts of sensitive issues that flourish in the dark shadows has a tendency to create a stir. In fact, I vividly recall the stir that a 2022 National Study on the Psychological Health Determinants of Legal Professionals caused, as the data produced by this report caused many legal professionals to reflect on some serious issues, such as substance abuse.
The above noted, I found myself unprepared for the flurry of international discussion my little-study-that-could would create. The CII is a group of hundreds of members, not thousands.
When I first distributed this 20-minute survey among my CII peers, I immediately received emails, social media messages and phone calls from private investigators from Europe, Asia and North America. Some were peers I knew or with whom I have worked who merely wanted to express support for this initiative. Most were investigators I had never met, who wished to speak with me and share their experiences with someone they felt they could trust. “Good grief,” I thought. “This struck one heck of a nerve!”
Most notably, a friend and colleague I respect, Roman Bazikalov of MADPI Global, stepped up immediately with a show of support and efforts to aid in distribution outside the CII.
Some also reached out with pushback, but overall, the initial enthusiasm was encouraging!
In the following weeks, obtaining responses became a bit more challenging. I sent out a reminder call to my peers, and just as I was drafting notes for more distribution channels, I received a phone call from my friend Brian King of King International Advisory Group. He saw my reminder note and called to tell me that he wholeheartedly applauded my goal. He then took it upon himself to personally invite a swath of private investigators in his network in individual emails (with me cc’d). He must have spent a few hours hammering these out and in friendly exchanges with those who replied right away. Dillon King of the same group also took it upon himself to expand distribution.
… And we were back to the races!
Up to the present day, I am still communicating with investigators around the globe about this issue. What disheartens me is that many female PIs have shared that they have had a terrible time with gender bias in our industry, both among our peers and in client interactions. Some have explained they have felt speaking up about the matter might cost them work, and all that raised this concern have stated they felt the work they had been assigned or hired to do had often been mainly based on their gender.
Most unsettling, perhaps, is that I have also heard from female private investigators in North America, and even Canada specifically, about how they feel they have been tokenized or sexualized by clients and our male peers. Let’s not forget that many of our clients are lawyers.
I do not have the final results from this study quite yet, but through this experience to date and through the support of my peers and allies, I can say the following with confidence:
Whatever the results of this and subsequent studies may suggest, we have the passion, the means, and the will to improve our industry.
Happy International Women’s Day, everyone!
Heidi J. T. Exner is an award-winning white-collar crime fighter. She is the founding partner of Ethical Edge PI & Corporate Advisors, the founder and chair of the Exner Foundation, and she serves on the Policy & Advocacy Committee at the Canadian Blockchain Consortium. She welcomes you to find her on LinkedIn or check out her biography page on Ethical Edge’s website.
The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author’s firm, its clients, Law360 Canada, LexisNexis Canada or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.
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