UNITED NATIONS
POLICE GENDER
TOOLKIT
Standardised Best Practices on
Gender Mainstreaming in
Peacekeeping
Compendium of Case Studies
First Edition
2015
Table of Contents
MODULE 1: CAPACITY BUILDING OF UNPOL OFFICERS ON
GENDER MAINSTREAMING ......................................................... 5
Case Study 1: UNMIT Gender Thematic Working Group ............ 5
Case Study 2: Child Protection Unit in UNMIS ............................ 8
Case Study 3: Embedding gender expertise in the Police
Division, DPKO, United Nations Headquarters ........................... 9
Case Study 4: United Nations Mission in Sudan: The work of colocated UN Police Gender Officers in the Reform, Restructuring
and Rebuilding department ....................................................... 11
Case Study 5: United Nations Mission in Chad: The work of UN
Police Gender Adviser and Gender focal points ........................ 12
Case Study 6: Survey on the selection, recruitment, career
advancement and working conditions of female police
peacekeepers in UNMIL, UNMIT, UNMIS in 2009 - 2010 ......... 13
Case Study 7: Sexual exploitation and abuse by police
peacekeepers ............................................................................ 15
MODULE 2: CAPACITY BUILDING OF HOST STATE POLICE ON
PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY ............................................. 19
Case Study 8: Sexual harassment in the police ........................ 19
Case Study 9: Sexual exploitation by police officers ................. 20
Case Study 10: Sexual abuse by police officers ....................... 21
Case Study 11: National consultation with female police officers
for gender mainstreaming in the Sierra Leone Police................ 22
Case Study 12: The UN Secretary-General’s Network of Men
Leaders and other empowerment programmes to partner with
men in eliminating violence against women .............................. 26
Case Study 13: Development of a policy on gender equality and
gender mainstreaming and a policy sexual harassment, sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse in the Sierra Leone Police ......... 31
Case Study 14: Development of a gender policy and a strategic
implementation plan in the Liberia National Police .................... 38
Case Study 15: Establishing an Office for Gender Equality and
implementation of gender mainstreaming in the Kosovo Police 49
Case Study 16: Establishing a Gender Affairs Section in the
Liberia National Police............................................................... 55
Case Study 17: Establishing a Gender Advisory Office in the
National Police of Timor-Leste .................................................. 58
Case Study 18: Chad Police female recruitment initiative ......... 60
Case Study 19: Liberia National Police education support
programme for female candidates ............................................. 63
Case Study 20: Burundi female police motivation and
empowerment initiatives ............................................................ 68
MODULE 3: CAPACITY BUILDING OF THE HOST STATE
POLICE ON PREVENTING AND INVESTIGATING SEXUAL AND
GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE ...................................................... 70
Case Study 21: United Nations Mission in Liberia: Competent
UNPOL Women and Children Protection adviser at the rescue 70
Case Study 22: Two cases of violence against women with
disabilities.................................................................................. 72
Case Study 23: Women and Children Protection Desks,
Philippine National Police .......................................................... 74
Case Study 24: Vulnerable Persons Unit, Timor-Leste National
Police ........................................................................................ 82
Case Study 25: Child Protection Units in the police .................. 85
Case Study 26: Women and Children Protection Units, Chad
Police ........................................................................................ 86
Case Study 27: Vulnerable Persons Unit, Guinea-Bissau Police
.................................................................................................. 88
Case Study 28: Domestic Violence Unit and Trafficking in
Human Beings Unit, Kosovo Police ........................................... 89
Case Study 29: Women and Children Protection Section
(WACPS), Liberia National Police (LNP) ................................... 96
Case Study 30: Sudan Police .................................................. 100
Case Study 31: Multi-agency Collectives: Rwanda and Jordan
................................................................................................ 102
Case Study 32: United Nations Mission in Liberia Crimes
analysis unit ............................................................................ 105
Case Study 33: Establishing a referral network of support
services for victims of sexual and gender-based violence in
Timor-Leste ............................................................................. 106
Case Study 34: Referral pathway for service providers form the
Inter-agency Standing Committee (IASC) ............................... 112
Case Study 35: Referral Network Poster and Directory of
Assistance for Victims of Human Trafficking and Domestic
Violence in Timor-Leste........................................................... 114
Case Study 36: Medecins sans frontieres (MSF) provides
medical support to survivors ofrape in Burundi, DRC and Liberia
................................................................................................ 116
Case Study 37: PRADET (NGO) Shelter in Timor-Leste......... 117
Case Study 38: Child Protection Referral Guidelines from TimorLeste ....................................................................................... 118
Case Study 39: Liberia Ministry of Justice Sexual and GenderBased Violence Crimes Unit – success cases ........................ 119
Case Study 40: Detachement Integre de Securite (DIS) and IDP
and Refugee Camps in Chad .................................................. 124
Case Study 41: Community Aid Posts in IDP Camps in Sudan
(UNMISS) ................................................................................ 126
MODULE 1: CAPACITY BUILDING
OF UNPOL OFFICERS ON
GENDER MAINSTREAMING
Case Study 1: UNMIT Gender Thematic
Working Group
The Gender Thematic Working Group (GTWG) in the United
Nations Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) was created in 2007. It is
composed of the UNMIT- Gender Affairs Unit (GAU), Democratic
Governance (DGSU) and Administrative Justice Support Units
(AJSU), Political Affairs Office (PAO), Human Rights (HRTJS),
UNPOL and UN agencies involved in the relevant and important
work against SGBV. The GTWG is chaired by the Deputy Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Governance Support,
Development and Humanitarian Coordination, UNMIT, UN
Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative. The
WG is jointly coordinated by UNMIT Senior Gender Adviser and
UN Women Representative.
The group has presented itself as a united front to governmental
counterparts and has worked to develop a matrix of activities to
address domestic violence. Together the different components
have accomplished goals such as finalizing an investigations
training manual for the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) for
crimes of SGBV, supporting the drafting of the medical forensic
protocol for use with survivors and strengthening the referral
network. Training for women’s groups and survivors of SGBV on
livelihood skills and income generating activities have also
commenced with the advocacy and support of the GTWG. The
following projects have been coordinated by the GTWG:
1. Creation of a Data Collection Template for Gender-based
Violence (GBV) (2011)
As a part of working with survivors of gender-based violence,
UNPOL officers, along with national NGO partners PRADET,
JSMP, Fokupers, Casa Vida and the Holy Sisters of Salele were all
collecting data from survivors of SGBV in a variety of ways,
according to their operational needs. In addition, it was found that
numerous partners were working with various definitions of GBV.
With the support of UNFPA and the VPU (PNTL Vulnerable
Persons Unit), MSS (Ministry of Social Solidarity supporting the
work of the referral networks) has developed a template to collect
data on survivors of GBV including domestic violence. The
template serves as a tool to record:
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Types of incidents by organisations (service providers)
Aggregate incidents data, such as survivors’ sex, age,
location of incident, suspects’ estimated age, the suspect’s
relation to client
Indicators of differentiation of services provided to survivors
under the age of 18, and those over the age of 18 i.e. legal,
medical, and safe house services.
MSS has conducted training sessions for all NGOs and MSS staff
who worked with the template in 2012 when the template was used
throughout the country.
2. Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Investigation Training
Manual for the National Police of Timor-Leste and roll out
(2010)
Due to the trauma that a survivor experiences in a case of GBV or
domestic violence, a positive step was taken towards enabling the
PNTL to investigate these cases paying special attention to
collecting evidence, and being sensitive to the survivor’s needs.
UNFPA, the Timor-Leste Police Development Programme
(TLPDP), UN Police (UNPol), United Nations Children’s Fund
(UNICEF) and the International Organisation of Migration (IOM)
initiated a group of three 2-week courses for a total of 60 persons
from the Vulnerable Persons Unit (VPU) of the PNTL and
developed a training manual in 2010. The Training Manual and
corresponding course(s) were designed primarily for VPU police
officers with inputs from the Gender Thematic Working Group and
conducted with support from the Prosecutor’s Office of Timor-Leste
and NGO referral partners such as PRADET and the Judicial
System Monitoring Programme (JSMP). A small group of top
students identified from the course were trained as trainers.
The training was replicated in 2011 when twenty-seven new VPU
officers were rotated into the unit, to ensure that all police
personnel dealing with SGBV would approach these cases in a
standardized way, while at the same, being sensitive to the special
needs of these survivors. A total of one hundred and twenty police
officers learned how to carry out successful investigations and to
take an active role in referral networks throughout the country to
provide survivors of SGBV and domestic violence with access to
key emergency services.
3. The Strengthening of the Referral Network for Survivors of
SGBV
There are two separate governmental groups that lead and support
the referral network for survivors of SGBV in Timor-Leste. SEPI
leads the Strategic and Advocacy group, which meets monthly.
This group advocates for changing policies and laws for the
provision of services for survivors of SGBV. The Referral Partners
Working Group, led by MSS, provides a collection of links for
survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and domestic
violence to ensure security and shelter, private access to law
enforcement officials to report the crime, counselling services and
medical treatment. Such services were started in 2001 by local
NGO service providers and the VPU of the PNTL, but the group
now includes others such as Fokupers, PRADET, JSMP, Casa
Vida and the Holy Spirit Sisters of Salele with legal support
services such as JSMP’s Victim Support Services or the network of
private lawyers and gender focal points and child protection officers
from various line Ministries in the government. Technical support
for these services is provided by UNFPA, UNPOL, the Gender
Thematic Working Group and UNICEF. MSS chairs regular Service
Providers Coordination Meetings where service providers may
discuss current cases and collaborate more fully to ensure
coordination and response to survivors of SGBV. MSS also
provides financial support to service providers, as well as technical
support to individual service providers in the referral network.
Generally, survivors are referred to partners for a period of three
days, and are then sent to Dili, the country’s capital, as most of the
services are established in Dili. MSS has designated one child
protection officer for each district, and they act as focal points to
lead referral groups.
Case Study 2: Child Protection Unit in UNMIS
Extract from Child Protection in United Nations Peacekeeping,
Volume 1, 2011, page 13
The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) Child Protection
Unit has 25 national and international staff who hail from all over
the globe. Several of the international staff bring conflict-specific
expertise, while the Sudanese officers provide knowledge of their
country’s incredibly diverse history, culture, languages and
religions. What ties them all together is their dedication and
commitment to ensuring peace for the children of the Sudan. Their
common goal is: to secure full implementation of commitments
made by the parties to conflict related to child protection.
Following the referendum in early 2011, UNMIS child protection
staff called on all parties to remember the progress made for
children in Southern Sudan. UNMIS child protection advisers,
along with UNICEF have worked hard to put in place
comprehensive legislation protecting children including the
criminalization of child recruitment. Decisions that the parties to the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement are taking should build on these
foundations and further strengthen the protective environment for
children.
Moving forward, they will continue to focus on training and
sensitizing communities and Government officials on the existence
of these rights; more than 5,000 SPLA troops have been
introduced to child rights issues through awareness campaigns
disseminated via UNMIS Radio Miraya and in-person.
Case Study 3: Embedding gender expertise in
the Police Division, DPKO, United Nations
Headquarters
In October 2008, the Police Division, in collaboration with the
Gender Team at the Department of Policy, Evaluation and Training
(DPET) embedded a full time gender expert located at the Police
Division Strategic Policy and Development Section (SPDS) based
in the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA. The officer
assisted in operationalising Security Council resolutions on
Women, Peace and Security, the DPKO gender policy and the UN
Police Gender Guidelines within the Police Division and supported
capacity building of UNPOL gender focal points in field missions.
The full time gender capacity enabled the Police Division to
develop and implement a number of initiatives that helped build UN
police capacity in the headquarters and the field. Under the
leadership of the DPKO Police Adviser the Global Effort to increase
to 20 percent female police peacekeepers by 2014 was launched
in 2009 and endorsed by the UN Secretary-General in 2010.
Projects to develop a UN Police Gender Toolkit and a UN Police
SGBV Training Curriculum were undertaken. The Police Division
organized a number of outreach activities to harness efforts to
increase the representation of female police officers in
peacekeeping operations such as the participation of a UN Police
delegation to the annual training conference of the International
Association of Women Police (IAWP) in 2009 and 2010 attended
by over 500 female police officers worldwide. In collaboration with
the Police Division public information officers, gender and police
peacekeeping have been featured in the media through articles on
female police peacekeepers, a short film on ‘Female Police
Peacekeepers: In their own voices’, and the prominence of gender
initiatives on the UN Police website, a UN Police Magazine
featuring fully gender-disaggregated data and a Facebook page on
the Global Effort reaching over 500 supporters in December 2010.
In addition, the Police Division’s Standing Police Capacity (SPC)
based in Brindisi, Italy appointed a gender focal point in 2008 to
work on gender-related aspects of the SPC’s work. The SPC is a
rapid response unit within the Department of Peacekeeping
Operation’s Police Division tasked with providing immediate startup capability and with providing timely support, advice and
assistance to police components of UN peace operations.
During its deployment in MINURCAT in 2007-2008, the SPC
developed a Concept of Operations for the Establishment of
Women and Children Protection Units as part of its mission to
assist in the start up of the UN police (UNPOL) component. The
concept of operations was a blueprint for the UNPOL component in
setting up specialized police units to investigate SGBV,
strengthening the capacity and optimizing the utilization of female
and male police officers to staff the units, providing institutional
support mechanisms to manage cases, delivering assistance and
protection of victims, and training of officers on the rights of women
and children.
In 2010, providing assistance to Security Sector - Police Reform
Unit of the UNIOGBIS, the SPC developed a Concept of
Operations for the Establishment of Mechanisms for the Protection
of Vulnerable Persons in Guinea Bissau. The document included a
plan to develop a specialized police unit to investigate sexual and
gender-based violence which detailed its functions, structure, types
of crimes, staffing, community outreach and training activities for
Guinea Bissau investigators.
A full time post for a gender officer was created within the SPC in
2011. The officer provides expert advice on matters relating to
gender mainstreaming and sexual and gender-based violence
(SGVB) in the context of SPC planning and specific assignments in
the field.
Case Study 4: United Nations Mission in
Sudan: The work of co-located UN Police
Gender Officers in the Reform, Restructuring
and Rebuilding department
In the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), UNPOL Gender,
Child and Vulnerable Persons Protection officers (GCVPP) are
appointed under the section of Reform, Restructuring and
Rebuilding Department in the UNPOL component. They are colocated with the Sudanese police in camps for internally displaced
persons (IDPs) and police stations. They mentor, assist and advice
their host-state counterparts on cases related to sexual and
gender-based violence. They provide training to the host-state
police as well as accompany them on outreach activities to IDP
camps such as sensitization sessions on sexual and gender-based
violence, women and children’s rights and HIV/AIDs awareness.
UNPOL officers.
Setting up of Special Protection Units (SPU) is a joint initiative of
UNPOL and South Sudan Police Service (SSPS) supported by
UNIFEM, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF and bilateral donors. The
programme is designed to tackle issues regarding the rights of
women, children and vulnerable persons in the criminal justice
system including those that are internally displaced, refugees and
the elderly, through improving the investigation of sexual and
gender-based violence, reducing unlawful arrest, proper handling
of criminal matters involving juveniles and increasing police
responsiveness to the concerns of the community. In 2010, six
such units have been established and are fully functional in
Southern Sudan.
In 2010, SPU trainings were conducted in 9 places/States in South
Sudan and a total of 126 participants (comprising of 68 female and
58 male), SSPS officers were trained. The training was to enhance
the knowledge of the SSPS and to equip them with knowledge to
address the issues facing women, children and vulnerable person
and how to deal with SGBV’s and Juvenile Justice.
The impact of the work of the SPUs and the collaboration between
the Sudanese officers and UNPOL GCVPP officers include
increased advocacy to the donor community, capacity building for
female police officers on the investigation of SGBV, increased
confidence in women to report SGBV cases, a change in attitude
within the police service towards SGBV, improved referral services
for victims of SGBV and increased public awareness on SGBV.
Case Study 5: United Nations Mission in Chad:
The work of UN Police Gender Adviser and
Gender focal points
In the United Nations Mission in Chad (MINURCAT), an UNPOL
Gender Adviser is appointed at the office of the Police
Commissioner and UNPOL gender focal points are appointed in
the sector and team site levels.
In 2009, UNPOL, together with partners, assisted the Chadian
Détachement Intégré de Sécurité (DIS) in recruiting 250 female
police officers. The UNPOL supported the equipment and
professional training of the female recruits in the police academy.
In coordination with the Civil Division and other partners UNPOL
developed training materials on the concept of gender and
investigations of sexual and gender-based violence and organized
the training of DIS in 2010. The UNPOL gender adviser and gender
focal points followed up the training through monitoring and
mentoring of the DIS officers in coordination and collaboration with
the UNPOL training section and collocation unit. The UNPOL
gender adviser and gender focal points initiated and coordinated
the training of 20 female DIS officers on driving lessons. They
obtain their driver’s license in December 2010.
Case Study 6: Survey on the selection,
recruitment, career advancement and working
conditions of female police peacekeepers in
UNMIL, UNMIT, UNMIS in 2009 - 2010
An average group of 25 female police peacekeepers were
surveyed through two discussion groups in Liberia and Timor-Leste
in 2009 and a written survey Sudan in 2010.
In all the missions, the average age of female police peacekeepers
surveyed was of age group of 30 to 45 with an average of 12-20
years of total service. Women from Asia and Africa are in majority
mothers of children aged 7 years and older while women from
Europe, North America either have children over 18 years of age of
no children.
The majority of officers mentioned that their motivation in joining
peacekeeping operations was to contribute to peacebuilding
processes and the development of law-enforcement agencies in
the host-state police. Some mentioned experiencing new and
different cultures and working with police officers from all over the
world.
The biggest obstacle in making a decision to join UN peacekeeping
operations was to leave family specially children behind for at least
one year. Husbands were often hesitant in enabling their wives to
go on peacekeeping missions as it is perceived to be too
dangerous. Some mentioned that leaving a comfortable job in their
home country had been difficult.
This obstacle was overcome where family members were
supportive and relatives also offered help to look after children or
children were grown up enough to take care of themselves.
As far as selection process UN Selection Assistance Team (SAT)
is concerned, driving was the most difficult obstacle faced by most
of the women. The duration of processing the selection until the
interview was considered too long and tedious. There is a need to
increase women's awareness of their qualifications and increase
their confidence to apply to UN SAT tests.
The officers cited excellent relations with male and female
colleagues and the host-state communities.
Female police officers recommended the improvement of
accommodation and logistics in the mission area such as separate
hygiene facilities. They also recommended equal access to UN
vehicles.
Health care was not found very satisfactory since there was often a
lack of gynaecological services. It was recommended to have a
minimum of one gynaecologist in the mission.
Recreational facilities are lacking and in places such as team sites
where usually curfew is imposed during the evening, it gets lonely
and Internet facilities and telephone networks do not work.
More needs to be done to increase the participation of women in
positions of authority within the mission such as the Chief of
Operations, Team site leaders or sector commanders. Women felt
that they need to work harder than their male colleagues in order to
prove themselves.
Most of the female officers mentioned that a longer tenure of more
than one year would be better. They felt that once they have made
arrangements at home for taking care of their family it can be
extended instead of coming again. Others mentioned that a shorter
duration such as six months would be better to enable them to
shorten the absence from family. It was recommended to have
flexibility in the duration of service and also the timing for
deployments.
Female police officers recommended the following measures that
can be taken to resolve these problems:
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Annual follow up on contributions by PCCs and reminders to
be sent to PCCs who are sending less number of women.
Women to be deployed in pairs at team sites.
Female network within the mission can be effectively used
to coach new peacekeepers for position of authority.
Special training prior to UN SAT for driving for female police
officers.
Web community for female police peacekeepers where they
can share their experiences with each other within the
mission and other missions.
PCCS that have recruitment conditions stricter than UN
conditions need to review their criteria to ensure that female
police officers are not eliminated.
Case Study 7: Sexual exploitation and abuse
by police peacekeepers
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An UNPOL officer deployed in MINURCAT engaged in
sexual relations with a minor Chadian girl. The girl became
pregnant as a result of the sexual relations and upon
learning of her pregnancy, the UNPOL officer would have
attempted to induce the girl to abort her pregnancy, by
giving the girl an unknown substance, this without her
consent.
An UNPOL officer deployed in MINUSTAH, sexually
assaulted a Haitian woman at an Internally Displaced
Persons Camp where he was deployed, by touching her
breast without her consent.
An UNPOL officer deployed in UNMIT while on duty,
entered a dormitory of national female police officers, and
inappropriately touched a female officer while she was
sleeping.
An UNPOL officer deployed in UNOCI solicited and received
sexual services from a 22 year old Ivorian woman. Due to a
disagreement arising from their sexual interaction, the
Ivorian woman obtained UNPOL Adam's national passport
as collateral for the payment of USD 500 he promised the
latter.
An UNPOL officer was seen taking a Congolese girl to a
hotel. There is sufficient evidence that he did so with the
intent of engaging in transactional sex.
An UNPOL officer deployed in MONUSCO sexually
assaulted a local female journalist by touching her breast
when on duty at the residence of the President of the
Republic.
Other examples of sexual exploitation by peacekeepers:

Adapted from the Investigation by OIOS into allegations of
sexual exploitation and abuse in the UN Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, A/59/661, 2005:
The victim, a 14 year old girl living with her parents, and did
not have enough money to attend school. A peacekeeper
offered money and food in return for sex, which then
occurred on several occasions.
The case was reported and the victim and two witnesses
clearly described the soldier and noted that he had a broken
arm. OIOS investigators were able to trace the soldier.

Adapted from the Investigation by OIOS into allegations of
sexual exploitation and abuse in the UN Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, A/59/661, 2005:
The victim had sexual intercourse with a MONUC soldier in
return for 3 USD and a packet of milk. The victim states that
the soldier had wanted to have sexual intercourse with her
on a second occasion, but she had refused as he did not
have money or food for her. The victim positively identified
the soldier both in a photo array and during physical line-up.
In his interview with OIOS investigators, the soldier denied
having had sexual relations with the girl.

Adapted from the Investigation by OIOS into allegations of
sexual exploitation and abuse in the UN Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, A/59/661, 2005:
A 14 year old girl reported having received food from a
MONUC soldier she had met behind a MSF hospital. The
soldier did not have sex with her during their first four
meetings, but requested sex on the fifth meeting and the
victim agreed. In return for the sex, the soldier gave her 2
USD, chocolate and bread. The victim’s statement was
corroborated by two other girls aged 11 and 15, and two
male witnesses aged 18. The soldier was identified.

Adapted from the Investigation by OIOS into allegations of
sexual exploitation and abuse in the UN Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, A/59/661, 2005:
A girl, aged 13, told OIOS investigators that she had had
sex with a MONUC soldier who was known to her on at least
four occasions. She reported that she and her friends would
go to a MONUC camp to have sex with different soldiers.
She received cash ranging from 3 to 5 USD after each
sexual encounter. Another victim who was 14 years old
confirmed the statement. Both victims were able to identify
the soldier from photographs and line-ups.

Adapted from the Investigation by OIOS into allegations of
sexual exploitation and abuse in the UN Mission in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, A/59/661, 2005:
A witness, a local 25 year old male and former militia
soldier, confirmed to OIOS investigators that he had been
procuring girls for MONUC soldiers for sexual relations.
Those soldiers were involved in sexual activity with a group
of four girls; two aged 17, one aged 16, and another aged
14. The evidence established that one soldier had had
sexual relations several times with one of the 17 year olds,
giving food in return. The girl identified the soldier in a
physical line-up.

Adapted from the 2001 57th Session in the CHR.
E/CN.4/2001/73, page 18:
Some commentators have also noted that military
contractors linked to peacekeeping forces and United
Nations Police typically increase the demand for prostitution
and may even participate in the trafficking of women into
forced prostitution. A report prepared By the High
Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations
Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) found
widespread complicity by local police, as well as by some
international police and members of the Stabilization Force
(SFOR), in the trafficking of women into Bosnia.
