“When people unite and work in the same direction, it yields good results.”

Interview with Kaana Aidarkul, Chairperson of the Kyrgyz Association of Women in the Security Sector 

Women have played an increasingly important role in law enforcement In Kyrgyzstan during the past decade. The Kyrgyz Association of Women Police has been active since 2010.  With the establishment of the Kyrgyz Association of Women in the Security Sector in 2017 the promotion of women was expanded to include women working in other security-related areas. Dr. Colonel Kaana Aidarkul, professor at the Kyrgyz Police Academy for the past 20 years, has chaired both organizations from the start.

How did your work to promote the role of women in the police force begin?

After Kyrgyzstan gained independence in 1991, we embarked upon a democratic path of development. It was necessary to get away from the punitive functions which the police force previously exercised. 2010 was a very difficult year for our country because of the bloody events, riots and change of power that took place. These events demonstrated that women, especially women police officers, are extremely vulnerable, and that we needed to unite.

The leadership of the country, represented by Roza Otunbayeva, President of Kyrgyzstan during the transitional period, supported the idea. As a result, the idea of creating an association of women police officers, which had been ripening for a long time, was at last implemented. On 1 October 2010 we held a founding conference and, together with a number of regional offices, created the Kyrgyz Association of Women Police. The following year, we were able to join the International Association of Women Police Officers.

In the beginning, people could not understand why we were creating the association and what it was for.  At that time, female employees lagged behind men in terms of advanced training and promotion; they were not taken into account.

There are many stereotypes in society, especially regarding police work. Many people believe that if a woman works in the police force, she has not created a successful family life and has no children.  During the past eight years, we have done a lot to enhance the professionalism of women police officers.

How has your association made a difference in police women’s lives?

There used to be district police departments with not a single woman among the employees. Women had only ten per cent of the jobs, and they were never nominated in “employee of the year” awards. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world, gender policies were being implemented and the needs of women employees in uniform were being taken into consideration.

We have no trade union in the police force and, accordingly, social issues were not raised for a long time. But we started talking about these things.  We used every means at our disposal to ensure that the Ombudsman’s office respected the rights and position of women police. We conducted a series of roundtable discussions and presented our proposals to senior management.

An important area of our work is putting gender norms into practice throughout the country. Among the important steps we have taken are changes in administrative culture and the creation of favorable working conditions for women employees with respect to recruitment, professional advancement and influence.

We are improving the leadership qualities of our members, increasing their self-confidence. They now realize that they, too, can perform operational or analytical tasks, and not just serve coffee. In fact, we women are becoming the envy of many men, because we have become more friendly, confident and professional.

The decision to expand our work to include not only policewomen but also women working in other areas of the security sector goes back to 2 March 2017, when we founded the Kyrgyz Association of Women in the Security Sector (KAWSS).

Why is the promotion of the role of women across the whole security sector important?

Currently, reforms are underway in our country in all law enforcement agencies, the judicial system and in the sphere of defence. The task is to restore citizens’ trust in government bodies. The creation of KAWSS last year was perfectly timed for women to participate in this process. Our country now needs a wide range of opinions, and more than half of the country’s population are women. 

The professionalism and skills that women bring to their job can go a long way in the prevention of various offenses, including the violent radicalization of society, and promoting the fight against corruption and other extremely sensitive areas. Women can solve a lot and achieve promising results by applying a multifaceted approach.

KAWSS acts as a bridge between government agencies and civil society. It is important that when members of the public approach employees, they are treated in a gender-sensitive way.

How does KAWSS co-operate with the OSCE?

From the moment we had the idea of creating KAWSS, the Head of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, Pierre von Arx, fully supported us. Without OSCE support, its creation would have taken much longer.

The OSCE has played a major role in promoting our work – assisting in the creation of the Association of Women Police, putting us in contact with international organizations and facilitating our participation in training. I am proud to say that members of our association worked together with OSCE experts, police officers and the public to conduct two projects that resulted in official regulations adopted by government decree, both of which are playing an important role in the current police reforms. One of them concerns the mechanisms of interaction between internal affairs agencies and civil society institutions in Kyrgyzstan. The other concerns the basics of a comprehensive performance evaluation system of the police’s work.

Have you been able to share your success with policewomen from other participating States?

After founding KAWSS, we asked ourselves: why not expand our co-operation to female colleagues from neighbouring countries? In March 2018 we held a conference commemorating the first year of the Association and invited representatives from the neighbouring Central Asian republics. Representatives of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan attended, and we decided to establish more permanent co-operation.

As a result, we concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with the Women's Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan. We had a very productive meeting with the chairman of this organization, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Kamalovna Narbaeva. Currently, specific joint activities, such as organizing meetings, scientific conferences, exchanging specialists and delegations, creating joint working groups, and mutual consultations are being developed. This will benefit us all. When people unite and work in the same direction, it yields good results.