The Tenth Assembly of the "Policewomen's Network" Association was held in Sarajevo

The tenth Assembly of the "Policewomen's Network" Association " was held in Sarajevo today (December 22, 2022), at which the management presented the Work Report for 2020, which was unanimously adopted. It was concluded that 2020, as well as the current year 2021, were very successful and that the Association achieved significant results. The Assembly was supported by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the past period, with the support of domestic and international partners, the Association has implemented significant projects that have assisted the police authorities in BiH in implementing the Law on Gender Equality and the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination in BiH. In this context, special emphasis was given to trainings aimed at senior police officers, as well as a series of trainings for policewomen with a focus on raising awareness of gender equality and sexual harassment in the workplace. The trainings for trainers, which were realized with the aim of strengthening the institutional capacities of the police bodies to independently conduct trainings on the topic of gender equality, were especially important. Also, in the reporting period, a large number of affirmative stories / reports about women in the police were realized, with the aim of breaking down prejudices and stereotypes about the police profession as "exclusively" male.

The President of the Association, Kristina Jozić, emphasized that only in 2020, about 350 officers from 16 police bodies in BiH took part in events organized by the Association, which was especially demanding given the epidemiological situation and current protection measures. She also pointed out that much more needs to be done on gender equality issues, as policewomen are underrepresented in police bodies at all levels in BiH, which reflects on their position, but also on the quality of police work in general. She said that the Association, with the support of management od police bodies, will continue to work intensively on improving gender equality in the police, because an efficient police that represents the whole society is in the interest of all citizens.

Numerous issues of interest for the status and protection of the integrity of policewomen were discussed at the Assembly, as well as future projects and directions of the Association's work, after which the Assembly adopted conclusions.