The report discussed one case in which an SFOR civilian
paid 7,000 deutsche mark (US$ 3,057) to purchase two
women from a brothel owner and notes that “NATO declined
to waive the SFOR member’s diplomatic immunity; he left
Bosnia without legal Repercussions.”1

Adapted from UN News Centre:
Five peacekeepers were accused of raping an 18-year-old
man. The abuse was allegedly captured on a cell phone
camera and a video showing the assault was distributed
online, causing widespread outrage in the host Member
State.
A preliminary probe carried out by the Mission determined
that it was necessary to instigate a full a thorough
investigation. Under the procedures agreed between the UN
and troop-contributing countries, the case was transferred to
the Government of Member State in question and the five
peacekeepers were put to trial.

Adapted from the UN News Centre:
Three UN peacekeepers were repatriated from the Mission
following a military hearing by the troop-contributing country
on the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old male. According to
1
UNMIBH/OHCHR, “Report on Joint Trafficking Project of UNMIBH/OHCHR”, May 2000.
authorities in the contributing country, the peacekeepers will
be punished through a dishonourable discharge from
service, loss of benefits and imprisonment.
MODULE 2: CAPACITY BUILDING
OF HOST STATE POLICE ON
PROMOTING GENDER EQUALITY
Case Study 8: Sexual harassment in the police
Adapted from Liz Kelly, VIP, Council of Europe, p. 125.
This police officer was the only woman working alongside twentytwo men in an investigative unit in a rural area. She was subjected
to regular taunts and told she had only been promoted so that
there was a token woman on the squad. One officer simulated
having sex with her, another dropped his trousers in front of her.
She complained to her superior who either laughed at the
incidents, or joined in. An indecent drawing was placed above her
desk with the caption “I am sorry you are on anti-depressants and
having counselling but we just don’t have the time to sexually
harass anyone”. Several male officers were relocated but the
harassment did not stop. She too took action under sex
discrimination law, her case was upheld and she received a large
compensation award. She said: “At first I put up with it. You expect
a certain amount of banter, especially when you are the only
woman…but it got worse and worse and I was appalled and
disgusted…and started to feel physically sick before I went on duty.
No one is a winner. I have been damaged, so has the force”
Case Study 9: Sexual exploitation by police
officers
Adapted from the Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence
against Women, E/CN.4/1998/54, 1998.
Whilst a group of people, in flight from one country to another, were
being detained at a police post in a transit country, twelve
policemen reportedly tried to persuade a man to provide a girl from
his group for sexual services, in return for safe passage from the
country. The group refused to cooperate with the police and were
later released after handing over 1,000 USD to the policemen.
Case Study 10: Sexual abuse by police officers
Adapted from the Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence
against Women, E/CN.4/1998/54, 1998.
The names of persons and places have been changed.
Lola, a 16-year-old garment factory worker, was walking with her
boyfriend. Police personnel arrested both on the grounds that a
woman may not walk with a man to whom she is not married,
despite the fact that there is no basis under national law for such
an arrest. They were taken to a nearby police camp. She was
afterwards transferred to another police station, where she was
forced to drink a glass of what she thought was muddy water. She
became dizzy and, in that state, the policemen raped her, after
which she gradually lost consciousness. The next morning, Lola
was taken to the emergency ward of the hospital.
A medical inquiry board was set up after Lola disclosed that she
had been raped. When the case went to court, the court, on a plea
from the police, sent her to “safe custody” at the jail, an
exceptional, unwarranted order. Lola remained in detention without
access to a lawyer or visits by her friends or family. She developed
severe health problems. She died after a few months, allegedly
from typhoid fever.
The four policemen accused of raping Lola were acquitted by a trial
court several months after. The judge reportedly deplored the
actions of government lawyers who, in presenting such a weak
case, effectively allowed the police to get away with custodial rape.
Case Study 11: National consultation with
female police officers for gender
mainstreaming in the Sierra Leone Police
A two-day national consultation workshop with over 300 female
police officers was held in Sierra Leone in 2007 to develop a
gender mainstreaming policy for the Sierra Leone Police (SLP)
(see Annex). The main objective of the workshop was to discuss
and collect the contributions of female police officers from
throughout the country. The SLP, United Nations Police (UNPOL)
and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
organized the workshop jointly with the latter providing the funding.
The female police officers discussed about recruitment, promotion,
training, welfare, deployment, leadership and networking. The
agreed recommendations covered the need for increased
representation of women in the SLP scholarship board and
promotions committee and equal opportunities for women on
training in specialized disciplines such as computer literacy,
motorcycle and car driving, and mechanical and electrical skills.
The outcome of the workshop formed the basis of the new SLP
policies on Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming and
Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse which were
inaugurated in 2008 (see below).
NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON GENDER MAINSTREAMING - SIERRA LEONE
POLICE IN COLLOBORATION WITH UNDP
Theme: Mobilizing SLP Women to fully participate in all aspect of Functional
Policing Activities.
Proposed dates: 14th – 15th June 2007
Venue: Police Training School, Hastings (PTS)
Period: Two (2) days
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The dynamic nature of modern policing activities in post conflict Sierra Leone
underscores the need to engage SLP men and women in an effort to build
sustainable peace and security. Though progress has been made through the
present leadership in promoting women’s participation, it is important to note
that we are yet at the beginning of a process.
Furthermore, the complex impact conflicts have on women and children
underpins the need for SLP to harness the potentials of women to build
sustainable participation and peace in post conflict environment.
It is important to note that SLP as an organisation should integrate Gender
mainstreaming in all aspect of policies, programmes and activities. Suffice to
say that the legacy of any successful police organisation is defined by its
contribution to harnessing the full capacity of women, in building sustainable
peace and security.
It is therefore the desire of SLP women to positively and actively participate with
their male counterparts with a view to providing quality service delivery in a post
conflict environment.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
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To create awareness and capacitate Female Police Officers to activity
participate in ensuring a free and fair elections.
To mobilize high-level support among SLP strategic members and
commanders to take the lead in promoting women’s participation in all
aspect of police functions.
To raise awareness among female officers on the existing opportunities
for their active participation in functional policing activities (national and
international).
To establish/strengthening partnership with women’s constituencies, the
Ministry of Gender and Children’s affair, UN agencies to drive the
process within the context of policy review, capacity building and
participation at all levels.
To establish a network for the coordination of knowledge management
and sharing of best practices.
To establish mechanism for regular consultation among female officers in
identifying their potentials and providing the requisite training
3.0 BENEFITS/EXPECTED OUTCOME OF THE WORKSHOP
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Harness cooperation from strategic Leaders/Commanders, female police
officers to drive the process.
Willingness and commitment from SLP women to develop their
potentials.
SLP women would have developed self-confidence in the discharge of
their duties.
Commitment from commanders to assist female officers in building their
skills (i.e. review of female deployment/postings to actively engage
them).
Stereotype postings for women i.e. School crossing, lock up orderlies,
reservist should have been reduced by 60%.
4.0 STAKEHOLDERS
PRIMARY: SLP female officers, women’s organisation, male officers, Ministry of
Gender and Children’s Affair, the Press
SECONDARY: UNIOSIL, UNDP, JSDP
5.0 SESSIONS
Arrival of participants from the provinces.
DAY 1: OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY
Chairperson
(1) Registration
(2) Prayers
(3) Welcome address
(4) Topic – Gender Mainstreaming – over view of concept and its
implementation
STATEMENTS
IGP SLP’s initiatives in integrating gender mainstreaming (recruitment and
operational policies)
ERSG Gender Mainstreaming in peacekeeping operations –Progress report.
Nnenna Uchegbu, UNIOSIL: The role of men and women in achieving gender
equality.
Mr. Sunday Uchoche, UNIOSIL: The role of UNIOSIL in promoting women’s
participation, interventions and challenges.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Hon. Shirley
Gbujama
LUNCH
PENARY SESSION
(1) Obstacles, challenges to women’s participation in the SLP and the way
forward. – Mrs Kadi Fakondo.
(2) Building partnership with women’s constituencies – Mrs. E.A. Turay.
(3) Gender equality in political, decision making and democratic process – Mrs.
Elizabeth Lavalie
(4) Participation in peace keeping operations from a female perspective –
lessons learnt – W/INSP Fatmata Kamara.
DAY II Prayers
(1) Recap of Day - 1
(2) Separation into groups to discuss obstacles/challenges to women’s
participation in the SLP and recommendations.
(3) Report from various groups.
(4) Agreed recommendations infused into a working document for EMCB.
(5) Assessment of the workshop
(6) Vote of thanks
(7) Departure
6.0 TRANSPORTATION: Regional participation.
7.0 PARTICIPANTS: Grand total of participants for the opening sessions. The
total number of participants for the opening sessions categories A,B,C and D is
three hundred and fifty (350).
8.0 Feeding
DAY – OPENING SESSION
(1) Tea Break (Soft drinks and snacks for 350 participants).
(2) Lunch for three hundred and fifty (250) participants.
(3) Dinner for 350 female participants.
Day II
(1) Breakfast for two hundred and fifty (250) participants.
(2) Lunch for two hundred and fifty (250) participants.
(3) Buffet Dinner for 250 participants (Closing ceremony).
Case Study 12: The UN Secretary-General’s
Network of Men Leaders and other
empowerment programmes to partner with
men in eliminating violence against women
UN Secretary-General’s Network of Men Leaders
“Men should be more aware of the problems women face. Breast
cancer is a women’s disease but we should be aware of it.
Unfortunately, in our world controlled by men, awareness is too
low. Things have to change and what’s better for that than the UN,
a global, non-profit organization that promotes peace and a better
life for human beings. That’s why I’m part of this group and again,
I’m proud to be part of it.”
Paulo Coelho, Brazilian author and a member of the UN SecretaryGeneral’s Network of Men Leaders
For many years, women around the world have led the struggle to
end violence against women and girls, but today more and more
men are adding their support to these efforts. With an aim to
actively include men and boys as a part of the solution for ending
this pandemic, in November 2009 the United Nations SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon launched his Network of Men Leaders.
The Network supports the work of women around the world to defy
stereotypes, embrace equality, inspire men and boys everywhere
to speak out against violence and it is just one initiative of the
Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against
Women. Launched in 2008, campaign calls on governments, civil
society, women’s organizations, men and boys, young people, the
private sector, the media and the entire UN system to join forces in
addressing violence against women and girls.
Members of the Network of Men Leaders add their voices to the
Secretary-General’s global call for action and they include current
and former politicians, civil society and youth activists, religious
and community leaders, cultural figures and other prominent
individuals. They all work in their spheres of influence to undertake
specific actions to end violence against women and girls - from
raising public awareness about the issue; meeting with young men
and boys; advocating for adequate laws or national action plans to
holding governments accountable and calling on them to
implement their commitments and step up to their responsibility.
Network and its members have a crucial role to play in ending
violence against women and girls, speaking out against it and
ensuring that priority attention is given to the issue. As fathers,
friends, decision makers, and community and opinion leaders,
members of the Network provide positive role models for young
men and boys, based on healthy models of masculinity.
The Network has already proven to be an active advocate on the
issue: for example, in August last year, a number of members
issued a petition to call on the African Union, its regional bodies
and Member States to take urgent action and demonstrate their
commitment to end the endemic violence faced by women and girls
across the continent and especially in the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
Members of the Network include (as of December 2010):
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Juan Carlos Areán, Programme Director of the Family
Violence Prevention Fund, USA;
Gary Barker, International Centre for Research on Women,
Brazil;
Ted Bunch, Co-founder of the National Association of Men
and Women Committed to Ending Violence against Women,
USA;
Paulo Coelho, Brazilian novelist and UN Messenger of
Peace;
Franco Fattini, Italian Foreign Minister;
Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, former Colombian President and
Secretary General of the Organization of American States;
Ricardo Lagos, former Chilean president;
Andrew Levack, Co-chair of MenEngageAllianc, USA;
Todd Minerson, Executive Director of the White Ribbon
Campai, Canada;
Emmanuel Ochora, Gulu Youth for Action in Uganda;
Dean Peacock, founder of Building Partnerships to End
Men’s Violence;
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spanish Prime Minister;
Knut Storberget, Norwegian Justice and Police Minister;
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
from South Africa;
Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and
Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Bangladesh.
MenEngage Network
The MenEngage Network is a global alliance of non-governmental
organizations and United Nations agencies that seek to engage
men and boys to achieve gender equality. MenEngage recognizes
that changing deeply held beliefs about gender roles and relations
requires a comprehensive, multifaceted approach. It is necessary
to change traditions and cultures, government policies, laws and
institutions, civil society organizations, the media, and the family.
Changing these many social factors requires networking and cooperation between organizations, which MenEngage facilitates.
To end impunity for acts of gender-based violence, the justice
system must respond effectively. Most police officers are men, thus
they must be gender sensitive in their work and be equipped to
handle appropriate services to prevent and respond to genderbased violence.
For more information visit: www.menengage.org and
www.engagingmen.net
Overcoming Violence: Exploring Masculinities, Violence, and
Peacebuilding
Since 2002, the Women Peacemakers Program (WPP) of the
International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) has been training
women activists in gender-sensitive peacebuilding through its
Training of Trainers Program (ToT). In 2003, the WPP started
including sessions on “Masculinities” in its annual ToTs for women
peacemakers, and those were met with much enthusiasm.
Over the years, women trainees informed the WPP that while
training and empowering women in the area of gender-sensitive
peacebuilding was very important, it would not be enough on its
own to change the practice of peacebuilding altogether. They
repeatedly indicated that they lacked male supporters for their local
peace work, as well as support from male colleagues within their
own peace organizations and networks. In order to truly transform
cultures of war and violence, they felt they needed to start working
with male allies.
The WPP believes that training male peace activists in gendersensitive active nonviolence is important to increase the
involvement of men; both in gender sensitive peacebuilding and as
allies with women in the fight against gender based violence and
gender inequality. Gender-sensitive male trainers can act as
powerful role models for gender equality and are in a good position
to reach out to other men.
The WPP also believes that awareness-raising on how ideas of
masculinities and femininities play a role in the actual practice of
war and violence is crucial to bring about transformative change in
peacebuilding.
Late 2009, the WPP initiated a pilot ToT cycle entitled “Overcoming
Violence: Exploring Masculinities, Violence, and Peacebuilding” for
male peace activists. This Training of Trainers brought together 19
men from 17 different countries.
The first training took place late 2009 and focused on the theory
and practice of active nonviolence; facilitation and group dynamics;
participatory teaching methods; conceptualizing gender and
diversity; leadership; women’s rights; important international
instruments such as UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR)
1325; an introduction to and analysis of masculinities; and lobbying
and advocacy.
Upon returning home from this training block, the male participant
was linked to a female support person from his own region and/or
country, who supported him in the development and
implementation of his follow-up plan. This follow up plan is meant
as an opportunity to implement the skills and knowledge learned
during the first training. After a few months, the participants
returned for the second part of the ToT cycle, to consolidate
learning.
The ToT pilot cycle was documented and assessed through
various means, e.g. various structured M&E surveys, personal
sharing via weblog and selfvideotaping, personal interviews, and
regular email exchanges. An external independent evaluator
assessed the ToT cycle in 2010.
As a result of the required follow-up activity, 336 people, in 14
different countries, have been directly trained on gender,
masculinities, peacebuilding and gender-sensitive active
nonviolence and partnership building between women and men. Of
these 336 people, 208 were men, 126 women and 2 transgender.
Thousands of people have been reached indirectly - through the
use of media, including the use of radio and popular theatre.
All the participants reported on having shared the ToT content and
vision within their own networks and organizations, resulting in
growing requests for trainings and workshops on the topics. Also,
various participants reported on working to integrate a gender
perspective in their own work (e.g. participant from Kenya, the
Philippines, Fiji) as well using various training exercises and
facilitation methods in their daily work (e.g. participant from
Zimbabwe, Nicaragua). Some of the trainees have started to
establish Men’s Groups working on ending gender-based violence
(e.g. Liberia, Fiji, DRC and Ghana) after the ToT; whereas others
are setting up resource centres informing the general public on
gender and peacebuilding related issues (e.g. Burundi, Sri Lanka).
The male trainees are also working with women activists in their
countries, ranging from co-training on gender-sensitive active
nonviolence to participating in successful lobby and advocacy
activities for women’s rights and women’s inclusion in
peacebuilding.
The external evaluator of the ToT cycle concluded that overall, “the
ToT Is relevant to the target populations as it contributes to peace
and reconciliation processes, responds to the effects of patriarchal
societies and can positively impact development and the
effectiveness of interventions promoting development”.
The WPP concludes that the ToT is responding to a need in the
field and is looking forward to developing and deepening its work
with male allies.
The report of the first training block is downloadable via:
http://www.ifor.org/WPP/Report_ToT2009_web.pdf
The report of the second training block will be released early 2011.
A video on the ToT cycle, depicting some of the experiences of the
pilot ToT is downloadable via the website: www.ifor.org/WPP
The statement “Together for Transformation: A Call to Men and
Boys” that was released during the pilot ToT cycle is downloadable
via: http://www.ifor.org/WPP/Together%20forTransformation
ACalltoMenandBoys_final.pdf
Case Study 13: Development of a policy on
gender equality and gender mainstreaming
and a policy sexual harassment, sexual
exploitation and sexual abuse in the Sierra
Leone Police
In 2008, the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) launched two ground
breaking policies on ‘Gender Equality and Mainstreaming’ and
‘Sexual Harassment, Exploitation and Abuse’ in a process involving
a record time of twelve months. The steps undertaken were the
following.
Process
Months
Consultations between the SLP and the
United Nations Mission in Sierra
Leone (UNAMSIL) on the development of
a project proposal on Gender
Mainstreaming and Sexual Harassment in
the workplace.
Identification of donors in support of the
implementation of the project.
Funding approval received from the
Norwegian Government.
Identification of a consultant to work with
personnel from the SLP for the formulation
of the policy.
Organisation of a nationwide consultation
with female police officers from the
SLP.
Periodic meetings with members of the
Rule of Law and Gender sections of
UNAMSIL, UNPOL and SLP personnel.
Periodic meetings with the Inspector
General and Senior Management Team of
the SLP and the Senior Police Adviser of
UNAMSIL on progress of work.
Periodic meetings with SLP Police Women
on the progress of work on the policies
during monthly Female Staff Association
meetings.
Engagement of the SLP Police Women
nationwide on their concerns to guide the
formulation of the policies.
Radio discussions informing the public
about the development of the policies.
Review of first draft by the UNAMSIL
Team and SLP teams.
Review and approval of the second draft of
2
6
2
2
the policies by the IGP and Senior
Management Team.
Signing ceremony of the policies by the
IGP with SLP and UNMASIL senior
officers present.
Publication of the policies on the UN
Intranet and the SLP Newsletter.
Informed the public about the approved
policies through UN Radio on prime time
programs.
Radio discussions on Women’s programs
on the policies by SLP personnel.
Training day for the IGP and Senior
Management Team on the policies for all
senior officers.
Training of Trainers session for officers
representing the four regions of
Sierra Leone for a wider dissemination of
the policies.
Follow up actions:
training
and
media
outreach
The UNPOL were instrumental in assisting in the follow up actions
on training and media outreach. UNPOL officers supported
coordinated on in the regions for further dissemination of the
policies. UNPOL gender officers assured liaison between the SLP
and UNAMSIL headquarters. UNAMSIL provided both financial and
logistical support to the SLP female police officers for sensitization
programs in the regions, in particular arranged guest speakers for
monthly meetings of the Female Staff Association. UN Radio
through the support of UNPOL officers provided opportunities to
SLP female officers to be on radio programs for confidence
building of the host-state police. UNAMSIL also organized courses
on gender and human rights for SLP personnel. The media
outreach through local radio programmes in the various vernacular
languages was successful in raising awareness on the importance
of the participation of women in policing. Interviewed community
members expressed their support to the policies and said they
would encourage their daughters to join the ranks of the police.
Sierra Leone police gender mainstreaming policy
GENDER MAINSTREAMING POLICY
SIERRA LEONE POLICE (SLP)
2 July 2008
1. Purpose
1.1. The Executive Management Board of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP)
issues the following policy with the aim of promoting equality of opportunity
for women and men in the Sierra Leone Police, and eliminating unlawful
gender-based discrimination, harassment and abuse within the SLP force.
The policy covers provisions for gender equality and the support of women
employees of the SLP in recruitment, training, deployment/transfers,
promotions and representation/leadership. The provisions herein
supplement existing SLP policies in these areas, and reaffirm SLP’s
commitment to best practice in equal opportunities.
2. Scope of application
2.1. This policy shall be applicable to all SLP departments and personnel.
2.2. Nothing in this policy shall affect the application of provisions
contained in national policy or legislation, or in any international
convention, treaty or other instrument in force in Sierra Leone that are
more conducive to gender equality and gender mainstreaming.
3. Definitions
3.1. “Gender” refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities,
and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and
women.
3.2. “Gender equality” refers to the equal rights, responsibilities and
opportunities of women and men. Gender equality implies that the
interests, needs and priorities of both women and men are taken into
consideration, recognising that different groups of women and men are
also diverse and may have different needs.
3.3. “Gender mainstreaming” is the process of assessing the implications
for women and men of any planned action in all areas and at all levels. It is
a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences
an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of policies and programmes so that women and men benefit
equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve
gender equality.
4. Rationale
4.1. The SLP is the lead government agency responsible for the
maintenance of law and order, protection of life and property and
promotion of access to justice. In carrying out its duties the SLP is
committed to the respect and protection of human rights. This includes the
rights to equality and freedom from gender-based discrimination.
4.2. The SLP is cognizant of the fact that Sierra Leone is a post-conflict
country in which women have experienced high rates of sexual violence
and abuse. It also notes that that there is still widespread discrimination
and persistent gender inequality throughout society, which has resulted in
lower levels of literacy, skills and employment opportunities among women.
Women are underrepresented in the SLP and currently constitute
approximately 16% of the total force.
4.3. This policy is in line with the government of Sierra Leone’s
commitment to advance gender equality as mandated by the constitution
and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW). It underscores the national commitment to
implementing the Beijing Platform for Action and UN Security Council
Resolution 1325, and to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, in
particular Goal 3 to promote gender equality and empower women. It
acknowledges recent steps taken by the government of Sierra Leone to
advance women’s rights through the promulgation of the Domestic
Violence Act, Devolution of Estates Act and Registration of Customary
Marriage and Divorce Act in 2007.
4.4. This policy builds on the outcomes and recommendations of the
“National Workshop on Gender Mainstreaming in the Sierra Leone Police”
conducted by the SLP in collaboration with the UN Development
Programme (UNDP) in June 2007.
5. Principles
5.1. The SLP affirms the constitutional provisions to work to eliminate all
forms of discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of gender.
5.2. In line with international standards, SLP assumes its international
commitments to gender balance and equal representation of both women
and men in all ranks, particularly in decision-making positions.
5.3. The principle of efficiency in policing requires that all human resources
capacity in the SLP both men and women are effectively harnessed to
build an efficient police force.
6. Recruitment
6.1. Recruitment shall be conducted in line with equal opportunities best
practice, including non-discrimination based on gender, ethnicity, marital
status or other status. The recruitment process, including application forms
and interviews, should not include discriminatory and inappropriate
questions. As per established SLP policies, recruitment to the force shall
be voluntary.
6.2. The SLP shall aim to increase the total numbers of women in the
police force each year through improved recruitment and retention, so that
the number of female officers adequately reflects the population of Sierra
Leone Police. All vacancies shall be open to both women and men, except
in cases where gender-specific recruitment is essential and compliant with
equal opportunities policies and equality legislation. Advertisements for all
vacancies shall include mention of the SLP’s equal opportunities policy and
encourage qualified female and male candidates to apply.
6.3. The SLP shall take active efforts to recruit women, including through
recruitment drives targeted at women in the local media, and in secondary
and tertiary educational institutions.
6.4. All recruitment panels shall have a proportionate number of women
and men, with best efforts made to ensure that all panel members are
qualified and appropriate to interview for the respective vacancies.
