Raising awareness of sexual harassment within the ranks of the police - Workshop for policewomen

A two-day workshop on "Raising awareness about gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace" was held on 24-25 September, 2020 in Konjic. The workshop was attended by about 40 policewomen from law enforcement agencies from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina. This is the second workshop of this type, which is realized within the project "Fight against gender-based violence in police structures in BiH", which is organized by the "Policewomen's Network" Association with the support of the US Embassy.

The aim of the workshop is to raise awareness about gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the police, and the existing protection mechanisms, given the fact that the conudcted research showed that there is a high dark number of these cases in police structures in BiH and plicewomen find it difficult to report it. The cause of such discrimination is most often gender inequality, which is especially pronounced in police structures where men are still predominantly represented.
Through this type of education, policewomen are empowered to recognize all forms of discrimination and report it to the authorities.

Given the fact that the police should be an example to other institutions in the fight against gender-based violence, both when taking measures and actions within their competence, and within their ranks, it is absolutely unacceptable that such cases are not reported and processed by the police.

In the next phase of this project, trainings will be realized for the competent representatives of the Department for Internal Control within the police with the aim of specialization in the investigation of discrimination cases and guidelines for action will be made.

The workshop was assessed as useful by the participants, and as an added value, the opportunity to meet and networking with policewomen from police structures from all levels in BiH was highlighted, which will help them in their further work within the police and the Association. At the end of the workshop, participants were awarded certificates of participation.