Raising awareness on gender equality in the MOI of Herzegovinian-Neretva Canton

A one-day workshop entitled "Raising awareness of gender equality in police structures in BiH" was held in Mostar yesterday (10/04/2019) in the official premises of MOI of the Herzegovinian-Neretva Canton, which was attended by 20 policewomen from that Canton and Border Police. 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 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.

During the lecture, it was especially emphasized that the security sector must have the capacity to respond to the different security needs of men and women, boys and girls,  of which meny are determined by different gender roles, norms and behavior, and that gender training is a capacity building activity for police services, which is why it is necessary for all police officers to pass the this training.

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 workshop has been evaluated as a multi-beneficiary, and we use this opportunity to thank the leadership of the MOI of Herzegovinian-Neretva Canton for enabling the use of the premises of the mentioned Ministry, as well as the overall support provided to the Association.

The next workshop of this type will be held at the Brcko District Police on April 25, 2019.