OSCE holds workshop in Sarajevo on improvement of the gender-based violence curriculum for law enforcement

On 15 November 2022, the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department held a workshop in Sarajevo dedicated to updating the curriculum for law enforcement on gender-based violence (GBV).

Workshop participants analysed and proposed improvements to the training curriculum on GBV for law enforcement, including further alignment with the Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention, building on a regional pilot state-of-the-art curriculum, and the main findings from the mapping of police and judicial training curricula on GBV conducted in 2021 as part of the OSCE WIN project.

Maida Ćehajić-Čampara, OSCE consultant, emphasized that all forms of GBV, as per the Criminal Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, need to be reflected in the basic, specialized and continuous education for police officers. In addition, all police officers need to be trained on gender equality, to be able to understand what a survivor of GBV is experiencing and thus to be able to provide an appropriate response, while holding perpetrators accountable.

The workshop gathered 18 participants (eight women and ten men) from the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Police Academy of the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs, Basic Court Bijeljina, Federal Police, Federal Centre for Judicial and Prosecutorial Training, Agency for Gender Equality, Brčko District Police, Agency for Education and Professional Training, Federal Gender Centre and NGO Vive Žene.

During the workshop, participants discussed the set of recommendations proposed by the OSCE to improve the curriculum on GBV and elaborated on the best way to institutionalize these changes. Participants also stressed the project's relevance and continued interest in its activities.

This is the fourth workshop on training curriculum organized within the project “Enhancing Criminal Justice Capacities for Combating Gender-based Violence in South-Eastern Europe”, supported by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This workshop will be followed by a specialized training course for police officers, taking place in 2023, organized in co-operation with the Police Academy of the Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs. The training will ensure local ownership and a full customization to the national context.