7. Training
7.1. The Human Resources Department will ensure that the training needs
of women employees are met and facilitate training for female personnel in
all areas, in particular motor bike riding and vehicle driving, computer
literacy and adult literacy. Training should be decentralised to enable
greater access to these training opportunities.
7.2. The Training Department will ensure that all SLP personnel receive
annual training on equal opportunities and gender equality in the
workplace. The training will cover both national and international legislation
and policy and the specific policies of the SLP. All new recruits will receive
information on the gender equality and mainstreaming policy as part of
their training.
7.3. Scholarships will be made available to women as necessary to support
women officers seeking to acquire further educational qualifications.
8. Deployment and Transfers
8.1. All female personnel shall have equal opportunities as their male
counterparts for every deployment and rank. The SLP Human Resource
Department is responsible for ensuring that information and
announcements regarding to vacancies for new deployments is made
available to female and male personnel at the same time and with
adequate notice to allow time for applications to be submitted.
8.2. Every deployment should aim to have both women and men
personnel.
8.3. Women officers are to be treated with the same respect as their male
colleagues, and should not be asked or expected to perform additional
duties.
8.4. There will be no discrimination in the distribution of information during
deployments. Women are to receive the same briefings, memos and other
necessary information as their male colleagues.
8.5. Transfer policies should be transparent and equitable, and offer the
same opportunities for female and male personnel.
8.6. The family and childcare responsibilities of personnel will be taken into
account in the deployment and transfer of personnel. It should be
acknowledged that at the present time in women are generally expected to
assume childcare responsibilities. This however should not prejudice the
decision to deploy or transfer female personnel.
9. Promotions
9.1. The SLP Human Resources Department is responsible for ensuring
that all vacancies and promotion opportunities are advertised to both
female and male personnel, and ensuring that eligible female personnel
are aware of promotion opportunities and have adequate time to prepare
for examinations and interviews.
9.2. Heads of Departments should ensure that all personnel undergo
annual performance reviews, including identifying professional
development targets for both female and male personnel to gain the
competencies required for promotion.
9.3. A mentoring program shall be established to support the professional
and personal development of junior female personnel. Women police
officers should also be encouraged to establish informal mentoring and
support networks.
10. Welfare
10.1. In keeping with existing policies, all personnel will be granted paid
maternity leave. In addition, the SLP will endeavour to secure
governmental funding so as to meet the health care needs, such as
gynaecological services, for its female personnel.
11.Representation and Leadership
11.1. The EMB shall take active measures to achieve equal representation
of women and men in the leadership and decision-making structures of the
police at district, regional and national levels. This includes a goal to have
a proportionate representation of women and men on recruitment,
promotion and disciplinary boards and panels and in the Executive
Management Board.
11.2. An Association of Women Police Officers shall be established with
membership open and free to all women officers in the SLP. The
Association will represent the concerns of women police officers to the
EMB and other government bodies.
12. Implementation
12.1. The EMB shall ensure that appropriate human and financial
resources are allocated to facilitate implementation of the provisions
outlined in this policy.
12.2. Trainings shall be conducted with members of the EMB and Heads of
all departments within the SLP to ensure that the SLP leadership and
senior personnel are aware of the provisions of the Gender equality and
mainstreaming policy.
12.3. A Training of Trainers program will be out in place, and trainers will
then conduct regular workshops to ensure that all personnel at district,
regional and national levels are aware of the policy.
12.4. An information campaign will be implemented to publicise the policy
within the police, across government, and in the general public.
12.5. The Executive Management Board of the SLP shall put in place a
complaints procedure, including appointing an official or officials at or
above the rank of a Superintendent (who shall report to the AIG) to serve
as a focal point for receiving complaints of sexual exploitation, sexual
abuse, sexual harassment and sexual discrimination. The Assistant
Inspector General (AIG) Professional Standards shall set up an ad hoc
committee of qualified personnel to review the complaints. The focal point
shall refer complaints on to this ad hoc committee for action. All personnel
and the general public should be made aware of the role of the focal point
and how to contact them. All cases shall be handled in a confidential
manner in order to protect the rights of all involved.
13.Enforcement of the policy
13.1. A mechanism shall be established to monitor the implementation of
the gender equality and mainstreaming policy. The Assistant Inspector
Gender (AIG) Professional Standards will be responsible for ensuring
implementation of the policy, and will submit quarterly reports to the EMB
who shall review and evaluate them with a view to improving performance.
Case Study 14: Development of a gender
policy and a strategic implementation plan in
the Liberia National Police
Emerging from civil conflict in 2004, the Liberia National Police,
with the support and assistance of the UN Mission in Liberia
(UNMIL) began the process of internal reform and restructuring.
Early on in this process, and by their own accord, the LNP
leadership recognized the importance of female representation
within their service and set a determined path toward increasing
female representation within their ranks.
The LNP Gender Policy was among the first ‘new’ policies
developed, entering into effect in 2005. Following the 2006 change
in government, the newly elected President of Liberia appointed a
female, Ms. Beatrice Muna-Sieh to serve as the LNP Inspector
General/Director, a post in which she remained until August 2009.
Among her accomplishments, she facilitated with the support of
UNMIL and donors, the introduction of an interim female
educational support program to bridge recruitment gaps over a
period of two years. She supported the reactivation of the LNP
Female Officers’ Association. She served as the Vice-Chairman of
the West African Female Police Association and she organized two
retreats for female LNP officers in which discussions provided
focus on the challenges and opportunities facing female officers.
In March 2008, the Liberia National Police (LNP) established a
Gender Affairs Section under the Professional Standards Division
(see case scenario under Module 3, Tool 6). From an operational
and service delivery perspective that considered the vulnerability of
women and children in post-conflict Liberia particularly in terms of
sexual and gender based violence, the LNP in 2006, introduced a
new investigative component within their Crime Services Division,
the LNP Women and Child Protection Section (WACPS).
According to the UN Police Advisors assigned to the LNP
Administration. As of 19 November 2010, the LNP strength stands
at 4,038 officers, including 632 female officers (15.43%). The
following table provides the distribution of the female officers by
rank within the organisation.
FEMALE REPRESENTATION IN LNP AS OF 12 NOV 2012
2009
2010
2011
2012
FEMALE REPRESENTATION PER YEAR
Grand
Row Labels
FEMALE MALE
Total
523
3172 3695
619
3367 3986
734
3545 4279
766
3606 4372
Percentage
14.15%
15.53%
17.15%
17.52%
Rank
FEMALE
MALE
Grand
total
Percentage
INSPECTOR
GENERAL OF POLICE
0
1
1
0.00%
DEPUTY INSPECTOR
GENERAL OF POLICE
NPTA
0
1
1
0.00%
DEPUTY INSPECTOR
GENERAL OF
POLICE/ADM
1
0
1
100.00%
DEPUTY INSPECTOR
GENERAL OF
POLICE/OPS
0
1
1
0.00%
COMMISSIONER OF
POLICE/ADM
0
1
1
0.00%
COMMISSIONER OF
POLICE/OPS
0
1
1
0.00%
COMMISSIONER OF
POLICE/CSD
0
1
1
0.00%
COMMISSIONER OF
POLICE
0
3
3
0.00%
DEPUTY
COMMISSIONER OF
POLICE
3
24
27
11.11%
ASSISTANT
COMMISSIONER OF
POLICE
6
38
44
13.64%
CHIEF
SUPERINTENDENT
5
52
57
8.77%
SUPERINTENDENT
9
65
74
12.16%
CHIEF INSPECTOR
9
116
125
7.20%
CORPORAL
22
134
156
17.10%
INSPECTOR
19
173
192
9.90%
SERGEANT
43
251
294
14.63%
PATROLMAN
649
766
2744
3606
3393
4372
19.13%
17.5%
Grand Total
Liberia national police gender policy
THE NATIONAL TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT OF LIBERIA
UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN LIBERIA (UNMIL)
LIBERIA NATONAL POLICE (LNP)
GENDER POLICY
(In line with Police Reform and Restructuring)
6 September 2004
1. INTRODUCTION
Liberia is emerging from fourteen years of civil conflict. This post conflict situation
has provided an opportunity to undertake among other things security sector
reforms including restructuring the police. Restructuring the police has involved
creating policies, programs and procedures that reflects and include international
principles, laws, standards and commitments. In particular this policy draws from
United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on Women Peace and Security
which calls on all actors involved in implementing peace agreements to adopt a
gender perspective. The current statistics of National Police Force shows a total of
387 women (10.8%) and 3260 men. Furthermore the protection of women by the
police through recognition of sexual and gender based violence and related abuses
in policing policies and procedures is negligible. In this regard a new police service
with a Gender Policy is to be established. This policy is based on the framework of a
Gender Action Plan which should serves as the guiding document of this policy.
This framework connotes the importance of institutionalizing these concepts in the
agenda for change. The National Gender Policy should promote the concept of
gender mainstreaming and provide a better understanding on how the imbalances
and all other discrepancies that exist with specific reference to gender relations can
be addressed and resolved.
The Police are a public entity established by legislation and duty bound to
implement any National Gender Policy in its programs and activities. The concept of
gender mainstreaming within uniformed and armed institutions have been
characterized over generations as issues on the periphery and little focus were
placed on it. Adopting a gender responsive policy seeks to integrate gender
perspective into the centre of all activities of policing.
The Liberia National police is male dominated and provides access to women which
is 10% but it is recommended that 15% would be more appropriate if we considered
the male-female ratio in Liberia.
The Liberia National Police –
a) Re-affirms its commitment in fulfilling its contribution in implementing the National
Gender Plan of Action and any future Gender Policy;
b) Acknowledges the gender discrepancies that still exist within its structures and
operations;
c) Acknowledges the position of female members in the Service and affirms that,
much needs to be done advance and create an enabling environment for equity and
mutual coexistence between men and women within the Liberia National Police;
d) Acknowledge the contribution that women make and continue to make in its
performance in creating an environment free of crime;
e) Recognizes the need to provide adequate protection and appropriate policing to
women and girls in situations of sexual and gender based violence domestic
violence, spousal abuse and related matters;
f) Adopts measures that ensure the protection of the rights of women and girls.
2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
a) This Liberia Police Gender Policy seeks to address fundamental issues such as:
1. Correct the imbalances of gender representation in the Police.
2. Use the framework of the National Gender Policy to gender mainstream within the
Police.
3. Ensure increased participation of women at decision making levels
4. Use the framework of the National Gender Policy to support the integration of
women into the mainstream of Police development initiatives at sectorial level.
5. Establish gender responsive regulations, procedures and practices necessary for
the protection of women in the police in situations of sexual and gender bias.
b) The Liberia National Police recognizes that a gender-balanced work force is an
important ingredient for achieving a conducive working environment. It therefore
seeks to harmonize gender relations among women and men in the police service.
3. POLICY FRAMEWORK
This Police Gender Policy sets out principles for the implementation of the strategies
in achieving the objectives contemplated in both this Policy and any National
Gender
Policy and other relevant regulations. The Police Gender Policy also outlines
principles that need to be put in place in monitoring and evaluating progress made
in the implementation strategies.
This framework seeks to provide an overview of gender issues within the context of
the Police that needs to be addressed. It seeks to give an understanding as to how
the reality of gender main streaming can be enforced within the Police, taking into
account the historical perspective embedded in the attitudes and conduct prevalent
in security and rule of law institutions.
Gender Issues that need to be addressed:
a) Gender and Recruitment and Retention.
b) Gender mainstreaming in Education and Training.
c) Gender Balance in Promotion.
d) Gender Balance in Position of Authority and Decision Making.
e) Gender sensitivity in transfers and placement.
f) Sexual harassment at work places.
g) Gender Sensitive Roles of Women.
h) Gender responsive policing for crimes committed against women in the police.
i) Women’s rights are protected and promoted
j) Monitoring Mechanism.
4. Gender and Recruitment
a. Recruitment in the Police still continues to be male dominated, and the
Recruitment Policy should provide a framework for equal opportunities for the
enlistment of women and men into the Police.
b. The Recruitment process and eventual distribution of posts places women in
predominantly administrative positions compared to males and this impact
undoubtedly the advancement of female cadres into higher ranks or position of
authority outside the traditional administrative field of operation.
c. A gender sensitive recruitment policy will encourage a gender responsive
enlistment process and accountability. Recruitment is a primary step for addressing
the imbalances and discrepancies of the past legacy and the challenges of
liberalization of gender relations, it needs to reflect the character, demand and
aspiration of the day and reflect the principles of the constitutions
d. The Police affirm its commitment to the pursuit of gender balance through a
concerted effort in enhancing representation of women in accordance with the
principles of gender equality. A more focussed approach in attracting more women
to address the current imbalance must be continuous and systemic.
e. Strategies to address the imbalances of unequal gender representation –
1. Developed gender sensitive recruitment criteria that will reflect support and
places priority in ensuring that more suitable women are enlisted.
2. Designed and implemented a quota system as part of the Five Year Personnel
Development Plan to ensure that a target of 15% women in the Police is achieved.
3. Draft Recruitment criteria that will ensure that the objectives referred above are
clearly outlined as principle elements in the recruitment process.
4. Develop a dissemination and information strategy about career opportunities in
the Police and place special emphasis on an equal opportunity to those suitable
female candidates might enjoy during the recruitment process in order to
deliberately attract more women to apply.
5. Develop with the Police Press and Public Affairs a public awareness strategy to
campaign through the use of both the print and electronic media as well as other
platforms to market and promote the image of the Police to the general public, to
attract prospective women candidates into the Police Service.
6. Mechanism to be put in place to monitor the recruitment process in order to
ensure that recruitment officers comply with the provisions of the Recruitment
Policy.
7. Develop recruitment criteria that include skills that go beyond physical strength
and do not prioritise physical strength.
5. Gender main streaming in Education and Training
a. The principles of equal access to education and training are guaranteed in the
Constitution of the Republic of Liberia which provides for equal access to
educational opportunities, mass education and the elimination of illiteracy. Today
women make up 52 % of the population and the illiteracy rate among women is
26%.
b. Historically, little focus was placed on advocating for the advance of women
through the provision of education and training. This legacy still lingers on; access
by women to training and education in security and rule of law institutions is still a
growing concern.
c. This flows from the persistent low enrolment and retention of girls at formal and
informal education institutions due to the socio- economic and cultural reasons, as
well as gender bias in teaching and curricula materials and sexual harassment and
most recently the impact of the civil war.
d. It is thus important to ensure that access to training and education at all levels is
emphasized to enable retention of women in the police service.
e. In addressing the disparities in access and inadequacies in training and
educational opportunities, the Police shall:
1. Take affirmative action in favour of women where necessary in order to address
the current imbalance in certain areas of expertise; - eliminate gender stereotypes
which prevent women from participating in training programs in and outside the
country for long duration courses.
2. Eliminate gender disparities in access to all areas of Police training specifically
specialized disciplines.
3. Ensure that training curriculums are gender sensitive and that gender main
steaming is emphasized during training.
4. Design and introduce gender training courses at all level of training initiatives in
order to ensure that gender main streaming is understood and applied.
5. Encourage female members to be trained in all specialized areas of policing in
order to ensure that women are able to assume and fulfil such responsibilities
competently.
6. Develop programmes, establish opportunities and encourage female members to
participate in these programmes and opportunities to improve their school and
tertiary education.
6. Gender Balance in Promotion
a. The Liberia National Police have made considerable progress in improving the
position of women in various ranks and position of authority since the second half of
the 1990's. Despite this progress, obstacles remain to the improvement of the status
of women in the police service of Liberia.
b. Promotion in the Police is not based on academic and service streams. In the
absence of Promotion criteria or even after the compilation of such criteria,
concerted efforts should be made to make provision for affirmative promotion to
address the past imbalances in order to meet the objectives of the National Gender
Plan of Action for the advancement of women.
c. Strategies to ensure gender balance in promotion through this Police Gender
Policy the Police shall:
1. Design and introduce a promotion criteria and initiative to ensure equitable
promotion of women.
2. Adopt an alternative accelerated promotion stream which shall ensure that
competent and resourceful women are given an added advantage during the
promotion process in order to address the current imbalances.
3. Adopt and commit to implement a quota system promotion of 9:1 ratio simply
meaning that for every 9 males promoted 1 female is also promoted and this shall
depend on the recruitment objectives outlined above, so that it can ensure that there
are enough women candidates in line for promotions.
4. Vigorously strive to implement provisions above so that women candidates have
the necessary expertise and competencies to favourably compete with their male
counterparts during the promotion process in order for them to enjoy the added
advantage of accelerated or affirmative promotion.
7. Gender Balance in Position of Authority and Decision Making
a) As it is reflected in1. Article 8 of the Constitution of the Republic of Liberia “The Republic shall direct its policy towards ensuring for all citizens, without
discrimination, opportunities for employment and livelihood under just and
humane conditions, and towards promoting safety, health and welfare facilities in
employment.”
2. Article 18 of the Constitution of the Republic of Liberia “All Liberian citizens shall have equal opportunity for work and employment
regardless of sex, creed, religion, ethnic background, place of origin or political
affiliation, and all shall be entitled to equal pay for equal work.”
b) The Police have recognized the importance of encouraging and creating an
enabling environment for women to play a meaningful role in decision-making
process.
c) It is unquestionable that women continue to occupy low ranks in uniformed
organisation and as a result they hardly influence the process of decision-making at
the highest levels of authority.
d) The absence of women in the main stream of decision-making and position of
authority reflects structural and attitude barriers that need to be addressed through
affirmative action and as per Articles 8 and 18 of the Constitution.
e) Strategies to increase women's access and participation in decision making –
1. Pursuant to the National Gender Action Plan, Articles 8 and 18 of the Constitution
and within the framework of the Five Year Personnel Development Plan establish
mechanisms to attain a 15% increase of women in the police service by 2007.
2. Implement Policies, in particular those dealing with recruitment, promotions and
access to training.
3. Facilitate and promote equal presentation of women and men at all levels of
decision making structures.
4. Encourage women Commanders to play meaningful roles and be proactive in
their various capacities to influence decision-making, ensure that women issues are
advanced and put on the agendas at the highest level of authority and promote
gender relations at all levels.
8. Gender sensitivity in Transfers and Placement
a) Transfers of female members are at times complex taking in consideration
individual and family commitments social and cultural factors.
b) There is therefore a need put in place mechanisms that shall ensure that gender
perspectives are integrated into the transfer process and implementation.
c) Female members should not on the basis of their sex be excluded from
participating in transfer exercises to areas where their services are needed but
rather such selection shall be done on merit and with a view to addressing the
gender balance.
d) The Police shall –
1. Offer women options and alternative duties without prejudice to their physical
conditions including shift and part time work
2. Encourage women participation without prejudice in transfer exercises and
placements whenever their services are needed.
3. Ensure that where necessary factors referred to above are taken into
consideration when female members are to be selected for transfers and
placements and when necessary the Gender Coordinating Committee shall be
tasked to investigate individual cases and make recommendations to the Director of
the Police.
9. Sexual harassment at work places
a) Sexual harassment at work places is common phenomenon throughout the world
and it is a menace that should be addressed with severity.
b) Working in security and rule of law sector poses increased personal stress such
as loneliness mainly when deployed away from duty station on assignments,
anxiety, general insecurity, physical danger, etc.
c) Where gender sensitivity and awareness is low, sexual harassment thrives as
female members tend to be subjected to male domination and pressure. Female
members become more vulnerable and can be sexually abused for prospects of
promotions, better treatment by their supervisors or other high-ranking male officers.
d) Strategies to curb and address sexual harassment at work places in the Police –
1. The Police should as a matter of urgency identify the severity of the problem by
conducting a survey within the Police.
2. Formulate and adopt clear, workable, realistic guidelines for both office and field
environment on sexual harassment.
3. Develop a strict Code of Conduct on Sexual Harassment and Abuse for the
service.
4. Place high sensitivity to gender issues, improve the situation and role of women
and create a positive working environment for women in order to tackle sexual
harassment.
5. Sensitize through training the effects of sexual harassment and encourage
healthy gender relations.
6. Ensure that perpetrators of sexual harassment face serious disciplinary action or
punishment and/or face criminal prosecution and if found guilty be discharged from
the Police.
10. Gender Sensitive Roles of Women
a) It should be recognized that there are gender sensitive roles within the Police that
should be identified.
b) It must be recognized that there are certain roles that are best performed by
females in addressing the special needs of mainly gender based violence victims as
to respect their privacy, provide empathy, care and confidence as well as to create
victim friendly environments at Police Stations in particular.
c) Strategies to recognize and institutionalize Gender sensitive roles of women –
1. The provisions of this Policy should be adhered to and implemented in order to
ensure that gender main streaming approach is maintained.
2. Policies should reflect the special needs of women and promote gender equity.
11. Monitoring Mechanism
a) To ensure that the provisions sets out in this Policy are implemented, a section
within Personnel (Administration) will be established within the terms of reference
sets out below.
b) This section, shall–
1. Oversee the implementation of this Policy;
2. Advise Senior Management of the Police on issues related to gender main
streaming as spelled out in this Gender Policy;
3. Promote and sensitize Commanders at al levels the concepts and provisions of
this Policy and how it shall be implemented;
4. Evaluate from time to time progress made and identified shortcomings and
challenges faced in implementing the Policy;
5. Liaise with all Units in regions and counties to ensure that the Gender Policy is
implemented and that there is co-ordination that is to the benefit of the advancement
of women and gender relations in general.
Liberia national police gender mainstreaming strategic plan
implemented by the LNP gender unit
Gender Mainstreaming Strategic Goal – Mainstreaming gender issues in the LNP
working procedures in a manner consistent with the country’s constitutional
framework, international standards and values.
Project
Due Date
Progress to date
%
Done
Responsibility
Achieve 20% female
representation in LNP
through increased recruiting
20092012
Efforts were made to achieve
20% female representation in
LNP through the distribution of
flyers, community involvement,
and visits of schools, colleges
and universities. In 2009,
female representation was
14%. The Team managed to
send 54 female recruits to the
LNP Police Academy class 37
and 51 females in class 36 in
2010.
14
Admin/
Implement LNP Gender
Policy
20092010
Rolling of the LNP Gender
policy in Zones and Depots
started. As of 23 April 2010,
the LNP gender Unit in
collaboration with the UNPOL
Gender Advisor have
undertaken a sensitization
program in the Zones and
Depots to ensure every officer
is conversant with the gender
policy and able to implement it
adequately. So far zones
1,2,3,4,5,6,8 have been visited
and sensitized. Copies of the
gender policy have been
distributed to these stations.
The only remaining zone
within
60
Gender
Admin/
Gender
Monrovia is Zone 7 and yet to
extend to the Leeward
stations.
Evaluate current female
education support program
and introduce revised
program to support female
applicants and officers who
have joined the LNP
20092010
Evaluated by LNP and UNPOL
– new arrangements still to be
defined.
30
Admin/ Gender
Develop policies that
enhance family friendly
benefits for LNP officers
20092011
Not started yet.
0
Admin/Gender/
R&R
Develop and implement
program to combat
20092010
In progress. Zones 1,3,4,5,6
and 8 have been covered:
60
Admin/Gender/
workplace harassment,
discrimination and
victimization setting out the
responsibilities of
supervisors to be
accountable for
inappropriate behavior of
their staff
Bushrod Island on 21/01/2010,
R&R
Congo Town on 30/03/2010,
Paynesville 31/03/2010
Gardnersville 29/03/2010
Brewersville 7/04/2010
Elwa Rehab (Zone 8)
12/04/2010 officers were
sensitized.
Implement Equal
Opportunities monitoring
framework to measure
performance in relation to
recruitment, selection,
grievances and internal
complaints.
20092011
Establish Equal
Opportunities Strategic
Board to oversee
implementation of policies
that seek to prevent
discrimination and
encourage female officers
to apply for specialist posts
and achieve promotion
20092011
Establish an Affirmative
Action Program to attract
qualified female recruits to
the LNP and enhances the
prospects of female officers
to achieve progression and
selection for specialist
posts.
20092011
Ensure that LNP
Performance Framework
monitors proportionality in
relation to gender.
