Raising awareness of Gender Equality and Anti-Discrimination Mechanisms in DKPT BiH

A one-day workshop entitled "Raising awareness of gender equality in police structures in BiH" was held in Sarajevo yesterday (23/10/2018) in the official premises of the Directorate for Coordination of Police Bodies of BiH (DKPT BiH). The workshop was organized by the "Policewomen's Network" Association, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The workshop was attended by police officers and competent representatives of the Department of Internal Control.

The focus of the workshop was on understanding the gender concept in general, different roles and needs of men and women, and topics related to discrimination in the workplace with an emphasis on gender-based harassment and sexual harassment. The aim of the workshop is to raise awareness of these phenomena, present mechanisms of protection and to encourage the reporting of such cases, since it is evident that there is a dark number of cases of discrimination in BiH in all police structures in BiH.

In the introductory part, the president of the Association Kristina Jozić emphasized the significance of this workshop, stressing that the security sector must have the capacity to respond to the different security needs of men and women, boys and girls. She pointed out that training on gender issues is an activity of building the capacity of police services.

The Association expresses its gratitude to the management of the DKPT BiH, led by Director Mirsad Vilić, for supporting this activity as well as the overall work of the Association.

In the forthcoming period, workshops of this type will be organized in all police bodies in BiH, initially for policewomen and representatives of the Department of Internal Control, and then for all employees in police agencies with a focus on middle management.