Raising awareness on gender equality in Brko District Police

A one-day workshop entitled "Raising awareness of gender equality in police structures in B&H" was held in Brčko yesterday (25/04/2019), which was attended by 20 policewomen from Brcko District Police and Border Police of B&H. The workshop was organized by the "Policewomen's Network" Association, with the support of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The focus of the workshops was on understanding the concept of gender issues in general, gender roles and gender equality, and also discrimination in the workplace with emphasis on gender harassment and sexual harassment.

The research entitled "Human Rights Defenders in Police Structures in BiH: Mechanisms of Protection Against Discrimination" was presented, which the Association conducted in the previous period in cooperation with the Foundation for Local Democracy. It has been emphasized that policewomen are underrepresented in the police agencies at all levels in B&H, and that there are almost no women in senior and managerial positions. In that regard, all institutions must adopt an appropriate program of measures for achieving gender equality, which is an obligation in accordance with the Law on gender equality in BiH.

During the lecture it was emphasized that the training on gender issues is the activity of capacity building of the police services, which is why it is necessary that all employees in the police services pass the mentioned training. In this regard, it is announced that in the coming period, education of this type will be directed to the middle management staff in all police agencies

Upon completion of the workshop, a working meeting was held with the members of the Association, where it was discussed about further directions of work, current projects and plans for the current year.

The next workshop of this type will be held at the MOI of Tuzla Canton May 8, 2019.