20092010
Establish a Custody
Working Group to review
custody procedures and
ensure that appropriate
facilities are available for
female detainees
20092011
In progress.
20
Admin/Gender/
R&R
Not started yet.
0
Admin/Gender/
R&R
Started, to also be consider in
Development of Potential
Scheme to fast track talented
male and female officers.
10
See section on Performance
Appraisals
85
Admin/Gender/
R&R
Admin/Gender/
R&R
In progress.
40
Operations
Case Study 15: Establishing an Office for
Gender Equality and implementation of gender
mainstreaming in the Kosovo Police
The Kosovo Police prior to 1999 had only about four female
officers who worked in administrative positions. It was very difficult
for a woman to become a police officer at that time due to the local
culture, lack of education and household responsibilities. When the
Kosovo Police Service (KPS) was established in 1999 as a
democratic police service, the guarantee and protection of equal
rights between women and men in all fields and levels of policing
became a priority. In this context, the KPS aimed to achieve and
maintain a rate of female representation of 15 % of its personnel.
KPS developed a policy on the process of candidate testing and
recruitment (P-3.18) aimed to select the best candidates in
accordance with equal representation of all ethnicities and both
genders. The policy required that candidates are assessed and
evaluated in accordance with internationally recognized standards.
An initial idea to adapt the test for females to a lower standard to
facilitate their entry was categorically refused since the aim was to
select the best candidates and to have the highest quality service.
The tests for female candidates were therefore aligned to meet
international standards. Tests included a written test, physical
fitness, oral interview, psychological test, medical check and full
background investigation. To be successful, the candidate had to
achieve more than 70% of the points in the written test and oral
interview.
In order to achieve and maintain its target for female
representation, KPS organized vacancies and processes for
female candidates. It issued publications using local media (print
and broadcast), held public hearings, speeches, and debates and
visited schools and communities.
The first police class to graduate in 1999 consisted of 134 officers,
among them 24 females (18%). Ten years after, in May 2009, the
total Kosovo Police strength has increased to 7384 police officers
and among them 1251 was females (17%). Female officers
represent 14% of sworn officers of which 114 are ranked officers
from Sergeant to Deputy Director General (approximately 9% of
the total of all ranked officers). KPS also has a civilian staff of
which 24% are women.
Kosovo Police female officers during the years of organizational
establishment have shown that they are very capable, selfconfident, motivated and able to contribute in accomplishing police
activities alongside male officers in enforcing the law, fighting crime
and creating a safe environment for their citizens. Despite the fact
that female officers are sometimes forced to resign due to
insufficient pregnancy leave, pressure from their families especially
from their husbands after they get married and family conditions,
many females have remained, succeeded and serve in high-level
positions in the police organizational hierarchy.
To respond to the challenges in retaining female police officers and
underscoring the high contribution of women in law enforcement, in
April 2004, KPS in close cooperation with United Nations Police,
established the Office for Human Rights and Gender Equality. Its
mandate is derived from the Kosovo Gender Equality Law, KP
Gender Equality Vision, the KP Policy Procedures Manual (PPM)
which provides standards of conduct, behaviour and operating
procedures, as well as United Nations Security Council Resolution
1325. The office is staffed by a Police Sergeant with the position of
Officer for Gender Equality who reports directly to the Police
General Director. The office is supported by a Coordinator and a
Deputy Coordinator for Gender Equality held respectively by the
Police General Director and the Police Deputy- General Director.
The Office for Human Rights and Gender Equality functions within
the Office of the Police General Director.
Below is the organigramme for the Office for Human Rights and
Gender Equality:
Police Director
General
Deputy Director
General
Deputy Director
General
Office of Human
Rights and Gender
Equality
Unit for Inspection
and Auditing
The aim of the Office for Human Rights and Gender Equality is the
promotion of equal opportunities between female and male police
officers in all fields of KP activities. The Officer for Gender Equality
coordinates gender issues within KP based on the Law No. 2004/2
on gender equality in Kosovo and with the KP standard operating
procedures. It is responsible for developing policies, procedures
and action plans for police units, monitoring and evaluating
implementation of gender mainstreaming, performing
comprehensive analyses on gender perspectives and providing
advice on best practices, assessing needs and suggesting training
programs on gender equality, addressing cases of violations of the
gender equality provisions within KP, and collaborating with other
governmental (i.e. Ministry of Internal Affairs) and nongovernmental institutions and agencies.
The following are the accomplishments of the Office for Human
Rights and Gender Equality from 2004-2010.
1. Incorporation of the Office for Human Rights and Gender
Equality within the highest authority in the organisational structure
of Kosovo Police (i.e. within the staff of the Deputy-General
Director) and approval for its personnel, as well as the description
of duties and responsibilities.
2. Adoption of Security Council resolution 1325 as mandate for the
Office for Human Rights and Gender Equality.
3. Creation of an internal structure for gender equality within the
KP.
Advisory Board: To reinforce the Office for Human Rights and
Gender Equality, KP established an Advisory Board consisting of
20 members from different police departments (i.e. Administration,
Training, Internal Services, Media and Public Relations, Selection
and Recruitment, Domestic Violence, Human Trafficking,
Information Management, etc.). Members of the Advisory
Board are especially trained on human rights and gender issues. It
is mandated to discuss obstacles and challenges and find solutions
for advanced implementation of gender equality policies. The
members provide reports to the Office for Human Rights and
Gender Equality every three months on the progress of gender
mainstreaming in their respective departments or units, and when
necessary, provide advice and undertake initiatives on improving
human rights and gender equality conditions within KP.
Network – (Region – Police station): The Office for Human Rights
and Gender Equality established a network for gender issues
consisting of two police officers (male and female) per region within
the six regions, and two officers (male and female) per police
station. Every network member in the police stations provides a
written report on gender issues to the network members from the
region their police station belongs to. The regional members of the
network provide a written report every three months to the Office
for Human Rights and Gender Equality. The network also reports
through this chain of command, every time they come across or
are informed of a case of gender equality violation.
KP Gender Equality Task Force: The task force is a consultative
body on issues related to gender equality and women’s human
rights. It comprises representatives from the Kosovo Agency for
Gender Equality, Kosovo Women Network, Serbian Women
Network, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of
Labour and Social Welfare and Ministry of Health, heads of KP
departments on Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence and
UNIFEM.
Integration of gender perspectives into the KP PPM: The manual
offers general information on ethics and behaviour for police
officers. The Office for Human Rights and Gender Equality
reviewed and updated existing policies and procedures and
developed new guidelines on gender equality.
KP members, in their field of activity as law enforcers, are tasked to
implement special provisions on gender equality derived from the
constitution, national laws in Kosovo police and on gender equality
in general, and international treaties and resolutions such as the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW) and Security Council Resolution 1325,
on women peace and security.
The Kosovo Police enacted the following policies and procedures
to implement gender equality within the organisation:
 PPM 1.23 - Non-Discrimination;
 PPM 1.48 - Sexual Harassment;
 PPM 3.14 - Duty roster;
 PPM 3.20 - Leave and absence;
 PPM 3.21 - Pregnancy, light duty assignment, pregnancy
leave;
 PPM 6.18 - Domestic violence;
 PPM 6.19 - Sexual assault investigations;
 PPM 6.20 - Gender equality.
Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan: These documents
represented valuable guidelines aimed to further professionalize
the KP in delivering gender sensitive services. Action plans for the
Office for Human Rights and Gender Equality, Advisory Board, and
Network members were also developed providing the duties and
roles of every representative of the police department and units
who were members of the Network as well as members of the
Advisory Board.
5. Establishment of a reporting system: The Advisory Board
members are obliged to provide written reports to the Office for
Human Rights and Gender Equality. The Officer for Gender
Equality compiles reports for a period of one month, three months,
six months, and one year, as well as reports for special occasions
which are disseminated to different national and international
institutions.
6. Establishment of a monitoring system: A monitoring system is
set up through systematized reporting from the regional network
and Advisory Board, regular meetings with police departments and
units, follow of vacant positions, applications to positions and
promotions, establishment of different boards, integration of gender
perspectives in trainings, complaints, etc.
7. Trainings: The Office for Human Rights and Gender Equality and
the Department for Training planned and organized different
training for KP members: training of instructors in the Kosovo
Centre for Public Safety Education and Development (KCPSED) or
the police training academy on basic and advanced subjects on
gender issues, funded by UNIFEM; preparation of two training
modules for police officers on gender equality and women’s
security; incorporation of gender-related subjects into the annual
training planning; conducting of regular gender equality training.
The KCPSED includes mandatory training on gender equality
which is part of the basic police training curriculum. Specialised
advanced training on gender were also developed including gender
analysis, gender stereotypes, domestic violence, integration of
gender in security issues, international and national legal
framework on security and gender issues, gender and the police,
etc.
8. Project on ‘Treatment of victims in lawful procedures’: The
Kosovo Police Office for Human Rights and Gender Equality
developed a project entitled ‘Treatment of victims in lawful
procedures’ which was composed of a series of roundtables held in
five police regions: Prishtina, Peja, Gjilan, Mitrovica and Prizreni.
One roundtable was specially organized with a Kosovo-Serbian
women’ NGO network held in Gushtericë. The participants in these
roundtables included representatives from the Kosovo Police
(Department for Community Issues, Domestic Violence and Child
Abuse Unit, Community Police units, Human Trafficking Unit,
Investigations Units, etc.), Coordinator for Human Rights from the
Ministry of Justice, Municipal Mayors, Municipal Vice Chairpersons,
centres for social welfare, shelter centers, victim advocates,
prosecutors, judges, municipal representatives, correctional
centres, high officials from the Ministry of Education, Science and
Technology, representatives from international organisations such
as UNIFEM, UNHCR, OSCE, KFOR, Kosovo Red Cross, fire
department, radio and television representatives, nongovernmental organisations such as Handikos, SOS-Children
village, Safer World, Terre Des Hommes, Mundësia, Zana, Jeta,
Medica, Luna, Korak Napred, Lepsa Buducnost, etc. An
implementation mechanism for the outcome recommendations
from the roundtables was established composed of representatives
from various institutions. The Officer for Gender Equality from the
Kosovo Police office was selected as the head of this mechanism.
9. Gender analysis and studies: In consultation with KP
management, the Office for Human Rights and Gender Equality
undertakes studies and analysis with units that directly or indirectly
treat gender issues such as Domestic Violence and Child Abuse,
the Community Police, Human Trafficking, Investigations,
Department of Personnel, etc. The Office for Human Rights and
Gender Equality provides recommendations to the units.
10. Creation of an external structure for gender equality: A
Managerial Board was created including members from the office
of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Justice,
Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Ministry of
Public Administration, representatives from civil society, etc.
11. Establishment of strategic partnerships: The Office for Human
Rights and Gender Equality collaborates with a comprehensive
network of local and international institutions working on gender
issues such as the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Internal
Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, international
organisations such as UNIFEM, OSCE, UNDP, UNHCR,
community centers such as shelters and advocates for victims, as
well as NGOs - Kosovo Women Network, representing more than
60 NGOs and the Serbian Women Network.
12. Raising awareness through media outreach: The Office for
Human Rights and Gender Equality has published its work and
activities in written and electronic media. It has also published
posters on Security Council resolution 1325 and brochures on
gender-based violence.
Case Study 16: Establishing a Gender Affairs
Section in the Liberia National Police
In March 2008, the Liberia National Police (LNP) established a
Gender Affairs Section under the LNP Administration Department
within the Professional Standards Division (see diagramme). It
aims to support, monitor, advise and assess the level of
implementation and compliance with the LNP Gender Policy. Its
objectives are to assist in the development, training and
implementation of gender awareness and sensitivity and training,
to collaborate with functional areas in the LNP to ensure gender
mainstreaming, and to develop and maintain a knowledge base on
learning, research and best practices for gender mainstreaming.
LNP Gender Affairs Section in the police organisational
diagramme:
Inspector General
Deputy Inspector
General of
Administration
Professional
Standards Division
Gender Affairs
Section
The functions of the section are mainly gender mainstreaming
activities to correct the imbalances of gender representation,
ensure increased participation of women at decision making levels
and in authority, support development initiatives for female police,
collaborate with government ministries (Ministry of Gender and
Development, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health and Social
Work), international and local NGOs in monitoring sexual and
gender-based violence cases and policy formulation, and serves as
member on the promotion board to ensure that the interest of both
sexes are considered.
The LNP Gender Affairs Section is composed of ten positions. The
Section Chief is at the rank of Assistant Commissioner. As of 5
January 2011, seven posts are filled with five female officers,
including the Chief and two male officers, including the Deputy
Chief.
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Chief of Gender: The Chief of Gender is the head of the
section. The chief supervises and coordinates activities of
the section. The Chief of Gender reports to the Deputy
Inspector-General of Police for Administration.
Deputy Chief of Gender: The Deputy Chief of Gender is the
principal deputy to the Chief of Gender. The Deputy Chief of
Gender runs the day-to-day activities of the section. He/she
ensures that reports and other documents are prepared and
forwarded to the chief of the section.
Program Coordinator: Responsible for planning, organizing
and writing proposals; drawing up plans for workshops,
seminars, conferences etc. The Program Coordinator
reports to the deputy chief of section who in turn reports to
the chief of section.
Special Assistant: Responsible for making sure that the
clerical pool is well managed. He/she supervises the
preparation of all documents and reports.
Gender County Officer: Coordinates and monitors the
implementation of the LNP gender policy in a given county.
He/she ensures that gender is mainstreamed in all sections
of a county. He/she reports to the deputy chief of a section.
Zone Coordinator: Responsible for ensuring that cases are
properly handled and gender is mainstreamed at a given
zone. He or she also monitors the implementation of the
LNP gender policy.
Secretary: Responsible for the clerical pool of the section.
He/she ensures that reports are prepared and dispatched.
He/she also ensures that reports are kept in good condition.
The Secretary reports to the Special Assistant.
Recording Officer: Responsible for the storage of all reports,
documents and letters. He/she ensures that reports and
other communication are well handled and kept in good
condition.
Filing Clerk: Responsible for filing all reports, documents
and letters in a proper place. He/she can also dispatch office
documents.
A driver is also included in the staff.
The UN Police component of the United Nations Mission in Liberia
(UNMIL) has assisted the Liberian National Police (LNP) in
operationalizing gender mainstreaming concerns identified in the
LNP Strategic Plan in 2009. A project monitoring framework
provides a record of all projects, their status of completion, and the
list of stakeholders involved in the implementation of the projects.
The UNPOL Gender Advisory Unit co-ordinates with various actors
such as UN agencies, UN mission Gender Advisory Unit,
government line ministries (Internal Affairs, Justice, Gender and
Development, Education, Health, Social Welfare etc.), international
and national NGOs (women and youth organisations, safe homes,
associations for disabled persons), community based organisations
(i.e. churches etc.), community policing forums (CPF) and donor
partners. A sample strategic plan for mainstreaming gender in the
Liberia National Police from 2009 to 2012 is included in the Annex.
Case Study 17: Establishing a Gender
Advisory Office in the National Police of
Timor-Leste
The National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) created the position of
Gender Advisor on 27 July 2009 under the Office of the General
Commander. Since the position is located at the top level of the
police organization, gender mainstreaming has gained importance.
The duties of the PNTL Gender Advisor include developing a
strategic vision and planning activities for gender mainstreaming in
the police, creating working groups with various stakeholders such
as heads of police departments, other governmental agencies (i.e.
Secretary of State of Promotion and Equality), international
organisations and non-governmental organisations and
undertaking training for PNTL gender focal points in the
department and district levels. The working groups meet every
month to evaluate activities, including assessing the outcomes of
the training sessions and identifying further needs. The working
groups established a programme for a campaign on sixteen days
activism on domestic violence that is rolled out to police districts
every year.
The highest-ranking female police officer in the PNTL in 2009,
Umbelina Soares was nominated as the first PNTL Gender
Advisor. She previously served as the PNTL Chief of the
Department of Justice. She accompanied the UNPOL Human
Rights and Gender Advisor as part of the UN Police delegation to
the annual training conference of the International Association of
Women Police (IAWP) in Seattle and Minneapolis, USA in 2009
and 2010 respectively. The conference provided an opportunity for
her to learn about networking and the importance of an association
of female police officers, women and good leadership, gender
issues within the police organization and the role of female police
officers in peacekeeping. The interaction with other UN Police
delegates and their national counterparts who were working on
gender-related issues in post-conflict police reform as well as the
exchange with other female police officers worldwide were a
valuable experience in building her capacity.
In 2009, the PNTL Gender Advisor organized for the first time a
one-day workshop with female police officers to discuss their
concerns and gender related issues within the PNTL. The
Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) Police Division
Gender Expert from New York, USA was invited to share best
practices from other peacekeeping operations. The workshop
covered equal opportunities on recruitment, training, promotions,
transfers, welfare conditions and sexual harassment. Over 20
PNTL female police officers as well as the UNMIT UNPOL Human
Rights and Gender Adviser and the UNMIT Security Sector Reform
Gender Adviser attended the workshop. The workshop had a
positive impact by increasing the awareness and capacity of the
PNTL female police officers on mainstreaming gender issues into
PNTL processes and procedures and empowered them as women
to advocate for equal rights and opportunities. They have
requested that PNTL female police officers conduct regular
monthly meetings to network and learn about gender
mainstreaming.
The PNTL has 18 per cent female police officers in the
organization representing 577 of 3197 total strength as of 6
January 2011.
PNTL Female Police Officers as of 6 January 2011
Rank
Number of female officers
Superintendent
02
Assistant Superintendent
01
Chief Inspector
01
Inspector
09
Assistant Inspector
11
Agents and Senior Agents
553
TOTAL
577
Case Study 18: Chad Police female
recruitment initiative
Female police in the National Police in Chad started at a very
modest representation with only five women in 1974 that eventually
increased to18 two years after. In 2001, the first recruitment drive
to select women for the Chad Police Gendarmerie was organized.
At the time of the United Nations Mission in Chad (MINURCAT) in
2010, there were 76 women of 8,000 gendarmes and 201 women
of 5,000 police personnel.
The female recruitment initiative
Acting upon its mandate according to various Security Council
Resolutions,
MINURCAT:
 Established a gender structure (civilian division and UNPOL)
 Advocated a policy of development for female officers
 Initiated a campaign
 Provided logistical, financial and human resources support
 Conducted training of the Détachement Intégré de Sécurité
(DIS) which is a special security entity deployed in camps
for internally displaced communities and refugees
 Required from the police and gendarmerie authorities to be
provided with 45 Police and 28 Gendarme women to join the
DIS
 Launched in partnership with the National Police for the
recruitment of 250 women A Quick Impact Project (QIP) was
set up to finance the program executed by the Information
Centre and the NGO Liaison (CILONG). Under this project
two Memoranda Of Understanding (MOUs) were signed on
15 June 2009 with MINURCAT. The objective of the project
was to integrate more women in law enforcement
organisation:
o Increase gender balance in the DIS in general
o Increase female officers in the protection unit for
women and children in the DIS in particular
o Instill a dynamic recruitment of women in the Chadian
administration
o Implement United Nations Security Council
Resolution 1325 by MINURCAT
Implementation
Recruitment conditions
Same recruitment criteria as men.
 Minimum 18 years of age
 Good moral character (police record)
 Ability to read and write French or Arabic
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Medical clearance
Fitness examination
Activities
Awareness Campaign
 Radio Advertising
 TV Commercial
 Advertising in newspapers
 Posters advertising the different points of attraction
Steps in the organization of the recruitment
 Submission and collection of application forms
 Physical Tests
 Written Tests
 Oral examinations
 Jury deliberation
 Posting of admitted candidates
This physical fitness tests were held at the Police Academy of
Ndjamena from 6 to 10 October 2009 and resulted in the selection
of 2,162 appropriate candidates from a total of 4,903 candidates.
The written tests took place on 8 November 2009 at the Lycee
Felix Eboue N’djamena, has grouped the 2162 candidates. The
candidates were tested in French, mathematics and general
knowledge rounding off by a psycho test.
The posting of final results led to the actual recruitment of 250
women in the Chadian National Police after the contest.
The professional training of the female recruits was undertaken in
the police academy. MINURCAT provided 250 uniforms (jacket and
pants held mesh, cap, belt and ranger).
Success
Given the enthusiasm that this operation has generated (through
advertisements in local media which showed the frequency of 4903
records), this project can be regarded as having a positive impact
within the local population. Quantifiable and verifiable indicators
were evidenced concerning the visibility actions of the project
(advertising, billboards) and the actual accomplishment of the
recruitment target.
Challenges
The project faced a number of challenges:
 The recruitment took place in difficult conditions as it was a
first experience on an unfamiliar site.
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The socio-cultural conditions in the recruitment of women
were not easy to overcome.
Obtaining approval from the Chad National Police for the
promotion of gender equality took time.
Assigning the project to the CILONG organization (NGOs)
which was regarded as a foreign body in the structures of
the police was not easily accepted.
On the administrative aspect, the negotiations that led to the
launch of the project have been difficult given the multiple
discussions between MINURCAT and the National Police
officials. There was a lack of closer monitoring of activities
by the parties. CILONG was absent during certain stages of
the project.
On the financial aspect, the second phase of the project had
faced some difficulties such as the delay in processing and
disbursing of funds.
On the logistics and socio-cultural aspects, the physical
examinations at the police were slow due to the method of
manual registration of applications.
Lessons learned
In the future for a successful implementation of a recruitment
process, it would be desirable to consider these points:
 The representation of the UN mission in the steering
committees and organization of the recruitment
process/examinations
 Support to the local police with information technology (IT)
tools
 Technical evaluation of the project with at least three
deadlines during the execution
 Relaxing financial procedures to gain time
 Establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding with
precise and concise roles for each party taking part in the
project (host-police, UN Mission, NGOs or service provider)
during the recruitment
In conclusion, the National Police authorities have expressed their
satisfaction and that the partnership with MINURCAT is a
commendable initiative that filled the gap of female representation
in its institution. Despite the difficulties and obstacles faced, the
goal to recruit 250 women for the Chadian National Police has
been achieved and valuable lessons have been learned from this
first experience.
Case Study 19: Liberia National Police
education support programme for female
candidates
The vision of the UNPOL and Liberian National Police leadership is
to have a gender balance in the police. When the reform and
restructuring of the LNP began in 2004, the recruitment campaign
started with a total of 864 recruits (803 males and 61 females).
This progressively increased in 2005 with 1,207 recruits (1,146
males and 61 females), in 2006 with 1,429 recruits (1,348 males
and 81 females), in 2007 with 161 recruits (20 males and 141
females), in 2008 with 279 recruits (82 males and 197 females), in
2009 with 297 recruits (96 males and 201 females) and in 2010
with 143 recruits (93 males and 54 females).
The first female LNP Director of Police, Beatrice M. Sieh, who was
appointed in 2006 by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,
approved the LNP Recruitment Campaign Concept Paper in April
2005. Under the concept paper, a target of at least 3,500 trained
personnel was planned. From 2004 to 2005, a total of 2,071 were
recruited. The timeline was not indicated in the concept paper.
However, the total number of female officers recruited in the same
period was 122 with a total ratio of 5% which was below the
identified target of 15% for female representation.
The recruitment was hampered by the following problems and
challenges – lack of motivation, lack of interest in the police service
(people chose to be enlisted in military), negative public perception
towards the police, low pace of demobilization of disqualified
officers and disqualification due to educational grounds.
UNMIL, LNP and the Government of Liberia re-launched the
recruitment exercise by using various programs such as mass
media, community campaign, school visits and distribution of
publicity materials to inform the community about the recruitment to
address the above mentioned gaps/challenges.
The issue of female representation in Liberia National Police was a
problem faced by the UN mission and the government after the
war. Consequently, UNPOL senior leaders and the LNP hierarchy
came up with a strategy to reach out to the people through
community and school awareness campaigns and mass media
advertisements.
Before they started the school campaign, the UNPOL Senior
Advisors and LNP Officers visited the Minister of Education and
briefed them about the campaign’s agenda for recruiting more
females into LNP. The Minister endorsed the initiative, provided the
list of schools, colleges and universities within Monrovia and sent a
female representative from the Ministry to go with the police and
help in the campaign.
