Achieving gender equality through the implementation of gender-sensitive indicators in the police

The seminar brought together more than 20 participants from various organizational units of the MoI, such as the Bureau for Strategic Planning, the Department for managing projects financed from European Union funds and other organizational units within the Office of the Minister and others. Participants had the opportunity to build their capacities  in order to implement gender analysis in planning, strategies and policies, and thus contribute to the promotion of gender equality at of the Ministry of Interior. 

The Police Seen Through the Gender Lenses

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On the first day of the seminar, the participants have discussed the basic terms and concepts related to gender equality. There was a lot of discussion how different social expectations imposed on men and women have a direct impact on their position in the society. 

“Research suggests that even abilities that are more typical for men such as spatial intelligence, is not biologically inherited, but rather arising from the different treatment of boys and girls during childhood,” emphasized the BCSP director Sonja Stojanovic Gajic. In addition, participants were introduced to the principles and aspects of gender mainstreaming in order to analyze the progress of gender equality in the police force.

 

Examples of Good Practice on the Integration of Gender Equality Programs Implemented by Government Bodies

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Dragan Božanić, advisor at the Provincial Secretariat for Economy, Employment and Gender Equality held an interactive lecture on the integration of gender equality principles in the Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. By using gender analysis and budgeting as a tool for analyzing the impact of provincial programs on women and men, Božanić illustratively explained the reasons why policies and budgets are not gender neutral. 

“The aim of the Provincial Secretariat is to shape provincial policies and programs in a way to respond to the needs of women and men.  The gender perspective should be integrated into every phase of budgetary decisions. This implies a change of priorities that focuses on the implementation of gender equality of women and men”, noted Božanić.

The Use of Gender Indicators as Measurement of Change

Radmila Miković, an independent consultant and external evaluator of the projects funded by the European Union and the Swedish International Development Cooperation familiarized the participants with the importance and basic approaches in developing indicators for monitoring the effectiveness of programs and projects. Since gender indicators are used for evaluation of results of gender oriented policies, as well as introducing certain policies with gender perspective, the participants practiced development of gender indicators. Those indicators are to monitor National Action Plan for the implementation of the Resolution 1325 – Women, Peace and Security.In this way, the participants will be able to utilize their acquired knowledge to the future work and contributed to a more effective planning and implementation of strategies and policies at the Ministry of Interior, thus taking into account the needs of women and men. 

Quantitative analysis of women’s status in the MoI

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Gender Equality Adviser and advisor of head of Sector for analytical, telecommunications and information technology, Tatjana Vasić, analyzed the participation of police officers in work and decision-making process within the Ministry of Interior. Ministry of Interior achieved permanent growth regarding participation of women in the police. However, data conducted by the Analytical Group shows unequal representation of women in police departments, as well as on the higher positions. 

„It is important to define strategic goals regarding employment in the strategy making process, in order to strengthen capacities for providing services to different groups. It is necessary to include gender perspective in strategy and take into consideration the impact of the proposed solution on women and men”, Vasić said.