Roundtable „Discrimination and support mechanisms for women in the security sector” held in the Centre

Milica Pavicevic from the Office of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality (CPE), Danijela Spasic from the Police Academy (PA) and Snezana Novovic representing Serbian Ministry of Interior (MoI) Department for Education, Training and Science spoke in the Belgrade Centre on October 19, 2011 on protection against discrimination and support mechanisms for women and men in the security sector.

Who are the worst discriminators in Serbia?

The data presented by the representative of the Office of the CPE indicate that Government, or public administration counts as most common discriminators (in 41% of cases), and is followed by employers in profit sector (19.4%) and public enterprises (17.6% of cases). Discrimination occurs mainly in the sphere of labor relations and employment, but is also frequent in the public sphere, the judiciary, in the work of state bodies, services and education. To one discriminator to be recognized and reprimanded, it is necessary first to identify him (or her), and to know what protective measures, rights and legal mechanisms are available to the victim. Women fear to report discrimination because they are not sure what consequences they may suffer. Also, it should be taken into account that discriminators are not only men but also women who are in management positions, and which also may discriminate against another woman.

What is the course of the proceedings before the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality?

Any person who has suffered some form of discrimination process may file a complaint with the CPE, which within 90 days considers and determines on the existence of discrimination, identifies the discriminator, circumstances and behavior that led up to it. It is important to note that the defendant bears the burden of proof, that it is he who must prove that discrimination did or did not exist. This contributes to better protection of victims of discrimination and provides access to the information to the defendant. After all factors are identified, the alleged discriminator has 30 days at his or hers disposal to comply (or not) with the recommendation that the Office has sent. If he or she refuses to comply, then the whole case is made public. Milica Pavicevic from the Office of the CPE has pointed out that although such a result might not seem strong enough, in practice it has proven to be effective. Office of the CPE was successful in resolving claims in the case of gender-based discrimination.

Specifics of discrimination against women employees in the security sector

The results of a survey conducted by Danijela Spasic from the PA showed that Serbia is no different than most countries, where in traditionally male occupations such as police work, one of the main causes of discrimination against women is the dominant masculine culture. Numerous studies worldwide have shown that the police profession implies an environment that is laden with many forms of discriminatory treatment of women. The preliminary results of research on discrimination against women in police, in addition to the comparative analysis of experiences of other countries, together with interviews that were made with 10 women who completed the PA and 20 women who completed the basic training (college level) show this as their key finding. The aim of the method utilized in the study was to identify the most common types and causes of discrimination against women employees. In addition to masculine culture, the most common cause of discrimination and low level of representation of women in the police, especially those in leading positions.

Among the most common forms of discrimination, the respondents have indicated that while men are first in line for promotion, women rarely occupy command posts, rarely work on operational matters and are usually assigned to administrative work. Rude jokes and non-recognition of colleagues’ working skills present another form of discrimination. Also recognized in the study “Establishment of Network of Police Women in Southeast Europe”, is that out of 1,500 employees in the Serbian MoI most respondents (both men and women) think that women are sometimes subjected to various forms of inappropriate behavior.

During the discussion, participants expressed a desire to expand the survey sample to include a wider number of respondents, but also to develop a questionnaire that could later, with minor adjustments, be applied to other institutions in the security sector.

The mechanism of “Support to colleagues” in the Ministry of Interior

“Support to colleagues” is an initiative in which specially selected and trained staff provides assistance to colleagues in his unit. The program was first introduced in its pilot phase in the 2006-2007, and was later continued in 2010. The role of colleagues is to provide primary support to their co-workers when they are:

–          subjected to violence or threats;

–          injured;

–          have attended an traumatic event;

–          after such incidents in which there were also children involved;

–          after incidents in which gunmen were involved or in which a firearm was used

–          in dramatic rescue;

–          after the incident that was followed by a internal investigations;

–          In interpersonal relationships (relationships with colleagues, and family problems).

Colleagues who provide support are anonymously selected employees of the same rank. Individuals, who have been elected to that position, do the job voluntarily, after mandatory training which lasts five days. Every colleague, after providing support, has an obligation to respect the privacy of his co-workers, except in cases of violation of law. 

One of the most important questions raised in the ensuing discussion was should, perhaps, the role of such trusted person be taken by psychologist. Representative of the MoI, Snezana Novovic, said that peer support brings to the table a greater degree of confidence and that from her experience, colleagues would rather complain to a fellow police officer than to a psychologist. Also, Novovic said it will be introduced in the curriculum and training program lessons in the field of gender equality, which may in future help identify the problems of discrimination in labor relations.

The roundtable was organized within the project “Support to the implementation of the NAP for the implementation of Resolution 1325 in Serbia – Towards Gender Responsive Security”, which BCSP conducted with the support of the UNWOMEN.