The UNPOL leadership collaborated with LNP leadership, the
Ministry of Education, Ministry of Gender and Development and
other stakeholders.
The UNPOL invited female senior leaders of UNMIL and female
government officials who gave their time and support in going to
the campaign and give their share of encouragement to inspire the
students.
The female UNPOLs and female LNP Officers collectively joined in
the school campaign and talked about their duties and
responsibilities and the significant contributions they have shared
in the UN mission and police service. They also shared the
challenges they faced to show that women can stand and lead.
Female police officers highlighted the different skills they have
gained and learned from their experience in the police service as
well as in the academy when they underwent training that made
them effective, efficient and confident in performing their duties.
They emphasised that law enforcement job is a noble profession
that needs commitment and as women, they should take pride in
providing security and protection to the community and to the
country.
All the UNPOL and LNP female Instructors in the academy likewise
joined in the campaign and discussed the training procedures
implemented in the academy, the knowledge and skills that will be
learned during training, the fact that the education was subsidized
by the government and employment guaranteed for graduates.
A senior LNP female officer from the administrative division
discussed the functions of LNP units/offices for the audience to
learn range of police work wherein females can effectively and
efficiently contribute their skills and knowledge.
The LNP officer mentioned administrative as well as operational
areas of work offering challenging roles for young females as well
as flexibility by being able to serve in other unit/offices to have an
opportunity to develop other skills. The medical benefits were also
mentioned as well as food and accommodation subsidies and other
benefits (clothing etc.) during the training. Aside from the free basic
supplies the academy provided students also received their
monthly salaries.
As part of the campaign strategy, they encouraged the students to
apply to the LNP because there is no private institution that could
offer them the same benefits mentioned and the guarantee that
they will immediately be employed after the training.
Strategically, the team conducts awareness campaign three weeks
before the graduation of high school students which was found to
be effective. The following challenges were observed:
1. Culture, traditions, religious beliefs
2. Lack of family support
3. Lack of motivation due to low salary
4. Lack of trust and confidence to the police
5. Fear to undergo intensive police training
6. Lack of education qualifications
The UNPOL and LNP were able to recruit a total of 277 females
and 2,621 males (based on the list of graduates of Basic Police
Science Course in the academy) from 2004 to 2007. The enlisted
LNP personnel during the war were not included in this statistics.
As a conclusion, though it did not meet the desired target
recruitment of female applicants, the campaigns were considered
successful because of the significant support, intensive political will
and commitment of the UNMIL/UNPOL, LNP, government leaders,
different sectors of the society and the community members.
Special education support programme for female candidates
In 2006, the UNMIL UNPOL designed a strategy to further increase
the female representation in the Liberia National Police through an
education support programme for female candidates under the age
of 35. It was funded by UNDP under German donation. The
partners included the Ministry of Education, Justice, Gender, West
African Examinations Council (WAEC), and the Stella Maris
Polytechnic.
This program aimed to assist the recruitment process so that the
reformed and restructured Liberia National Police could achieve a
desired quota of 20% female representation. Due to the conflict, a
high number of females in Liberia could not finish their high school
education and as a result many women could not apply to the LNP
academy due to this basic educational requirement.
Through this programme, the education level of qualified and
interested applicants was brought to that of a high school
certification. Mainly senior high school drop-outs were considered
in the programme.
An intense sensitization campaign started in October 2006
engaging every possible means to raise awareness on the
importance of female officers in the police service. There were 380
candidates who applied and 124 were able to pass the aptitude
test given by WAEC and was admitted by the Stella Maris
Polytechnic to undergo the three months tutorials. In the first
edition, which was formally launched on 20 January 2007, 105
successful candidates of ESPFC Class 1 were sent in the academy
but only 99 were able to finish the Basic Police Science Course.
The second edition commenced on 29 September 2007 with 60
successful applicants and 12 candidates from ESP Class 1 reapplied and joined the ESP Class 2 in the academy to undergo
training. On the third edition, the recruitment team gave priority to
the applicants from the counties. WAEC officials traveled to
Harper, Zwedru, Foya and Gbarnga to administer the aptitude test.
There were 236 who took the qualifying test, 105 finished the three
months tutorials at Stella Maris Polytechnic and 78 passed the
WAEC High School equivalency test and were sent in the academy
for the training. A total of 255 graduated under the Education
Support Program for Female Candidates for the Liberia National
Police.
How the ESP was implemented?
1. Applicants must pass the aptitude test administered by WAEC.
2. Successful candidates start their three months intensive training
at the Stella Maris Polytechnic.
3. While undergoing tutorials, the female candidates receive
monthly stipends.
4. Candidates from the outlying areas are given subsidy for their
accommodation.
5. At the end of the three month tutorials, the candidates reach an
educational level that enables them to sit for a high school
equivalent examination administered by WAEC.
6. Successful candidates go through the standard recruitment
procedures at LNP.
7. After passing all the above procedures, the successful
candidates are sent in the National Police Training Academy to
undergo the Basic Police Science Course.
Based on a 2010 survey conducted by UNPOL and LNP with the
three classes of the Education Support Program, the female
officers who have passed would like to continue their studies
however financial constraints and family obligations deterred them
from doing so. They expressed interest in enhancing their
knowledge and skills so that they could better at the same level as
their colleagues and be confident in their work. Some of the ESP
graduates also raised that that they experienced discrimination
being products of the special education program. Some said that
what they learned during the special education in Stella Maris
Polytechnic was not enough and that they would like to go back to
school to have a formal education.
Part of the survey is the performance evaluation from their direct
supervisors. While some gave positive feedback others said that
they needed close supervision in doing the tasks given to them.
They also recommended a formal education for them would
increase their competence and effectiveness in their work.
The Training Instructors at the police training academy were also
interviewed who said that ESP candidates had difficulties in
reading and writing and they faced problems during the academic
phase of the training. They made their training standard flexible
because of the special status of the candidates.
The commitment of the training staff to teach and help the
trainees/candidates included a special class for English Grammar
in the academic curriculum which helped the candidates.
To conclude, this program has been used to bridge the gap of the
lack of female representation in the LNP to recruit more female
officers in 2007 and 2008.
Recommendations:
It is recommended to have longer months of intensive tutorials to
the successful (ESP) candidates at Stella Maris Polytechnic if the
program will be utilized again to recruit female officers for them
have enough time to learn and be educated formally.
The new Education Support Program for the active officers must be
reviewed by the stakeholders for the benefits for the female officers
which is a positive approach for their retention.
In 2010, there were 4,384 active LNP Officers, 626 LNP female
officers (15.48%) and 3,758 male officers.
Case Study 20: Burundi female police
motivation and empowerment initiatives
In 2009, Burundian female police officers recommended setting up
a female police association following a female police training
session entitled “Rehabilitation of the role of women police”
organised by the UN Mission in Burundi (BINUB) Police Advisory
Unit. The Burundian female officers prepared the rules and
regulations of the female police association based on the legal
framework of the country and the organic chart of Ministry of Public
Security and Burundi National Police.
Obtaining the authorisation of the Minister of Public Security was
difficult since, as per the chart of national police, policemen and
women cannot organise themselves such as for a strike, so they
are not allowed to form associations. A three-day session was
organized for a group of female police and their male colleagues
for the presentation of the aim of the association and the statute. In
conclusion, the association was authorized but as a network and
members must be both men and women. A country tour on the
sensitization of female police was organized to raise their
awareness on the network. The network was launched with the
international community and the Minister of Public Security and
Director General of National Police. The initiative was sponsored
by the German development cooperation GTZ.
Under the female police network of training for female excombatants newly integrated in the Burundi National Police was
conducted in 2010, in collaboration with BINUB’s Police Unit. A
total of 132 female police from 7 provincial police stations were
trained in modules on community oriented policing and human
rights, including crimes related to sexual and gender based
violence, minority rights and HIV-AIDS.
The network organized lobbying for the deployment of female
police in peacekeeping missions. A special pre-UN Selection
Assistance Team (SAT) assessment preparation was organized in
2010 where 132 female officers were tested. Sixty-three passed
and participated at the final SAT test. There was an innovation in
conducting SAT tests in Burundi; middle rank female police officers
were allowed to take the test which was not the case before. The
Ministry of Public Security and the Burundi National Police
sponsored a driving skills training for female police officers in
preparation for the SAT test. The network also obtained financial
support for the driving skills training from GTZ.
At the end of 2010, the network requested for a training of trainers
in police modules for the continuation of the training of female
police officers. Three women with nine men were trained and
received certificates.
Impact of actions
The impact of initiatives is the following:
a) Stakeholders
GTZ has developed a three year project on the “Rehabilitation of
the role of women police” from 2010 to 2012; The Dutch
government has also developed strategies for the integration of
gender sensitivity in programming and budgeting for the five next
years; Belgian cooperation is reviewing their program to include a
gender approach.
b) On the individual level, measures and actions serve as a
trigger to the awareness of women on their role in the Burundi
National Police and the need to strengthen their capacities.
Similarly, through professional actions in everyday life, they are
more aware of the plight of women in general and the role of
female police officers in the national police.
c) On the institutional level, there is considerable recognition of
the importance of the place and role of women in the police
service; strengthening the inclusion of gender in the management
level; promotion of female police officers to positions of
responsibility appears to be a significant step in the transformation
of attitudes (appointment of three female directors of services).
MODULE 3: CAPACITY BUILDING
OF THE HOST STATE POLICE ON
PREVENTING AND
INVESTIGATING SEXUAL AND
GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE
Case Study 21: United Nations Mission in
Liberia: Competent UNPOL Women and
Children Protection adviser at the rescue
UNPOL adviser Doreen Malambo, a Zambian national, trained in
sign language, assisted a 22-year old deaf woman who reported a
case of sexual assault to the Liberia National Police (LNP) in 2009.
Escorted by three colleagues, also deaf, the woman went to the
police at Zone 4 Base in Gardnersville, Monrovia, to file a
complaint. UNPOL Officer Malambo, with her skills and
competence on sign language, was able to communicate with the
victim and provided the support needed for the LNP officers to
write down the victim’s statement and a police report of the
incident.
Access to public services, security and protection for persons with
disabilities is important, as they are often an invisible marginalised
group in society. In cooperation, UNPOL and LNP officers
managed to open the doors to the police for the woman with
disability reporting a crime and provide her with security and
protection.
UNPOL Officer Malambo was inspired to take sign language
courses in Zambia in 1996 following a case of a deaf man who
worked together in a gang that attacked and robbed people in the
late hours in the country’s capital Lusaka. The deaf man was
repeatedly arrested by the police and took to court under charges
of aggravated robbery. However he was always acquitted due to
the language barrier in the court proceedings. Police also had
difficulties in communicating with the man whenever they affected
the arrest. As a result, the Zambia Police Service, together with the
Zambia National Association of the Deaf (ZNAD), introduced a
programme for a basic course on sign language. Officer Malambo
was one of the few officers, eight in total, who joined the course. ‘I
wanted to help my country combat crime in all angles and it was
challenging for me. I got motivated to learn sign language because
I wanted to assist the minorities in the society,’ she stated. The
language course took one year and the trainees, including Officer
Malambo, did practical application in the courts where they
assisted in interpretation for the above case. Their assistance in
sign language interpretation was a success which helped lead to
the conviction of the accused person. It also proved to be an
important prevention strategy as it reduced the involvement of the
deaf in criminal activities in Zambia since they became aware that
the police are knowledgeable with sign language.
Case Study 22: Two cases of violence against
women with disabilities
These cases are extracted from Human Rights Watch, ‘As if we
weren’t Human’, Discrimination against Women with Disabilities in
Northern Uganda (USA, 2010), p. 5.
‘Edna, a 29-year old woman who fled her rural village for Lira town
in 2004, recounted to Human Rights Watch1:
“There were 12 people in the house on the day it was burned down
[by the Lord’s Resistance Army]. Those of us closer to the door
survived. I lay on my stomach and protected my heart. My head got
burned, and I lost my sight. I don’t hear well. I have lost my senses
and sometimes don’t understand what people are saying.”
Soldiers found Edna and she was hospitalized for six months. She
then moved to a camp in Lira district. She filled out the forms to
register as a person with a disability, but did not receive any
special assistance. She supports her family by begging.
Edna’s two daughters have different fathers. The father of her first
child, now six years old, was killed by the Lord’s Resistance Army.
The second child’s father, ashamed of being associated with a
blind woman, would “just come at night, have sex, and leave in the
morning.” After she became pregnant, he abandoned her. Edna
went to police to file a complaint of child neglect, but since she did
not know the man’s whereabouts, the police said they could do
nothing.
When she went to a clinic for prenatal care for her second child,
Edna learned that she was HIV- positive. Her six-year-old daughter
now regularly leads her to the hospital to collect her antiretroviral
drugs.’
Angela is a 20-year old woman who was born with a physical
disability that leaves her unable to walk. During the war, she had to
be carried to a camp for internally displaced people because she
could not run. She still lives in that camp in Amuru district.
“My husband beat me seriously. He beat me intentionally many
times, when he came home drunk. He beat me because of my
disability. He said to others that I was useless, could not make love
or cook.”
Angela went to a local government official who advised her to stay
with her husband. Four months passed and she was repeatedly
beaten. Finally, she left.
In the week prior to our interview, Angela was raped three times
when a man broke into her house, where the door lock was broken.
The man came at night, so she was unable to recognize him. Until
our interview, she had not told anyone, including her mother, about
the incidents. Angela feared future attacks.
“I was thinking of bringing a panga [machete] to bed with me in
case he comes again. I fear that if I report, then I will need to know
my HIV status. I want to check my HIV status at a health center but
I do not have transport to town. The hospital is far and my [handcrank] bicycle is broken. Others in the community will say that it’s
my fault and that I run around with men.”
Case Study 23: Women and Children
Protection Desks, Philippine National Police
Domestic violence is widespread in the Philippines and until the
1990s was under reported and ignored by the police and the
society. Upon advocacy by women’s groups who highlighted the
specific nature of domestic violence, the Philippine National Police
(PNP) established the first Women and Children Protection Desk
(WCPD) in 1993. These were institutionalized in all police precincts
in 1998 by the passage of Republic Act 8551 - the PNP Reform
and Reorganization Act.
The WCPDs are placed under the Investigation and Detective
Management Division of the Police Regional Offices (PROs),
Investigation Section of the Police Provincial Offices (PPOs) and
City Police Offices (CPOs), and City/Municipal Police Stations
(CPS/MPS).
In 2010, a total of 1,826 WCPDs are established nationwide staffed
by 2,945 policewomen and 19 policemen. Policewomen are
prioritized in staffing the WCPDs. If there are no available
policewomen it is a must that the policemen undergo gender
sensitive training on handling women and children cases.
The functions of the WCPDs are the following:
 Enforce laws for the protection of women and children from
abuse, exploitation, discrimination and neglect, including
children who are in conflict with the law;
 Investigate cases of women and children who fall victim to
physical/sexual abuse and other gender-based crimes;
 Participate in the legal and judicial process of addressing
cases of violence against women and children;
 Coordinate with other government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and local community in
pursuing interdisciplinary and multijurisdictional response to
the rights and needs of victims;
 Initiate crime prevention programmes aimed at reducing and
eliminating the victimization of women and children at home,
in the neighbourhood, in the workplace, and in society;
 Extend necessary assistance to women and children in
need of special protection;
 Conduct projects and activities related to women and
children protection; and
 Perform analogous responsibilities.
The WCPDs are staffed by at least 3 policewomen, 8 hours a day
with 3 shifts a day.
The following are the procedures in the investigation of complaints
by the WCPDs:
1. Upon receipt of complaint, the WCPD officer shall conduct
appropriate investigation which includes, but is not limited
to, taking the formal statement of the victim and collecting
other evidence necessary for filing the case;
2. Immediately after taking the essential elements of
information during the course of investigation, the WCPD
officer shall refer the victim to the nearest PNP Crime
Laboratory and/or hospital for medico-legal examination;
3. In case of a child victim, by which other existing laws require
immediate presence of the unoffending parent or guardian
and social worker, only persons expressly authorized by the
victim shall be allowed by the WCPD officer inside a room
where police investigation as well as the medical/physical
examination are being conducted in private;
4. Ensure the confidentiality of the identity of the victim and all
other parties directly involved with the case under
investigation. For this purpose, the WCPD officer must
maintain a separate blotter on crimes committed against
children. Under no circumstances shall any police officer
allow media access to information concerning VAWC
reported to PNP;
5. After the conduct of police investigation, the WCPD officer
shall refer the victim, the social worker of the LGU, any
available DSWD shelters, NGOs and other service providers
for psychosocial intervention and other rehabilitation
programs;
6. The WCPD officer shall forward the investigation report,
together with the relevant evidence, including the formal
statements of witnesses and result of medico-legal
examination, to the prosecutor for filing of appropriate
criminal action under the Act;
7. If victim is found to have manifestations of trauma, the
WCPD officer shall refer the victim for appropriate
psychiatric and psychological evaluation which may form
part of the evidence to be presented in court;
8. Monitor and follow-up the case filed in court.
In 2004, these specialized police structures were strengthened with
the creation of the Women and Children Protection Center (WCPC)
as the central office in charge of the supervision of all the WCPDs
nationwide. It was prompted by the enactment of Republic Act
9262 - Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act.
Violence against women and their children was defined under this
law to include physical, sexual, psychological suffering and
economic abuse. It included rape, sexual harassment, prostituting
the woman or her child, wife battering and verbal abuse. Among its
work is to coordinate with partner agencies and non-government
organizations in providing effective victim support services.
Therefore, it has established a one stop shop investigation of
victims. It consists of a Complaints and Investigation Section,
Social Services Section, Child Protection Multi-Disciplinary Section
and Research and Analysis Section. Referrals of cases are
facilitated and victims are burdened less when they bring cases to
the police (see Annex ‘One-Stop Center’for Victims of Sexual
Violence in the Philippines). The WCPC also prioritized projects to
increase community awareness for the women and children to
report cases of violence against them.
Aside from organizing numerous outreach activities, it has also
appeared in various media outlets such as radio and television to
increase public information and confidence of victims to report to
WCPDs nationwide.
To ensure effective operations, the WCPC is equipped with two
Aleng Pulis (‘Female Police’) patrol cars to respond immediately to
rescue operations and all matters pertaining to women and
children. Patrol cars are printed with friendly markings indicating
the telephone hotline of WCPC (Aleng Pulis Telephone No. 09197777377) and driven by a policewoman. The Aleng Pulis hotline is
a mobile number in which anyone can report crimes for immediate
appropriate action by the Center.
At least ten training are conducted by WCPC annually to ensure
that the personnel handling the Women’s Desk have basic
knowledge in the investigation of women and children cases.
From January to November 2010, a total of 12,314 cases of crimes
against children and 15,064 cases of violence against women were
investigated by the WCPDs nationwide.
There was an increase of 5,448 reported cases or 56.65% on the
number of reported violence against women cases for the period
January to November 2010 compared to the period January to
November 2009. The sudden increase resulted from the courage of
the victims to report to any WCPD office/WCPC after they learned
or heard from the Chief, WCPC who frequently made appearances
on media such as TV/Radio in support with massive information
drive made by media sectors to educate the audience and listeners
as well as the efforts exerted by the different WCPDs on the series
of lectures conducted on the law on violence against women at
different schools, government agencies and private sectors in their
areas of responsibility.
In 2010, violation of the law on violence against women and
children ranked first as the most number of crimes committed
against women with 9,225 cases, while physical
injuries/maltreatment ranked second with 1,872 cases and violation
of Republic Act 8353 on the law against rape ranked third with 967
cases.
In 2009, the ranking category of cases were the same as of the
year 2010 wherein violence against women ranked first with 4,805
cases, physical injuries/maltreatment ranked second with 1,365
cases and rape ranked third with 716 cases.
For the period January to November 2009 and 2010, there was an
increase of 3,328 reported cases or 37.03% in the number of
crimes against children. Similarly, the increase was due to the
courage of the victims to report to any WCPD office/WCPC due to
a series of lectures conducted on Republic Act 7610 on child abuse
and other related laws at different schools, government agencies
and private sectors in their areas of responsibility.
In the period January to November 2010, physical
injuries/maltreatment cases ranked first with 3,346 reported cases,
followed by rape as second with 3,139 cases, and third are acts of
lasciviousness36 with 1,025 cases.
In the period January to November 2009, the category of rape
cases ranked first with 2,817 cases, followed by physical injuries
with 2,153 cases and acts of lasciviousness2 with 831 cases.
Project for a ‘one stop center’ for victims of sexual violence in the
Philippines:
‘One-Stop Center’
for Victims of Sexual Violence in the Philippines
The Philippine government has been faced with the increasing crimes
against children and women. Domestic laws for the protection of children
have evolved since the complex problems of child abuse have been
understood not only as a threat to the nation’s most vulnerable and
defenseless citizens, but also a cause for alarm in international
communities.
The role of the Philippine National is the premier law enforcement agency
with the mandate to serve and protect people, provides the foundation for
its direct involvement in combating child abuse and neglect and violence
against women.
The knowledge of the unique roles that some key professionals (such as
police investigators, medico-legal officers, physicians,
psychologist/psychiatrist, nurse, social workers and lawyers) that play in
women and children protection, enhances their coordination in a
multidisciplinary environment for the presentation, identification, and
treatment of the victims.
Objectives:
A. General Objective: To provide appropriate police services to
women and children who are victims of sexual, physical and
psychological abuse through an interdisciplinary approach geared
towards ensuring justice for the victims.
B. Specific Objective:
B.1 To provide quick-response and one-stop investigative, legal
treatment to child abuse victims;
B.2 To provide, whenever necessary, medical and psychological
treatment to women and children victims of sexual and physical
abuse;
B.3 To establish a team approach in the management of cases of
violence against women and children geared towards eliminating
2
Acts of lasciviousness are defined as the ‘act of making a physical contact with
the body of another person for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification other
than, or without intention of, sexual intercourse.’
unnecessary duplication of effort and by ensuring proper and
expeditious collection and preservation of evidence for eventual use
in the prosecution of such cases;
B.4 To develop expertise among police professionals in handling
violence against women and children cases reported to and acted
upon by the PNP.
Concept of Operations:
C. Women and Child Protection Center shall be under the guidance
and supervision of the Office of the Chief, PNP through the
Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management;
D. The Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management
(DIDM) shall exercise guidance, supervision and monitoring of
WCPC operations; ensures the sustainability of the said project in
collaboration with concerned PNP offices/units as well as other
government agencies and Non-government Organizations (NGOs),
both local and international.
E. An Oversight Committee composed of the PNP (duly represented
by the DIDM) and its co-signatories to the Memorandum of
Agreement (MOA), the Child Protection Unit Network Foundation
and University of the Philippines Manila shall be formed for the
following purposes:
5. Select physicians and other women and child protection
professionals from the PNP to participate in the training program for
the WCPC according to mutually – defined criteria.
6. Establish working protocols for the legal, medical and
multidisciplinary care of women and children victims of abuse and
neglect in the PNP based upon established “best practices” models;
7. Conduct a needs assessment to determine the staffing, space
and equipment requirements for sustainable operationalization of
WCPC;
8. Monitor and evaluate the participants in the WCPC to ensure the
highest standards of professionalism, excellence and accountability.
F. The WCPC shall have an organizational structure consisting of
four sections: Complaints and Investigation Section, Social Services
Section, Child Protection Multi-Disciplinary Section and Research
and Analysis Section. It shall be headed by a Police Commissioned
Officer (PCO) with the rank of Police Senior Superintendent who
shall exercise direct control and supervision over the affairs of the
WCPC. It shall be assisted by another PCO with the rank of Police
Superintendent.
