Maja Bjeloš participated in the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting

During the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw representatives from governments, international organizations and civil society noted that OSCE participating States now better understand the need to recruit more women law enforcement officers and help them to advance in their careers, but also that women police officers often face discrimination in pay and promotion, do not receive the job related benefits to which they are entitled and suffer from the lack of effective policies and procedures to protect them against sexual harassment or assault on the job.

This event entailed a discussion of the internal and external mechanisms that exist, or should exist, within police structures in order to ensure that grievances filed by women and men working in the police are properly addressed. Such grievances usually include gender-based discrimination in pay and advancement, curtailed benefits and rights such as absence of or limited maternity or paternity leave, no policies or procedures to protect against sexual harassment or assault on the job, and also the manner in which the police adhere to every-day security needs of women in the community, such as violence against women.