OSCE/ODIHR builds capacity of Ukrainian police in preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence
Increasing responses to sexual and gender-based violence in Ukraine was the topic of a capacity building event, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), bringing together police educators and officers from across the country in Kyiv on 22 and 23 November 2017.
Ukrainian police educators and officers participate in a group exercise during a capacity building event on preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence. The event was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Kyiv on 22 and 23 November 2017.
Twenty-seven participants, including investigators, police instructors and internal oversight officers of the National Police Human Rights Directorate, among them 17 women and 10 men, discussed their experiences, as well as challenges and good practices in responding to sexual and gender-based violence, case-handling by the police and co-operating with civil society.
The event was the third in a series of capacity building seminars on the topic of gender-based violence organized by ODIHR in co-operation with Ukrainian national authorities, the La Strada Ukraine NGO and the European Union Advisory Mission to Ukraine (EUAM). The seminars aim to contribute to the integration of human rights and gender perspectives into Ukraine’s ongoing security sector reform.
“To effectively prevent and respond to gender-based violence, it is necessary to reflect on society’s tolerance towards such violence, its root causes and its enabling factors, which are often concealed,” said Graziella Pavone, ODIHR Human Rights Officer. “Responses to violence also need to be informed by an understanding of how gender bias and discrimination are present in state institutions tasked to assist and protect victims and those most vulnerable to such violence.”
Konstantin Tarasenko, Head of Division in the Human Rights Directorate, said: “As a recently established internal oversight body of the National Police, we strive to strengthen the capacity of our staff so that we can fulfil our role of improving police responses to cases of gender based-violence in Ukraine.”
Katarina Borozdina, La Strada Ukraine’s expert and trainer, pointed to recent research by the NGO, which revealed that 27 per cent of surveyed police officers from Ukraine have never been trained on addressing domestic violence while 41 per cent have never received capacity building support to effectively respond to cases of sexual violence. “This clearly points to the need for more workshops like this one,” she said.
The training programme is also intended to support the implementation of Ukraine’s National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.
“The event included discussion of concrete recommendations on how to end impunity in cases of conflict-related sexual violence in the Ukrainian context and secure adequate care and counselling for the victims,” said Ewa Sapiezynska, ODIHR Human Rights Officer.
Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
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