G. The WCPC shall be composed of the following police personnel
and professionals with corresponding duties and responsibilities:
1. Police Investigators
a) Conducts investigation of cases involving child
sexual/physical abuse against children as well as violence
against women;
b) Files criminal complaint in accordance with the existing
rules;
c) Conducts crime scene investigation, whenever necessary;
d) Attends to court duties relevant to the prosecution of
crimes against women and children reported to WCPC;
e) Ensures integrity of evidence as may be collected during
investigation;
f) Performs other similar functions, as may be appropriate
2. Medico-Legal Officer/s
a) Performs appropriate medico-legal examination in aid of
investigation;
b) Attends court duties, testifies and presents evidence in aid
of litigation of said cases;
c) Performs other functions, as may be appropriate.
3. Physicians
a) Conducts physical/medical treatment/examination on the
victims whenever necessary;
b) Performs other similar functions as may be appropriate;
4. Psychologist/Psychiatrist
a) Conducts psychological/psychiatric/therapeutic treatment
and evaluation as may be required during investigation of
sexual/physical abuse cases of women and children;
b) Performs other similar functions as may be appropriate.
5. Nurse/s
a) Receives/admits and puts on record all case on violence
against women and children reported to WCPC.
b) Calls upon the relevant professionals who shall perform
appropriate police investigation and other interventions
therefore;
c) Performs other similar functions as may be appropriate.
6. Social Workers
a) Conducts case studies of victims of abuse and violence
which shall form part of the documentary evidence for
presentation in court;
b) Coordinates with/refers to appropriate government
agencies and non-government organizations with existing
shelters/half-way houses for protective custody of the
victims after action by WCPC personnel has been carried
out;
c) Performs other similar functions as may be appropriate.
7. Lawyers
a) Provides legal assistance to the victim of abuses;
b) Supervise the conduct of investigation up to the filing of
cases in court;
c) Comments on all legal issues concerning women and
children;
8. Administrative personnel
a) Maintains a systematic record filing system and update of
police personnel transactions and communications;
b) Prepares and dispatches administrative
reports/communications needed by higher headquarters
and other government and non-government and NGOs;
c) Responsible for the safekeeping/maintenance of materials
and equipment as well as requisition therefore;
d) Perform other tasks as directed.
EQUIPMENTS NEEDED
 Colposcope - an instrument used to magnify an object.
 Patient’s Bed
 All instruments needed for medical examination (swab, etc)
 Investigation room
 Playroom
 Computers with printers
 Video and audio for the videotaping of interview
 Police blotter
 Conference room
TRAININGS NEEDED
 Training on the Investigation of Crimes Involving Women and
Children
 Training on the Investigative Techniques of Anti-trafficking in
Persons
 Training for Medico-Legal Officers
This one stop shop investigation was also present in some hospitals
nationwide. One of this is the Child Protection Unit in the Philippine
General Hospital. The two (2) detailed investigators are from the WCPC,
there were nurse, social worker, doctors, etc. This was replicated to some
hospitals nationwide. This is a best practice since many of the sexually
abused victims went to hospitals for medical check-up and upon
examination their cases were confirmed. This one stop shop investigation
helps relieve victims of trauma, give them justice, and empower them to go
back to their community.
Case Study 24: Vulnerable Persons Unit,
Timor-Leste National Police
Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is prevalent in TimorLeste society. Crime statistics from the Policia Nacional TimorLeste (PNTL) from 2008-2010 recorded 628 incidents of total
crimes in 2008, 679 in 2009 and 472 in 2010 of which domestic
violence and sexual crimes were the highest reported cases. Of the
cases, 558 (88%) in 2008; 414( 61%) in 2009 and 430 (91%) in
2010, were in the category of crimes related to sexual and gender
based violence (SGBV). Domestic violence numbered the highest
with 406; 414 and 288 cases in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively;
and sexual crimes were second highest with 107, 85 and 112
cases in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively. In the majority of these
cases, the victims are females and suspects are males.
The United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor Police
(UNTAETPolice), mandated by the Security Council with executive
authority for law enforcement, created the Vulnerable Persons Unit
(VPU) in the capital Dili for the first time in March 2000. The VPUs
are administered under the PNTL Criminal Investigations Service
(CIS). This service reports to the Department of Operations who
reports to the General Commander. A National VPU (NVPU) office
was established in February 2001 and district offices in March
2001. As of January 2011 there are thirteen of VPU offices which
cover all the thirteen districts.
The main tasks of the VPU is to investigate cases of rape,
domestic violence, missing persons, human trafficking and any
other crimes committed against vulnerable persons defined as
persons that due to mental or physical handicap are less able to
defend themselves.
From 2001 UNPOL and PNTL officers worked together in building
police structures. The UNPOL was particularly responsible for
increasing the capacity of PNTL officers including in investigating
SGBV. UNPOL personnel are co-locating and mentoring PNTL
counterparts in the VPUs through monitoring and reviewing case
files, incident reports, gathering evidence, recording statements of
victims, witnesses and suspects, referral services, coordination
with office of the public prosecutor, joint meetings on job training,
data management, and coordination, and collaboration with
partners.
The VPUs are generally staffed with one team leader and one to
four investigators, and two to three co-located UNPOL officers at
the district level. At the national VPU there are five co-located
UNPOL officers. The total number of VPU police officers as of
January 2011 is 85 (61 female, 24 male). The NVPU has seven
officers with 2 female PNTL officers, 3 female UNPOL and 2 male
UNPOL. The district VPUs are comprised of a total of 78 officers
with 60 PNTL officers (58 female and 2 male) and 18 UNPOL (7
female and 11 male).
The UNPOL has VPU officers within the UNPOL Police Criminal
Investigations Service (CIS). The head of UNPOL NVPU team
reports to the Chief of CIS who in turn reports to the Deputy Police
Commissioner for Operations who is under the UNPOL Police
Commissioner.
In collaboration with local and international partners, VPUs have
contributed to a number of achievements in improving assistance
to victims.
Since 2008, NVPU officers participate with other stakeholders in
the Gender Thematic Working Group (GTWG) composed of UN
agencies, government departments, local and international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and women’s advocacy
groups. It is chaired by the Deputy Representative of the
Secretary-General (DSRSG) of the UN Mission in Timor-Leste
(UNMIT) and coordinated by the Gender Affairs Unit. A remarkable
achievement of this group was the joint advocacy for the Law
against Domestic Violence (LADV) enacted in 2010. The group
also advocates for the strengthening of the VPUs to manage SGBV
cases in the country.
In terms of referral services, the VPUs collaborate with the
following local and international groups - ALOLA, Chid Protection
(MSS), Casa Vida, and Program Assistance for Mental Health
(P.A.M.M), International Organisation for Migration (IOM),
FOKUPERS, PRADET, VSS, UNICEF, UNFPA and UNIFEM.
These groups are helping the VPUs deal with victims of domestic
violence and sexual abuse. Services are still limited in areas
outside Dili city. However NGOs are making efforts for
improvement such as designating district focal points, setting up
pilot schemes in areas that have local tribunals or district courts
and going on monthly visits to outlying districts.
In 2008/2009, VPUs participated in developing a training
curriculum on SGBV that was jointly developed by UNPOL/PNTL,
UNFPA, UNICEF and the Timor-Leste Police Development
Program (TLPDP). The curriculum has been integrated at the
Police Training College (PTC) specialized courses for training
SGBV investigators.
In 2009/2010, the VPUs created victim friendly interview rooms in
nine of the thirteen districts, to ensure privacy and comfort of
victims during interviews. Efforts are underway to open up similar
facilities in the remaining three districts.
Challenges to the effective functioning of the VPUs include
inadequate skills, lack of knowledge of the new domestic violence
law, few interview rooms, offices, computers, forensic kits,
transport, stationery and financial constraints. Furthermore, a
persisting traditional justice system exists where all cases are first
reported to the local chief who considers the complaint and has the
option of either resolving the matter or reporting it to the police,
inadequate referral services in the districts and a cumbersome
judicial process lead to victims remaining reluctant to report cases.
On 14 May 2009, UNPOL started to hand over the full control of
police stations to the PNTL. As of January 2011 there have been
ten stations with VPU offices that have been handed over. UNPOL
continue to mentor PNTL counterparts and work together in
resolving these remaining challenges.
Case Study 25: Child Protection Units in the
police
The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, Child
Protection Unit has been advocating for or the establishment of
Special Police Units trained to deal with children's issues. In the
United Nations Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), UNICEF supported
the Haitian National Police (HNP) to established a special unit to
deal with children's issues including child trafficking called the
Brigade de Protection de Mineurs. UNPOL and the Child Protection
Unit train the units. The Child Protection Unit in MINUSTAH also
supported the HNP Children's Unit to establish a hotline to deal
with child trafficking issues in the aftermath of the earthquake in
2010. In the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) (MONUSCO), the Special Child Protection Unit was
established in police stations in eastern DRC to deal with children
in contact with the law and children in conflict with the law. In the
United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), in order to promote the
integration of children’s concerns into the work of the UNPOL, the
Child Protection Unit provides in-depth training to the UNPOL and
the Sudanese Gender, Child and Vulnerable Persons Protection
Officers (GCVPPOs) on child protection approaches to strengthen
their capacity to handle reports and deal with children in contact
with the law. The GCVPPOs serve as focal points on gender,
children’s issues in police stations throughout the country.
Case Study 26: Women and Children
Protection Units, Chad Police
The mandate of the United Nations Mission to the Central African
Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) included the creation of a more
secure environment, combating in particular sexual and genderbased violence (SGBV) specifically in the eastern part of the
country. During its deployment in MINURCAT in 2007-2008, the
United Nations Police Division, Standing Police Capacity (SPC)
developed a Concept of Operations for the Establishment of
Women and Children Protection Units as part of its mission to
assist in the start-up of the UN police (UNPOL) component. The
concept of operations was a blueprint for the UNPOL component in
setting up specialized police units to investigate SGBV,
strengthening the capacity and optimizing the utilization of female
and male police officers to staff the units, providing institutional
support mechanisms to manage cases, delivering assistance and
protection of victims, and training of officers on the rights of women
and children. As a basis for the operationalization of the
specialized police units, the document enumerated the applicable
legal framework in Chad, a list of legally recognised criminal acts
related to SGBV and a terms of reference on the functions of the
units. It also outlined six priority towns - Bahai, Iriba, Abeche,
Farchana, Guereda, Goz Beida - and 12 police posts attached to
camps for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) the
construction of the sites of the specialized police units. To ensure
the involvement of all stakeholders in providing services to victims
of SGBV, the document mapped relevant actors such as the
Chadian Government, United Nations agencies, and national and
international nongovernmental agencies. The SPC also issued
annotated Guidelines for the Response, Investigation and
Prevention of Gender-based Violence to build the capacity of
UNPOL officers and the Chadian Détachement Intégré de Sécurité
(DIS) who patrol the camps for refugees and internally displaced
communities. The Guidelines delineate the responsibility of the DIS
in conducting investigations, responding to and taking action to
ensure appropriate victim support, identifying perpetrators, and
establishing effective prevention strategies in partnership with the
community.
The MINURCAT UNPOL component started setting up the Women
and Children Protection Units in 2009 and by the end of the
mission in 2010 the units were operational within six police stations
and 12 police posts in the camps for refugees and internally
displaced persons. The police units and posts are staffed by DIS
officers who are tasked to prevent and investigate reported crimes.
Through co-location UNPOL officers mentor DIS officers on women
and children protection issues. UNPOL officers advise and guide
their counterparts in conducting investigations relating to violations
of the rights of women and children, evaluating and monitoring the
specialized police structures and coordinating with relevant
partners. The majority of crimes investigated by the units are
sexual assault of women while collecting wood or water, female
genital mutilation, forced and early marriage of girls, domestic
violence, violence perpetrated by the armed groups and abduction
of children for recruitment to guerrilla forces.
The work of the DIS and the UNPOL has had significant effect on
the security of women and children in the camps according to biweekly and trimestral reports and evaluation visits jointly
undertaken by UNPOL, DIS and partner organisations (i.e.
UNHCR, UNICEF, various NGOs etc.). They provided effective
assistance to IDPs with the support of local authorities and
humanitarian actors. There was a reduction in violations of human
rights and banditry in the IDP sites through the effective
involvement of the leaders and community committees. Threats to
vulnerable groups were reduced, in particular violence against
women and children. This led to assured protection and safety for
the gradual return of IDPs to their homes. A strengthened
collaboration between IDPs and DIS agents were also apparent
with an improved image of the police. The creation of the units
helped strengthen of the police-community relations through the
provision of essential protection services and enhanced confidence
building. They contributed to a change in perception of the
community on impunity for sexual and gender-based violence.
Case Study 27: Vulnerable Persons Unit,
Guinea-Bissau Police
Security Council Resolution 1876 (2009) mandated the United
Nations Integrated Mission in Guinea Bissau (UNIOGBIS) to
implement gender mainstreaming within security sector reform
(SSR) processes. Providing assistance to the UNIOGBIS Security
Sector - Police Reform Unit, the United Nations Police Division,
Standing Police Capacity (SPC) developed a Concept of
Operations for the Establishment of Mechanisms for the Protection
of Vulnerable Persons in Guinea Bissau. The document included a
plan to develop a specialized police unit to investigate sexual and
gender-based violence which detailed its functions, structure, types
of crimes, staffing, community outreach and training activities for
Guinea Bissau investigators.
In implementing the concept of operations, UNIOGBIS included the
establishment of a Vulnerable Persons Unit (VPU) in a project to
construct a Model Police Station (MPS). The MPS master plan has
been finalized and undergoing construction as of March 2010.
The VPU is integrated within the investigations pillar of the Model
Police Station. The main objective of the VPU is to ensure that
persons who are in a situation of vulnerability (i.e. girls and boys,
women, the disabled and elderly) receive specialized treatment,
adequate protection and are referred to the appropriate services
and therefore avoid risks of double victimization. The VPU receives
complaints of cases of rape, sexual harassment, child abuse,
human trafficking, domestic violence and child abandonment. It will
be staffed by two to three police officers.
A gender sensitive community oriented policing strategy will be
institutionalized in the MPS. The planned activities include
outreach for the local community to raise awareness on human
rights, empower victims and create a secure environment to report
crimes. In this regard, a confidential room child friendly police room
is being constructed. The MPS will also include setting up a gender
disaggregated crime data collection.
UN Police officers mentor and monitor the VPU in collaboration
with the Gender Adviser of UNIOGBIS. Their work includes a
series of awareness raising and training activities to sensitize the
national police officers on human rights, in particular women’s
rights.
Case Study 28: Domestic Violence Unit and
Trafficking in Human Beings Unit, Kosovo
Police
1. Domestic Violence Investigation Unit
Domestic violence is a phenomenon present in all societies that
also affects the Republic of Kosovo. Statistics from 2002 to 2009
have recorded over a thousand incidents per year. In 2009 there
were 1130 reported cases of domestic violence, among which 915
of the victims were females and 215 were male. Among these
cases there were 3 murder cases as a result of domestic violence,
4 attempted suicide cases, 538 cases of causing bodily injuries 9 of
which were serious and 2 cases of rapes. The exact number of
domestic violence cases is however never known since a large
number are not reported due to fear of threats, reprisals and the
financial and emotional dependence of victims on perpetrators.
Year
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Domestic
violence 1273 1251 1318 1370 1371 1077
cases
683
1130
Statistics in the country show that 98% of the victims are females
and the majority of perpetrators are males. Aside from suffering
violence, victims are often expelled from their homes and forced to
live in shelters with their children. The most causes of domestic
violence are poor social and economic conditions, jealousy, war
trauma, discrimination against women and inequality, consumption
of alcohol and other substances, and living in big families. The
consequences of domestic violence to the society are increased
divorce cases, broken families and children without care and
attention that directly influences an increase of juvenile
delinquency.
To respond to the problem of domestic violence, Kosovo Police
established the Domestic Violence Investigation Unit under the
Directorate for Serious Crimes Investigations in 2002. The unit
became fully operational in 2003 when the United Nations Mission
in Kosovo (UNMIK) authorized the regulation 12/2003 according to
which domestic violence was defined as ‘one or more of the
following intentional acts or omissions when committed by a person
against another person with whom he or she is, or has been, in a
domestic relationship:
 Inflicting bodily injury;
 Non-consensual sexual acts or sexual exploitation;
 Causing the other person to fear for his or her physical,
emotional or economic well-being;
 Kidnapping;
 Causing property damage;
 Unlawfully limiting the freedom of movement of the other
person;
 Forcibly entering the property of the other person;
 Forcibly removing the other person from a common
residence;
 Prohibiting the other person from entering or leaving a
common residence; or
 Engaging in a pattern of conduct with the intent to degrade
the other person.’
The unit is structured vertically in three levels with the central,
regional and police station levels. Both male and female officers
and all Kosovo ethnicities are represented in the three levels.
The work of the units is based on local and international legislation
such as the Kosovo Penal Code, Kosovo Penal Procedure Code,
UNMIK regulation 12/2003, the International Covenants on Civil
and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention on the Civil
Aspects of International Child Abduction, the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW).
The units are focused on preventing and investigating domestic
violence and offering support to victims (i.e. shelter and protective
measures).
The central level creates policies, procedures and regulations to
ensure coherence in the work of the units in all levels. The duties
and responsibilities of the units are:
 Protection, security, support and legal help for victims;
 Investigation, case management, arrest of suspects;
 Coordination and cooperation with all organizational units
within Kosovo Police and with other governmental and nongovernmental organizations involved in preventing domestic
violence;
 Participation in different projects, roundtables and
conferences about domestic violence;
 Provision of regular domestic violence statistics and
analysis;
 Compilation of strategies on prevention of and protection
against domestic violence in cooperation and coordination
with other organizations;
 Improvement of the personnel professional performance in
achieving the highest professional standards in dealing with
domestic violence cases and in the protection and treatment
of victims;
 Regular compilation and presentation of reports on
achievements in preventing and protecting victims against
domestic violence as well as victim support and treatment.
Every region has at least two domestic violence coordinators
represented by both genders and all nationalities. The regional
level units work on prevention and protection against domestic
violence in their areas while monitoring, supporting, assisting and
advising domestic violence investigators in the police stations.
Regional level units investigate serious cases of domestic violence
in their areas of responsibility, coordinate the protection of victims
including escorting them to the court, and visit the families involved
in domestic violence to update them on the status of their case.
They also cooperate with other police units and governmental and
non-governmental organizations on various projects.
Every police station has at least two investigators of domestic
violence cases, represented by both genders and all nationalities.
The investigators are mainly responsible for collecting information
and evidence on the cases, providing victim protection and
referrals and bringing the suspects to the court. The unit
collaborates with the Protection and Victim Assistance unit in
accordance with the Kosovo Penal Procedure Code. The domestic
violence unit also coordinates with non-governmental organizations
that offer services to victims.
In 2010, a total of 82 officers staffed the units with 44 male and 38
females coming from various ethnic groups such as Albanians,
Serbians, Bosnians, Roma, Turk and Goran.
2. Directorate for Investigating Trafficking in Human Beings
Trafficking in human beings was identified as a problem in Kosovo
after the conflict in 1999, in particular on sexual exploitation. The
Kosovo Police unit for investigating trafficking in human beings was
created in 2001 led by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK) Police named Trafficking and Prostitution Investigation
Unit (TPIU). In 2004 the TPIU was changed to the Trafficking in
Human Beings Section (THBS) within the Department against
Organized Crime. During the transition from UNMIK Police to
Kosovo Police in 2005 the THBS was decentralized in its
organizational structure with a total of approximately 33 officers. By
2006 the THBS was fully handed over to the Kosovo Police and
independently executed its duties and responsibilities in the
prevention of human trafficking, protection of victims and
investigation of criminal cases related to trafficking in human
beings.
In January 2010, the decentralized regional units were centralized
under the single command of the THBS. In May 2010, the THBS
was enhanced and was renamed as the Directorate for
Investigating Trafficking in Human Beings.
The legal framework for the work of the Directorate for
Investigating Trafficking in Human Beings is composed of the
UNMIK regulation 2001/4 on the prohibition of human trafficking in
Kosovo, Penal Code, Penal Procedure Code, Action Plan against
Trafficking in Human Beings 2005-2007, National Strategy against
Trafficking in human beings 2008 – 2011, law on Police, Standard
Operating Procedures for Victims of trafficking in human beings,
Minimum Protection Standards for Victims of trafficking in human
beings, Transnational Action Mechanisms, Standard Operating
Procedures for the Directorate for Investigating Trafficking in
Human Beings.
The Directorate for Investigating Trafficking in Human Beings is a
specialized unit within the Kosovo Police mandated to undertake
anti-human trafficking operations all over the country and
investigate related criminal cases. It is administered under the
Department against Organized Crime within the Criminal
Investigations Pillar. The main objectives of the directorate are to:
 Develop a prevention strategy of trafficking in human
beings;
 Investigate criminal cases of trafficking in human beings and
related crimes and undertake the penal prosecution of
traffickers;
 Protect and support victims of trafficking including their
reintegration in society;
 Cooperate with other countries and international institutions
in fighting against trafficking in human beings and the
repatriation of victims.
In 2010 the directorate consisted of personnel of 57 officers,
among them 2 Police Majors, 7 Police Lieutenants, 9 Police
Sergeants, 30 Police Officers and 3 civilian staff.
The duties and responsibilities of the directorate are to:
 Prevent trafficking in human beings;
 Investigate individuals or groups suspected of trafficking in
human beings in the territory of the Republic of Kosovo and
committing criminal according to the Kosovo Criminal Code:
 Trafficking in Persons - Article 139 – (Kosovo Criminal
Code);
o Establishing Slavery, Slavery-like Conditions and Forced
Labour - Article 137 - (Kosovo Criminal Code);
o Withholding Identity Papers of Victims of Slavery or
Trafficking in Persons - Article 140 - (Kosovo Criminal
Code);
o Facilitating Prostitution - Article 201 - (Kosovo Criminal
Code);
o Engaging in Prostitution - Article 7 (Law on public peace
and order);








Collect and analyse information on perpetrators and their
movements across Kosovar borders;
Coordinate all activities with the National Coordinator
against Trafficking in Human Beings and other interinstitutional partners in the prevention and fight against all
forms of trafficking in human beings;
Implement duties and responsibilities deriving from the
Action Plan of the National Strategy Against Trafficking with
Human Beings;
Maintain contacts with governmental and non-governmental
organizations to assist in protecting, finding shelters and
repatriating victims of trafficking;
Cooperate with local and international authorities
responsible for enforcing the laws related to human
trafficking;
Collect and analyse the trends of human trafficking,
especially the types of manifestation, methods of
recruitment and means of transportation and transfer of
victims from countries of origin to destination;
Monitor and improve personnel professional performance in
achieving the highest professional standards in fighting
trafficking in human beings;
Compile and present reports on achievements in preventing
and fighting trafficking inhuman beings.
Year /
Nationality
Kosovar
Albanian
Moldavian
Ukrainian
Rumanian
Bulgarian
Russian
Serb
Macedonian
Other
Total
Statistics show that the regional units investigating trafficking in
human beings from 2000 to 2009, identified, treated and
repatriated 572 (see table) victims of human trafficking from
different nationalities brought to the Republic of Kosovo.
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Total
0
5
3
5
11
24
20
18
25
16
137
0
3
9
4
13
6
6
9
3
3
56
0
94
32
13
17
6
30
3
4
8
207
0
18
20
5
0
0
3
0
0
0
46
0
46
19
5
4
0
0
0
0
0
74
0
4
6
3
2
6
2
0
1
1
25
0
2
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
4
0
0
0
4
0
2
0
1
2
1
10
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
1
1
5
3
1
1
0
11
0
172
89
50
48
49
66
33
36
29
572
The victims of the trafficking with human beings are of different age
(see table).
Age of 12victims 17
1820
2125
2631
3240
4150
5160
6170
Total
No. of 28
victims
132
185
104
65
48
8
2
572
Since the transition in 2005 to 2009, the Directorate for
Investigating Trafficking in Human Beings with its engagement,
activities, efforts and professional work, arrested approximately
402 perpetrators (the gender distribution of perpetrators in 2008
was 60 male and 38 female; in 2009, 29 males and 23 females). It
forwarded approximately 274 criminal cases for prosecution to the
District and Municipal Prosecutors offices and courts.
