PW_3_2024

Professional Development

Tree-planting in Budva

Delegate Group Shot

The Gender World Congress of Women

Police Officers Budva, Montenegro 25-28 March 2024 Karen Duckworth, VP Social and Culture/IBZ Gimborn Lead It was a huge honour to be invited to attend this event on behalf of not only Section UK, but also the wider International Police Association (IPA). C haired by IPA Section Montenegro President Biljana Dulovic (also Lead for the Montenegro Policewomen’s Network) and supported by IPA International Executive Board member, Mr Christos Parginos, Police Forces from over 28 countries, as well as Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) were represented by delegates who were invited to share their experience and insights.

KD Presenting

I have detailed the list of key speakers as a way to demonstrate the tone of the event. The speakers outlined cross-border strategic and operational plans targeting Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG), whilst considering how women who become victims of transnational crime can be identified and better supported. Delegate speakers focused more on in-country activities that targeted VAWG whilst also shining a light on the policing networks that supported women in policing. Gender Mainstreaming activities were very much front and central to the presentations, and it was fascinating to hear directly from countries whose policing activities might be harder to access without events such as this, or organisations like ours, countries like Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Furthermore, it was really interesting to hear from women policing in countries such as Kosovo, Albania, Serbia and indeed, Montenegro itself, countries that many of my generation associate with armed conflict in the late 1990s. It is hard for me to describe what it was like hearing their lived experiences, many of these women were my age or a little older, who were policing during this time and who now are heavily invested in organisations like the OSCE. The purpose of the OSCE is to “help bridge differences and build trust between states by co-operating on conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation”. It would be an understatement to say that

From an IPA perspective, many were IPA members in their own right, but were in attendance on behalf of their Force or organisation. Even though IPA gender representation is only 15 per cent of members, this still equates to 55,000 women associated with policing, so the IPA had a meaningful presence. Other contributors to the conference were – Jovana Mijovic (State Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Montenegro); Vladimir Stanisic (Director of the National Police Academy); Ambassador Alena Kupchyna (Co-ordinator of Activities to Address Transnational Threats, Organisation for Security and Co operation in Europe (OSCE) Secretariat); Anesa Agovic and Ioannis Vlassis (Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime); Montserrat Pina Martinez (President of the European Network of Police Women); Elena Gherta (Criminal Intelligence Service of Austria); Inesa Nicolasceu (Associate Border Security Officer, OSCE Secretariat) and Dusan Bakovic (Chief Police Inspector, Police Directorate of Montenegro).

POLICE WORLD Vol 69 No.3, 2024

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