Case Study 29: Women and Children
Protection Section (WACPS), Liberia National
Police (LNP)
Among the victims of the Liberia conflict, were women and
children. As is typical in many conflict situations, rape, sexual
assault and sexual slavery were among the ‘tools’ of war. In terms
of sexual and gender based violence; segments of society within
the sub-region, there was a cultural acceptance of certain acts of
sexual violence against women and children. The result is a
reluctance of victims to report sexual and gender-based violence
(SGBV) as it often remains unspoken or settled within families and
communities.
With the funding support of Norway and UN partners and advisory
support of UNPOL, in September 2005, the Liberia National Police
(LNP) created the Women and Children Protection Section
(WACPS). The WACPS had at its core the intention to effectively
respond to crimes perpetrated among women and children in
Liberia. The WACPS were not limited to the LNP Headquarters. It
also had offices at the LNP County Police Stations and other
LNP stations strategically located throughout Liberia.
By September 2010, the LNP had 58 WACP Units functioning in
the fifteen counties of Liberia with 232 LNP officers assigned,
including 75 female officers. Among those female officers, the
majority is assigned to police stations in Monrovia and immediate
surrounds. At present, the LNP is in the process of increasing the
female representation in the WACPS for deployment in the rural
areas. A Norwegian funded LNP WACPS Headquarters in
Monrovia is expected to be completed in March 2011 with the
support of UNDP and UNOPS. The building is situated next to the
LNP HQ and will provide a more conducive environment of privacy
for reporting sensitive cases.
The LNP WACPS Unit collaborates with a broad range of
stakeholders such as the Ministry of Justice – Specialized Sexual
and Gender-based Violence Prosecutor, Specialized Court ‘E’ on
SGBV, Juvenile Court, Ministry of Gender and Development,
Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (Bureau of Social Welfare),
national and international non-governmental organizations (i.e.
Touching Humanity in Need of Kindness (THINK Inc.), Don Bosco
Homes (DBH),Blessing Safe Home, Benson MSF Hospital), and
UN agencies.
Though crime statistics in the early years following the conflict were
difficult to gather in many parts of the nation, the situation is
improving with increasing numbers of cases reported and
investigated as institutional systems improve within the LNP. In
2005, UNPOL recorded 157 cases of rape or corruption of a minor
reported to the LNP. In 2009, the number of such cases reported to
LNP had risen to 461 cases making it the third most reported
violent crime in Liberia following only armed robberies and
aggravated assaults. In 2010, it was the second most reported
violent crime with 585 cases reported following aggravated
assaults.
According to the LNP, the vision of the WACPS is to create an
environment in which LNP can provide timely and equitable
response to victims of sexual exploitation, violence and abuse. Its
mission is to protect victims, investigate, apprehend and
successfully prosecute perpetrators. The WACPS investigates
crimes such as domestic violence, rape, corruption of minors,
sexual assault, sodomy, prostitution, persistent non- support to
children, endangering the welfare of a child, child trafficking,
missing, lost and found juveniles, theft and other offences involving
juveniles, and forced marriage.
The duties and responsibilities of the WACPs are:
 To prevent, investigate and prosecute all sexual offences,
domestic and gender-based violence as well as child abuse
cases;
 To investigate cases of juveniles in conflict with the law;
 To trace the parents or guardians of lost and found children
to be reunified with them;
 To protect the rights of the vulnerable against all forms of
abuse;
 To break the culture of silence and impunity on genderbased violence;
 To provide advice on crime prevention to members of the
public;
 To collaborate with organizations that offer assistance such
as shelter, medical and legal services and counselling to
victims;
 To sensitize communities on sexual and gender-bases
violence (SGBV);
 To establish an effective database for crime prevention and
prosecution
The WACPS also provides the following support to victims:
 Treat victims/complainant and their families with respect and
courtesy;
 Take statement in a conducive atmosphere in a professional
manner on the basis of confidentiality;
 Provide victims with information on their cases as well as
progress of the investigations;
 Refer victims for free medical examination, treatment and
report.
 Relocate victims to a safe home for counselling and other
support services;

Refer victims for legal services.
The section has the following positions:
 Chief of Section
 Deputy Chief of Section
 Chief of Operation/Monitor
 Chief of Administrator
 Head Investigator and Chief Trainer
 Chief Statistician
 Squad Heads
- Domestic Violence
- Sexual Abuse
- Juvenile Offenders
- Information, Education and Communication
(Awareness)
The Liberia National Police Training Academy has developed
WACPS Basic and Advance Training courses on investigating
sexual and gender-based violence for specialized investigators.
Among other initial support aimed at capacity building, UNICEF
sponsored LNP visits to the Sierra Leone Police Family Support
Unit and a visit to the Ghana Police Women and Juvenile Unit.
Initially, the LNP with UNICEF support requested that two Sierra
Leone Police (SLP) senior officers provide specialized training in
the management and investigation of cases of sexual violence for
the WACPS/LNP in 2005.
Since then, the training support at the National Police Training
Academy (NPTA) in the areas of WACP’s and gender has become
significantly more adaptive to Liberia conditions and
institutionalized, as LNP instructors teach the majority of the
classes. Since 2006, 358 LNP officers including 104 females have
undergone WACPS training. Forty-nine officers including 18
females have undergone Advanced WACPS training. Gender
Training of Trainers Course has also been added to NPTA Training
Curriculum with 70 males and 31 females attended the courses in
September 2010.
UNPOL continues to support the development of the LNP WACPS.
At the UNPOL WACP’s Advisory Team, under the umbrella of the
UNPOL Crimes Services Advisory Unit, UNPOL co-located officers
provide the majority of advice in this area. The UNPOL WACP’s
Team includes a Team Leader, and six officers. Primary focus of
the unit lies on supporting the LNP in the areas of case
investigation, gender issues, missing children and children in need
of supervision; and strategic development of the LNP WACPS.
They also provide and support with linkages between the LNP
WACP’s at the Headquarter; and LNP on the ground including
coordinating with UNPOL officers co-located with LNP at police
stations. The UNPOL Team Leaders deployed in counties outside
of Monrovia serve, among other duties, as SGBV Focal Points and
they are responsible to follow-up such reported cases and to
mentor the LNP officers within their area in handling/investigating
SGBV cases.
Case Study 30: Sudan Police
Security Council Resolution 1590 mandates the UN Police to assist
the police service in Sudan consistent with democratic policing to
provide training and capacity building.
Setting up of Special Protection Units (SPU) is a joint initiative of
UNPOL and South Sudan Police Service (SSPS) supported by
UNIFEM, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF and bilateral donors. The
programme is designed to tackle issues regarding the rights of
women, children and vulnerable persons in the criminal justice
system including those that are internally displaced, refugees and
the elderly, through improving the investigation of sexual and
gender-based violence, reducing unlawful arrest, proper handling
of criminal matters involving juveniles and increasing police
responsiveness to the concerns of the community. In 2010, six
such units have been established and are fully functional in
Southern Sudan.
Existing SPU
No.
Place
State
Sector
1
Western
Central
Equatoria
I
2
Northern
Central
Equatoria
I
3
Central
Central
Equatoria
I
4
Yambio
Western
Equatoria
I
5
Wau
Western BalelGhazal
II
6
Yei
Central
Equatoria
I
UNPOL provide mentoring through UNPOL Gender, Child, and
Vulnerable Persons Protection Units which are located in the
UNPOL Reform, Restructuring and Rebuilding Department.
In 2010, SPU trainings were conducted in 9 places/States in South
Sudan and a total of 126 participants (comprising of 68 female and
58 male), SSPS officers were trained. The training aimed to
enhance the knowledge of the SSPS to address the issues facing
women, children and vulnerable persons and how to deal with
sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and juvenile justice.
The establishment of SPUs led to improved family tracing of
lost/stranded children, prioritisation of cases regarding women and
children, prolonged detention as well as illegal arrest are
addressed in the police as well as prison detention cells, increased
awareness of the rights of women and children and increased
reporting of violations.
In 2010, it is proposed to establish ten more SPUs in Southern
Sudan with a view to build the capacity of the SSPS on issues
relating to SGBV. Future plans are to have 90 SPUs in every police
station within South Sudan. It is also important to train and
integrate female officers within the Criminal Investigations
Department or the SPU to deal with cases related SGBV due to
confidentiality and sensitivity of the cases.
Case Study 31: Multi-agency Collectives:
Rwanda and Jordan
Rwanda
In Kigali Rwanda a multi-task approach is taken when dealing with
victims of sexual and gender based violence. Trained police
officers have coordinated with health services to run a ‘One stop
centre’ in the main capital.
The centre operates from a health perspective where the interests
of the victims of sexual and gender based violence are placed first.
While the investigation of any reported crimes remain paramount
the systems and methods used create a practical but caring
environment that recognises the importance of reducing trauma
that can occur when dealing with victims. In turn this means police
officers can gather the best evidence while retaining the
cooperation of the victim.
In Rwanda the ‘One stop Centre’ operates close to the main police
station and has medical professionals who can treat victims for
injuries and in certain cases gather forensic evidence.
Forensic professionals gather and examine evidence from the
victims and other sources. This evidence helps in strengthening a
case against suspects. Counsellors help victims deal with trauma
and help in the victims’ rehabilitation. Plain clothes police officers
undertake the recording of crimes and statements. Police officers
also take victims to the centre for treatment prior to investigation.
Extra facilities such as a children’s room with toys and books
ensure that child victims have a comfortable environment. These
facilities can also be used by those that arrive with children and
they feel more confident knowing their children are being provided
for as they go through the victim procedure.
Jordan Family Protection department
In Jordan similar centres also exist. Since 1997 the Family
Protection Department (FPD), a department within the Jordanian
Police service, has been operating with the support of forensic
medical doctors, social workers and a psychiatrist within one
building.
The department remains open seven days a week, twenty four
hours a day. It is the first and only department of its kind in the
Middle East.
Investment has been made to provide good facilities to the various
professionals to work within such as specialized interview rooms
for victims. It also has specially trained interviewers for both
counseling and investigative matters.
There also exists two separate forensic clinics where victims can
be examined separately from suspects as well as avoiding cross
contamination of forensic evidence.
Agreements have been reached with other agencies for the sharing
of data amongst the different groups in the center. This data
sharing has enabled the conducting of studies to help in the
continuing work of the establishment. That in turn will further aid in
determining the best approaches in reducing or investigating the
crimes that are reported.
The FDP in gaining expertise now conducts training and hosts
seminars within its establishment for police officers and other
groups to help deal with these sorts of crime. This having the
processes of medical and interviewing in the same building allows
the treatment and rehabilitation of the victim to run parallel to the
police investigation. The medical exam ensures that the victim is
treated for any injuries or health issues while at the same time
collects and records any injuries as well as forensic evidence. The
interview process ensures that the psychological well-being of the
victim is strengthened enabling any investigative interviews to
gather all the facts.
This working together of all the professionals also ensures that a
broader view is taken of a victim’s case and collective discussion
can take place. Plans can be made to ensure the best approaches
are taken to deal with a victim’s needs.
Case Study 32: United Nations Mission in
Liberia Crimes analysis unit
The UNPOL Crimes Analysis Unit in the United Nations Mission in
Liberia (UNMIL) has included gender-disaggregated data in its
crimes database as well as crimes related to SGBV in 2009.
Furthermore, to improve follow up of crimes related to SGBV
cases, UNPOL and the Rule of Law sections in UNMIL have set up
a Sexual and Gender based Violence Tracking Mechanism in
2010.
Case Study 33: Establishing a referral network
of support services for victims of sexual and
gender-based violence in Timor-Leste
In 1999, a non-formalized referral network was formed in TimorLeste to provide emergency medical assistance, psychosocial/trauma counseling, emergency and longer-term shelter, and
legal support services as a response to the trauma and violence
suffered during the Indonesian occupation. It was mainly operated
by non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
In 2006, as a response to a humanitarian crisis, UN agencies
(UNICEF, UNFPA), Joint Task Force (military) and UNPOL formed
a Referral Network Working Group to help facilitate access for
increasing the numbers of referrals to service providers and also
promote better working relationships between partners providing
support services, especially between the government (Ministry of
Health, Ministry of Social Solidarity) and the NGO sector.
The Referral Network Working Group expanded during the period
2009- 2010. Two separate working groups were established. The
first working group is the Service Providers’ Coordination Meeting,
functioning alongside the smaller specialized service provider
working groups already established to tackle specific issues i.e.
Child Protection (chaired by MSS) and Counter- Trafficking
(chaired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs). The Service Providers’
Coordination Meeting is chaired by Ministry of Social Solidarity
(MSS) and aims to provide direct support to service providers to
ensure coordinated responses and case management on SGBV
cases. Both the smaller Child Protection and Counter-Trafficking
thematic working groups report back on issues in their respective
areas during the Service Providers’ Coordination Meeting. The
second working group established during 2009-2010 is the
Strategy and Advocacy Working Group chaired by the Secretariat
of State for the Promotion of Equality (SEPI). It is responsible for
the development of a strategic approach to policy-making and
implementation of programmes to combat SGBV, involving all
relevant stakeholders. In both working groups, the guiding
principles for information-sharing include confidentiality, nondiscrimination, respect, impartiality and dignity. A victim-centred
approach forms the basis of the work of all the entities involved in
the referral network.
The Terms of Reference for the Referral Network Working Group in
Timor-Leste was expanded in 2009.
Terms of Reference (ToR) for Establishing a Referral Network in Timor-Leste
A referral network to support victims of Sexual and Gender based Violence was
initially established in 2001 by service providers and the Vulnerable Persons Unit
(VPU) of the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL). As an immediate response to
the socio-political crisis of mid-2006, this group was expanded and included
representatives from Government and United Nations partners working on sexual
and gender-based violence (SGBV). They formed an alliance of practitioners to
advocate against gender-based violence in all its forms, monitor the protection
situation of women, girls and other at-risk groups and ensure timely access to
appropriate support and care services (legal, health, social and psychosocial) for
victims of violence.
From 2006 to 2008 the group was chaired by the United Nations Population Fund
(UNFPA) with support from national and international NGO’s (service providers),
Vulnerable Persons Unit (PNTL/UNPOL), relevant UN agencies and international
organizations, always in close articulation with the governmental Office of the
Advisor on the Promotion of Equality (OPE) (now the Secretariat of State for the
Promotion of Equality – SEPI) and the Ministry of Labour and Solidarity (now
Ministry of Social
Solidarity).
SEPI, as of 4th June 2008 is the Government’s main body responsible for the
design, execution, coordination and assessment of the policy as defined by the
Council of Ministers, for the areas of promotion of women’s rights and gender
equality. MSS is the government ministry responsible for the design and
implementation of policies providing protection to the most vulnerable in society,
including victims of sexual and domestic violence.
Mode and Principles of Operation
Underpinning the work of the Referral Network are a number of international and
national legal and policy frameworks calling for the protection of women and
children against violence and obliging countries and communities to practice
principles of gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment as articulated in
the Convention on Elimination of Violence against Women (CEDAW), the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, UN Security Council Resolutions 1325,
1880 and 1888 on Women, Peace and Security and UNSCR 1820 on Ending
Sexual Violence Against Women in
Conflict and Post-conflict situations as well as Timor-Leste’s Constitution and the
Law Against Domestic Violence, as well as other relevant legislation.
Structure of the Referral Network (RN)
The RN will focus on women and children´s protection as well as other at-risk
groups. In order to do this it should pay particular attention to all related protection
policies and programs implemented by all the relevant entities.
The Referral Network will be composed of two working groups, which will reinforce
and complement each other, but each of which will have specific functions: The
Service Provider Coordination Meeting will be chaired by MSS and be responsible
for ensuring coordinated responses to cases of sexual and gender based violence.
These meetings will work closely with a number of related working groups, namely
the Child Protection Working Group (chaired by MSS) and Counter- Trafficking
Working Group (chaired by Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
The Strategy and Advocacy Meeting will be chaired by SEPI and advocate for
changes to policies and laws, partly based on recommendations from the Service
Providers Coordination Meeting.
Guiding principles for information sharing include confidentiality (for both victim
and perpetrator), accuracy, non-discrimination, impartiality respect and dignity.
Objectives
There are 2 main objectives of the Referral Network:
1. Support coordination among service providers:
a) Establish effective communication and promote information sharing
among service providers;
b) Seek solutions to difficult cases;
c) Forward recommendations to the Strategy and Advocacy Group on
cases requiring a policy, legislative or advocacy response;
d) Develop standard terminology among partners for case classification
including collection of data.
2. Development of a strategic approach to support policy-making and
implementation of programs to combat SGBV involving the relevant Governmental
bodies, international agencies, national and international NGO’s and other relevant
stakeholders. Expected outputs should be policy papers and advocacy initiatives,
among other. (Strategic and Advocacy Meeting- SEPI)
Both levels should always ensure that a victim approach is at the core of their
work.
Working procedures
In order to better address the two complementary objectives the group is divided in
two:
1. The Service Providers Coordination Meeting will meet on a monthly basis at
MSS.
The service providers group will develop its own specific ToR within the frame of
the present ToR.
2. The Strategy and Advocacy Meeting will meet on a monthly basis at SEPI. SEPI
chairs this group. UNFPA will provide technical support. SEPI, supported by
UNFPA, will provide minutes in Tetum and in English of the monthly meetings.
This group should develop an Annual Action Plan based on the identified needs
and decisions should be reached by consensus. All stakeholders are welcome to
join this group.
Regarding liaising procedures, SEPI and MSS, supported by UNFPA, must ensure
that relevant information from the service providers’ coordination meetings is
conveyed to the strategy and advocacy meeting.
Future changes to the ToR of both groups should always be discussed within the
groups and be approved by consensus within each group.
Members of the Service Providers Coordination Meeting
 MSS; SEPI; FOKUPERS; PRADET ; VPU (PNTL/UNPOL); CASA VIDA;
ALOLA FOUNDATION; JSMP; Caritas Australia, Holy Spirit Sisters Salele,
Office of Prosecutor General
Members of the Strategic and Advocacy Working Group
 Government TL – SEPI, MSS, MoH, MoJ, MoEd, PNTL/VPU, PDHJ
 National NGO’s – Pradet, Fokupers, JSMP, Alola Foundation, Belun, ,
AMKV, Casa Vida, , Rede Feto, FONGTIL
 UN agencies and other international organizations such as UNFPA,
UNIFEM, UNICEF, UNDP, IOM; UNMIT - Gender Unit, , UNMIT
Administration of Justice Support Unit (AJSU); UNPOL/PNTL VPU
 Selected national/international NGOs and other development partners
working in the area of gender/gender-based violence on a need-basis.
ANNEX 1 to ToRs for Referral Network in Timor-Leste
Identified gaps to be addressed when developing the Strategic Group
Annual Action Plan 20103
The following gap areas have been identified by the RN as areas for collective
action in 2009-10:
3
Based on a background note on the RWG presented by UNFPA at the
Protection Working Group, August 2007.
Implementation of the Law Against Domestic Violence (LADV) – The law was
approved by the Council of Ministers on August 19th and was approved by the
National Parliament on 3th of May 2010. This Law provides the legal framework
needed to ensure the appropriate support to victims of Domestic Violence by the
various relevant actors, namely the relevant governmental bodies. This group
needs to support advocacy efforts to pass the law in Parliament and then ensure
its implementation.
Other relevant laws: The group should also consider all other relevant laws that
might have an impact on the implementation of the LADV, for example some
articles of the Civil and Civil Procedure Codes, some articles of the Penal Code,
the Witness Protection Law, etc. The group should ensure that service providers
understand such laws and comply with them when doing their work.
Lack of uniform data collection standards – there is currently a lack of uniform
data collection standards amongst the respective organizations and agencies
working in this area. Different organizations are using different methods for
collecting data, including different terminology and classifications of cases, some
of which are based on legal definitions of crimes and some of which are not. This
makes it very difficult to do any proper comparative analysis from year to year, to
track the progress of cases and to advocate effectively at the policy level.
Need to strengthen the referral protocols and procedures – the referral
processes need to be strengthened namely through on-going training of the staff
(also taking into consideration the big turnover of personnel), through continuous
financial support by relevant agencies and governmental bodies to ensure the
quality of services provided.
Lacks of access to services in the districts – there is a need to update on an
on-going basis the mapping of services (also partly due to the big turnover of
contact people), and explore possibilities to increase the number of dedicated
services for victims of SGBV outside of Dili.
Need for further strengthening to individual service providers – each of the
individual service providers are still relatively young and in need of internal
strengthening. There are also relatively few personnel with the appropriate
background in social work or counselling working in these organizations.
ANNEX 2 to ToRs for Referral Network in Timor-Leste
Clarification of the role of the various stakeholders with responsibilities in
combating SGBV:
On 4th June 2008 the Decree-Law No. 7/2008, established the Office of the
Secretary of State for the Promotion of Gender Equality (SEPI – Secretaria de
Estado para a Promoção da Igualdade), which incorporated the activities which
used to be undertaken by OPE. The Role of SEPI is to design, execute, coordinate
and assess policy as defined by the Council of Ministers, for the areas of
promotion of women’s rights and gender equality, using a Gender Mainstreaming
Approach. Regarding the RN (strategic level) the main role of SEPI is to
coordinate the work of the group, facilitate the meetings, provide good minutes,
ensure the collection of relevant data needed to formulate good public policies,
and do advocacy to ensure that the needed legislation and policy is approved by
the Council of Ministers and implemented by the relevant governmental bodies
(namely by ensuring coordination with MSS, MS, PNTL and MJ);
The role of MSS is to implement the Government’s social security and social
protection policies in what concerns children, women and other at-risk groups.
Regarding the RN (service providers level) the main role of MSS is to coordinate
the work of the group, facilitate the meetings, support NGOs doing service
provision, gather data and provide support to victims in the districts and sub
districts through the 13 Child Protection Workers and 65 Social Animators, and do
advocacy to ensure that the needed legislation and policy is approved by the
Council of Ministers and implemented by the relevant governmental bodies
(namely by ensuring coordination with SEPI, MoH, PNTL and MoJ).
The role of the national NGO’s is to support the victims of violence within their
areas of work (legal support, psychological support, shelter and refer to medical
support, and to the police). The specific role of NGO’s in the service providers
group meetings is to share information (keeping confidentiality procedures in
place) about cases in order to ensure that victims receive the appropriate support
be it from the government, from other NGO’s or UN agencies, and from the police.
NGO’s should also support the process of standardizing data collection and
provide monthly updates on total cases received disaggregated by gender and
type of crime as well as other relevant information to the strategic group for followup.
The role of PNTL/VPU is to register the occurrences, refer the victims to the
relevant support structures and inform the prosecutor’s office. Specifically at RN
(service providers) the role of PNTL/VPU is to share information (keeping
confidentiality procedures in place) about cases in order to ensure that victims
receive the appropriate support be it from the government or from other NGO’s or
UN agencies. It should also ensure that cases shared by NGO’s or other
stakeholders are registered and being followed by the local or national PNTL/VPU
office and when appropriate inform the prosecutor’s office. The PNTL/VPU should
also provide monthly updates on the total number of cases reported to the police
as well as any other information relating to the mandate of the PNTL/VPU to the
strategic group for follow up;
The role of UNFPA is to support the relevant government bodies, namely SEPI
and MSS in strengthening their capacity to fight gender based violence as well as
to support NGO’s work. Regarding the RN strategic and service providers
meetings UNFPA provides the needed technical assistance to both SEPI and
MSS.
The role of the other stakeholders that participate in the RN strategic meetings is
to support SEPI, MSS and the service providers in finding the best possible ways
to implement their work, namely by supporting the drafting of the Annual Plan of
Action, the drafting of policy papers and other advocacy initiatives, such as media
campaigns.
Case Study 34: Referral pathway for service
providers form the Inter-agency Standing
Committee (IASC)
The referral pathway below is used by the United Nations Mission
in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in 2010. All forms of violence have serious
physical, health, and emotional effects on the survivors and it is
important that survivors access medical, psycho-social, justice, and
security services.
Information about sexual and gender-based incidents is extremely
sensitive and confidential. Survivors have a right to control how or
if information about their case is shared with other agencies or
individuals.
The survivor should be given honest and complete information
about possible referrals for services. If she agrees and requests
referrals, she must give her informed consent before any
information is shared with others. The following page is an
illustration of the entry points of services for sexual and genderbased violence survivors and the pathway for referrals and follow
up for the police.
See Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), Establishing
Gender-based Violence Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
for multisectoral and interorganisational prevention and response
to gender-based violence in humanitarian settings, May 2008, p. 22
on the referral pathway.
Case Study 35: Referral Network Poster and
Directory of Assistance for Victims of Human
Trafficking and Domestic Violence in TimorLeste
The sample Referral Network Poster from Timor-Leste provides a
map of available service provides in the different areas of the
country. It provides contact details and other relevant information. It
is particularly helpful to have in all police stations.
The sample Directory of Assistance for Victims of Human
Trafficking and Domestic Violence in Timor-Leste provides a
detailed list of the services provided by different
government agencies, NGOs, civil society
organisations and religious institutions. The contact
sheets provide all relevant information per service
provider (types of services, criteria, contact
numbers and address etc.). The directory has two
types of indexes that categorise the service
providers by type of service provided or by
geographic location. These indexes are particularly
helpful in guiding the police to the proper service
provider.
Case Study 36: Medecins sans frontieres
(MSF) provides medical support to survivors
ofrape in Burundi, DRC and Liberia
The non-governmental organization (NGO) Medecins sans
frontieres (MSF) has documented its work in medical services to
survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in conflict and
stable settings in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
Colombia, Liberia and South Africa.38 Their report also includes
sexual and gender-based violence against men and boys.
In Burundi, MSF set up a clinic for rape victims in 2003 and has
served at least 7000 survivors by 2009. It is sometimes required
that a government doctor sign a medical-legal certificate that can
be used as evidence in court. The signature costs 15 USD which is
unaffordable to many victims.
In DRC, the conflict situation brought about massive cases of rape.
In 2008, MSF reported that at least 45 victims of rape per month
were treated in North Kivu of which 20 % arrived within 72 hours.
Seventy-five percent arrived after five days which made it too late
to administer emergency pregnancy prevention and HIV
prophylaxis. To increase awareness, MSF worked with the
communities by training a network of women as focal points for
sexual violence in their villages.
In Liberia, MSF is present in two hospitals and two clinics in the
capital Monrovia. In 2008, it treated 771 survivors of sexual
violence in a clinic in Bushrod Island in Monrovia. MSF provided for
medical and psycho-social support to rape victims in the clinic, as
well as a medical-legal certificate to be used in court. However,
only 4 of the 771 victims decided to file a case in 2008 due to
illiteracy and cost of legal proceedings. People in Liberia did not
what to do and where to go when a sexual assault happens. To
increase awareness, MSF supported a drama group that performs
plays in the street markets, communities and health facilities. A
campaign was also conducted with billboards and posters. These
efforts increased the number of victims who came to the clinics
from 26 to 60 per month but only one third arrived within 72 hours.
In 2008, more than 70% of victims of sexual violence treated by
MSF in Liberia were children. As a result of lobbying efforts by
MSF, the Liberian government adopted a national medical-legal
certificate called the national medical report in 2008. First, any
medical practitioner is authorized to sign a medical-legal certificate
that is accepted by the courts which avoids delays. Second the
certificate is dual purpose and functions as a legal certificate and
an examination record which facilitates the process.
Case Study 37: PRADET (NGO) Shelter in
Timor-Leste
PRADET (Psychosocial Recovery and Development in East Timor)
was constituted as a national NGO in 2002 to provide a
psychosocial service for people who have experienced trauma,
mental illness and other psychosocial problems in Timor-Leste.
PRADET currently operates a ‘Safe Room’, (‘Fatin Hakmatek’)
located in the grounds of Guido Valadares National Hospital in Dili
and provides victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and child
abuse with safety, emergency counselling and shelter, medical
treatment and forensic documentation of injuries with ongoing
referral to appropriate agencies or services, including testing for
sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Normally clients stay in the
Safe Room for several days and, where appropriate, are referred to
longer term shelters.
At Dili National Hospital, there is one dedicated doctor to the
service who has been trained to conduct medical forensic
examinations using the Protocol specially developed by PRADET.
PRADET receives referrals from all thirteen police districts in
Timor-Leste, who are often referred to Dili for treatment. Currently,
PRADET employs 7 staff who has been specifically trained to deal
with sexual and gender-based violence victims. This staff is
working in the Safe Room located at Dili National Hospital and
attend to cases from all the thirteen districts. Given the lack of Safe
Rooms in the country, PRADET’s aim is to establish similar
emergency counselling and shelter services at other regional
hospitals.
In addition to providing clinical services, staff from the PRADET
Safe Room provide community education, promoting the concept
of referral networks and focusing specifically on enhancing clients’
rights and prevention of violence. Topics include information about
domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and abandonment
and related health care and safety issues.
In 2010 the Safe Room assisted a total of 220 clients, many of
whom were child victims of sexual assault.
Case Study 38: Child Protection Referral
Guidelines from Timor-Leste
These referral guidelines were developed by the Timor-Leste
Secretariat of State for the Promotion of Equality, Ministry of Social
Solidarity, UNICEF, UNFPA, the East Timor Justice Sector Support
Facility and UNPOL/PNTL. As of 2010 all of the national police
Vulnerable Persons Units have been trained in the use of the
guidelines, as have all of the Ministry of Social Solidarity’s Child
Protection Officers.
Case Study 39: Liberia Ministry of Justice
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Crimes
Unit – success cases
Since the amended rape law in 2005 in Liberia the criminal justice
system has been strengthened with the establishment of
specialized institutions that deal exclusively with crimes related to
sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) such as the Liberia
National Police (LNP) - Women and Children Protection Section
(WACPS), a Sexual offenses Division of the First Judicial Circuit Criminal Court ‘E’,4 the Ministry of Justice - Sexual and Gender
Based Violence Crimes Unit (SGBVCU) and a coordinated sexual
violence response and treatment at the various clinics/hospitals.5
Even with the introduction of the multiple sectorial responses to
sexual violence, much needs to be done in the investigation,
treatment and care of the victims and prosecution of sexual
violence due to the many challenges facing the criminal justice
system and the proper manner to adequately handle sexual
offenses. The system is making strides to overcome these
challenges and has made significant gains in a short run and
considering all the difficulties the SGBVCU has been successful in
obtaining convictions.
With the establishment of the SGBVCU (hereafter ‘Unit’), the LNP
WACPS, who are solely responsible for investigating SGBV,
coordinates with the Unit in the collection and storage of evidence
to be used to prosecute cases.
When a complaint is made to the Police to the Unit, the victim is
taken to the hospital if s/he has not already been taken there.
The hospital does an examination and completes a medical report
form, which is given to the victim. Most often victims (who are
mostly children) come to the hospital or the police only after days
or weeks have passed after the sexual assault and physical
evidence has already been destroyed.
4
The Court E is equipped to conduct in-camera trials that reduces the revictimisation of
survivors and witnesses by protecting their identity during testimonies.
5 A number of documents have been developed by the Government of Liberia such as the
Ministry of Justice, Sexual Assault and Abuse Prosecution Handbook, For County
Attorneys and Prosecutors of the SGBV Crimes Unit (2008), Sexual Assault and Abuse
Police Handbook, For the Women and Children Protection Section Liberian National
Police (forthcoming), Government of Liberia, National Standard Operating Procedures for
Prevention and Response to Sexual Gender-Based Violence in Liberia (2009). The
Liberia Government has a National Gender-Based Violence Plan of Action in place since
2008 that aims to reduce incidents of SGBV by 30% by 2011. A National Gender-Based
Violence Task Force, chaired by the Liberian Ministry of Gender and Development and
comprised of representatives from different governmental ministries, UN agencies and
national and international non-governmental organisations, is responsible for
implementing the action plan.
The police may still go to the crime scene, however, most of the
time nothing is gathered. Individuals are interviewed and
statements taken from individuals who may have knowledge of the
assault.
The file is complied with the result from the crime scene, witnesses’
statements and medical report. If any physical evidence is
collected, which is seldom, it is presented to the prosecutor for
review and advice.
The prosecutor reviews the file, and may ask for additional
witnesses’ statements or other evidence. When the prosecutor is
satisfied that there is probable cause, the police will complete a
charge sheet, appear before a Magistrate court for the issuance of
a writ of arrest, the perpetrator is arrested, and the Magistrate may
grant bail if the crime can be bailed.
The challenges faced in prosecuting crimes related to SGBV are
the following:
1. There is no crime laboratory to analyze any physical evidence
that maybe gathered from the crime scene or at the hospital. The
evidence presented during trial can therefore be purely
circumstantial.
2. There is no set strategy for avoiding reprisal/stigmatization in the
reception and handling of cases, but some measures have been
taken to minimize reprisal and stigmatization to include the
following:
 Have witnesses testify in camera;
 Relocate the vulnerable victims and their family;
 In the case of children, find alternative homes for them;
 Relocate and change name of the victim.
3. Medical personnel need to be trained to take pictures of the
victims’ injuries to be used in court. The appropriate cameras are
however not available.
4. Police officers need to be trained to collect, package and store
evidence.
5. Managing expectations of the judicial process is important as
most victims and families expect an immediate trial. There are
Victim Advocates within the Unit who explain the court process and
keep them informed about each stage the case progresses and
what they are expected to do.
6. Risks associated with multiple interviews such as re-victimisation
have to be overcome. At the moment a one-stop facility where the
victim can come in contact at one time with the police, victim
advocate, medical personnel, prosecutor and social services does
not exist. Each category of persons interviews several times the
victim and at different times.
Below are some success stories in the prosecution of cases of
SGBV.
Success stories of prosecutions of crimes related to SGBV in
Liberia
1. Republic vs. P. M: Arrested and charged for statutory rape
Facts: The defendant P.M. was unmarried and lived in one of the
several rooms in a rented house. He is a pastor and heads a
community church. Both the defendant P.M. and victim’s parent
along with the victim lived in the same community about five to six
yards of their houses adjoining each other. Toilets/bath rooms in
this community are all built outside of the homes and are shared by
community members and most often, residents have to form a
queue to have orderly access to the toilet or bathroom facilities.
In the morning hours of 17 April 2009, the defendant saw the
twelve-year-old victim standing patiently awaiting for her turn to use
the bathroom and defendant P.M. walked to the victim and asked
her whether she wanted to use the toilet and the victim answered
in the positive. He immediately handed her the key to a private
bathroom he owned and with a stern warning to the victim that the
key should be returned to him personally. After the victim used the
toilet, she carried the key to defendant P.M. in his room. The
defendant sent the victim to buy sugar and upon her return, he
undressed her, and had sex with the victim by inserting his penis
into her vagina with force.
Later that day the victim’s parents notice blood in her under pants
and on her uniform and the victim was taken to the hospital,
examined and treated, but no physical evidence was collected. The
examination showed laceration of the vaginal walls.
The police was called in to investigate. They took statements from
several witnesses, visited the crime scene but no physical
evidence was collected.
Defendant P.M. was charged, arrested and indicted. A trial by jury
was held and the trial jury returned a guilty verdict unanimously.
Given the gruesome nature of the abuse and the injuries sustained,
the defendant was sentenced for life.
2. Republic vs. K. B.: Charged and arrested for the crime of
rape
Facts: Defendant K.B. was 57 years of age, former senior officer of
the Liberia National Police (LNP), and former tenant in the victim
grandmother’s house for several years. He appeared on the
surface to be child friendly and children sought protection from him
including the victim.
In February 2009, the defendant K.B. went to his former landlady’s
house and met children playing in the yard and they were all glad
to see him. They told the defendant that they were hungry. The
defendant told them that they should send the 11-year-old victim to
his house for a few cups of rice and bottle of palm oil. The victim’s
mother, not within her imagination and belief that her daughter will
be sexually assaulted by the defendant, sent the victim to the
defendant’s house. Upon the victim’s arrival at his house, the
defendant, forcefully undressed her, and sexually assaulted the
victim by inserting his penis into her anus repeatedly and
discharged in her several times and then gave her few cups of rice
and palm oil with LD50 for herself but warned her not to tell
anyone.
After a couple of days, the victim began to have a bad odour from
her anus and she could not sit down straight and was taken to the
hospital. The victim was afraid to tell anyone but after some
persuasion, she finally narrated that it was defendant K.B. that had
sex with her in her anus the day she was sent to his house for the
rice and palm oil.
The victim was examined and treated at the hospital and the
examination revealed that the victim’s anus was swollen with
laceration that was healing.
The complaint was reported to the police, who investigated, took
statements from the grandmother, people who saw the victim and
other witnesses and went to the defendant’s house.
The Defendant was charged for rape, indicted and a full trial was
held without a jury. The defendant was found guilty, convicted and
sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment. The Defendant has
appealed his conviction, but the appeal has not been heard. The
trial took six weeks.
3. Republic vs J.S.: Charged for statutory rape
Facts: The victim lived with her grandparent. The victim along with
her sisters and brothers, all below the ages of twelve years, slept
with their grandmother in one of the rooms. The defendant J.S. a
46-year-old male, a resident of the same neighbourhood, had on
two occasions entered the room where the victim slept and had
sexual intercourse with the victim but when the victim began to yell
the defendant escaped.
Again, in April of 2009 the defendant repeated his sexual assault
on the victim, and when the children started yelling in the room,
one of the in-laws came out, flashed the light on the defendant who
was naked. The defendant attempting to escape but was caught in
his trousers. A member of the community came and contained him
and he was escorted to the police station.
When questioned, the defendant indicated that the thirteen-yearold girl was his girlfriend. The police investigated and took
statements from the victim, the in-law who caught the defendant
naked in the children’s room, the other children and visited the
crime scene but collected no physical evidence from the scene.
The victim was taken to the hospital, but no physical evidence was
collected.
The Defendant was charged, indicted and pleaded not guilty.
During the trial, after the prosecution presented its oral evidence
and when the defendant was given the opportunity to present
evidence, he then pleaded guilty. The trial continued with the jury
handing down a guilty verdict. The defendant was convicted and
sentenced to ten (10) years imprisonment. He did not appeal his
sentence. The trial lasted three weeks.
Case Study 40: Detachement Integre de
Securite (DIS) and IDP and Refugee Camps in
Chad
In its resolution 1706 (2006) of 31 August 2006, the Security
Council requested the Secretary-General to report on the
protection of civilians in refugee and internally displaced persons
(IDP) camps in Chad and the security situation on the Chadian
border with Sudan.
The Chadian Détachement integrée de sécurité (DIS) provides
policing in camps for refugees and internally displaced
communities. They are supervised by UNPOL.
In June 2010, there were an estimated180,000 IDPs living in 38
camps in eastern Chad and73,000 refugees hosted in 12 camps as
result of internal armed conflict, ethnic violence over land
ownership and other natural resources and attacks by bandits
against civilians. The IDPs and refugees lived under dangerous
conditions with the continuing circulation of small arms, violence
against women, early and forced marriages and female genital
mutilation, all of which created the necessity for humanitarian
assistance.
Displaced children also faced a range of threats and problems
such as recruitment to armed groups, limited access to primary
education and lack of access to higher-level schools in the camps.
In June 2010, Chad was one of six African countries that signed
the Ndjamena Declaration to end the recruitment and use of
children by armed forces and groups.
In June 2010, the DIS numbered850 officers of which 96 were
women. The DIS was recruited, trained, screened, mentored and
advised by UNPOL and supported logistically from 2008 to 2010 by
the UN Mission in Chad (MINURCAT). At the close of the mission
on 21 of December 2010, MINURCAT recruited and trained
additional 200 members into the DIS of which 16 were women.
Female officers represented 10 percent that is 112 women of 1,050
total officers.
Gender focal points were appointed within the UNPOL (17 officers)
and the DIS (26 officers). They were coordinated by the UNPOL
and DIS gender advisers located in Ndjamena headquarters who
execute the police gender action plan.
The DIS is responsible for police community engagement in 12
refugee camps and 6 main cities in Eastern Chad (Abeche, Iriba,
Bahai, Farchana, Guereda, and GozBeida). They police major
towns which serve as a base for humanitarian agencies, patrol
service delivery routes, IDPs and refugee populations and
undertake other policing activities such as searching for firearms,
criminal investigations and the pursuit of stolen vehicles and armed
criminals.
Women and Children Protection Sections (WACPS) were
established within the above mentioned camps and cities. The
sections were aimed at investigating SGBV, collaborating with
partners on the ground for victim support assistance and
coordinating and formulating strategies for prevention. The main
cases dealt with involved sexual assault of women while collecting
wood or fetching water, female genital mutilation, forced and early
marriage, domestic violence, violence perpetrated by armed
groups infiltrating the camps and recruitment of child soldiers.
UNPOL officers mentor and guide their DIS counterparts in
conducting investigations. They provide advice on the resources
needed for the WACPS structures and promote, evaluate and
monitor the work the activities.
Regular reports and monitoring and evaluation activities
undertaken by UNPOL and UN agencies have shown that there
has been significant reduction in cases of violence against women
and children. Banditry has decreased through the effective
involvement of community leaders. There was a strengthened
collaboration between the IDPs and DIS agents. The image of the
police was improved and IDPs gaining confidence to report cases.
Overall, the security in the camps improved which led to assured
protection and safety for the gradual return of IDPs.
Case Study 41: Community Aid Posts in IDP
Camps in Sudan (UNMISS)
Two decades of civil war displaced thousands of men, women and
children from homes in Sudan especially from the South and Darfur
regions. Camps sprung up in different parts of North Sudan and
Khartoum to accommodate the internally displaced persons (IDPs).
These were once known as the ‘Carton Camps’, as most dwellings
in the camp were made of paper cartons. While most of them are
from Southern Sudan, a sizeable part of the population is from
West including Darfur. Away from their homes, lacking education,
skills, in a land with different culture and religious thinking, it was
difficult for the IDPs to eke out a living. They lived under constant
fear of relocation, without any form of regular income which
prompted some of them to resort to criminal activities ranging from
petty thefts, boot legging, extortion and at times, to violent crimes.
The police often raided the camp in search of criminals leading to
allegation of arbitrary arrests and human rights violation. This led to
a growing gap between the police and the IDP community.
Police community engagement in Sudan is being practised through
the Popular Police since 1992. However, there was no effective
and long term policing strategy to deal with the typical security and
law and order issues in IDP camps.
UNPOL developed a model based on community engagement with
a view to empower the IDPs to play a role in enhancing their safety
and security and join hands with the police in crime prevention and
maintenance of law and order in the camps.
The Model was approved by the Director Popular Police
Government of Sudan Police (GoS), National Community Policing
Coordinator (GoS) and the IDP community.
This model was projected in AL Baraka IDP Camp and was
successfully implemented and extended to other five IDP Camps
(Wad EL Basheer, Dar EL Salam in Ombada County and EL
Salam Villages, Mayo, Soba in Jabel Aulia County).
The model encourages building of mutual trust between the
community and the police through joint implementation of various
activities such as training of the community and the police to
understand the concept of community engagement and
empowerment of the community to play an active role in ensuring
their safety and security by working hand in hand with the police.
Community Safety Committees
A Community Safety Committee (CSC) is set up in each zone in
the camp. It is a representative body of all the stakeholders. Camp
administration and local police call all stakeholders for a
conference to set up a CSC. The minimum number of any group to
send a representative to the Committee is 100 (maximum 500).
The members of the group elect one of them to represent them in
Zone Community Safety committee.
Each zone selects representatives from amongst themselves to
work as Community Safety Monitors (CSMs) (volunteers). One
CSM represents about 500 residents. Each zone safety committee
is represented in the Community Safety Committee by one Zone
Safety Coordinator. The CSMs, local Police and the camp
administration, working under the supervision of the Community
Safety Committee are jointly responsible for the safety and security
of the camp.
The CSMs (volunteers) are trained by the UN police in basic
concepts of community engagement. The CSMs and the local
police work to ensure law and order and security in the camp.
The UN Police plays an active role in facilitating the implementation
of the plan by training the IDPs as CSMs. The local police are
trained and sensitized towards gender and child protection, human
rights and police community engagement to improve the image of
the police and build trust and mutual confidence between the
community and the police. Other UN agencies, NGOs and donor
agencies would be mobilized to support the capacity and
confidence building programme by providing basic infrastructure
and specialized help to the victims by setting up counselling,
trauma, and vocation centers in the camps.
This programme is closely monitored and evaluated, mid-course
corrections implemented if required and successes replicated in
other camps.
Composition
The CSC is composed of the following representatives.
1. Political representative of the camp/Traditional leader:
Chairperson
2. Police Station in charge under whose jurisdiction the IDP
camp is located
3. Representative(s) from UN Police
4. Director Camp administration
5. Traditional leaders representing every community in the
camp
6. Youth representative
7. Women’s representative
8. Teacher’s representative
9. Religious teacher(s)
10. Representatives from UNHCR, Return, Reintegration and
Recovery (RRR), and Gender and Child Protection (GCP)
11. UNDP/donor agencies
12. Zone Safety Coordinator (Representative chosen by the
Zone Safety Monitors)
The Committee is responsible for implementing the programme by
ensuring the right people are trained and the activities are well
organized. The Committee holds a forum where all policy issues
are discussed and decided. It meets regularly at a designated
place, frequency and time.
Terms of Reference
The following activities are undertaken through Community Safety
Committees. The Safety Committees may adapt, modify, and add
more activities based on their specific needs to address local
issues related to safety and security of the community. These may
include, but are not limited to:
 Engagement of community leadership through dialogue to
promote conflict resolution and management mechanisms
by strengthening traditional systems of dispensation of
justice by tribal chiefs especially those involving domestic
violence, gender and moral issues, tribal issues, family
disputes and petty criminal offences.
 Identification of civil and criminal offences to be dealt with by
traditional methods of dispute resolution and those to be
reported to the police.
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Awareness raising about the rights and responsibilities of
citizens and the police.
Sensitization of the public and police about gender issues,
HIV AIDS, drugs and substance abuse, alcohol abuse, etc.
Meaningful engagement of demobilized and incapacitated
combatants in community welfare activities.
Mass awareness of disarmament processes.
Support, rehabilitation and protection of street children.
Empowerment of the community, especially youth, to
generate awareness about prevention of crime and working
in partnership with the police.
Promotion of setting up of neighbourhood watch, business
watch, cattle watch depending on the local needs by
motivating the community to work closely with the police.
Empowerment of women and vulnerable sections through
mass outreach programmes in schools, colleges and the
community.
Promotion of awareness campaigns for education in the
community and police.
Maximum involvement of community and police in
environment preservation and protection, cleanliness drives
and safety campaigns.
Development of programmes and projects for the
rehabilitation of the disabled, war veterans and vulnerable
sections.
Promotion of rule of law and good governance and
strengthening access to justice.
Coordination with other organisations and NGOs involved in
the promotion of rule of law.
Duties
The Zone Community Safety Committee works in close
coordination with the local Police Commander at the camp to
promote a sense of security and safety among the IDPs.
1. The Zone Safety Monitors (ZSMs) are assigned on routine
safety and security duties along with the local police such as
guarding, patrolling, reporting, dealing with minor law and
order problems, community engagement and camp specific
requirements if any.
2. They would have no powers to investigate or undertake any
other duties of the Police not specified under the terms of
reference.
3. Community engagement roles such as neighbourhood
watch schemes, beat patrolling and crime prevention, and
community relations are also performed by the ZSMs.
National Community Policing Board (NCPB)
At the national level, a National Community Policing Board (NCPB)
has been functioning since 1992 but without a terms of reference
and did not follow an international standard. In 2008, the UNPOL
helped in developing the model on community engagement. It is
comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Interior, judiciary,
civil administration, local authorities, community-based
organizations, IDPs and communities.
State/County Advisory Committee (S/CAC)
In each state, a State/ County Advisory Committee (S/CAC) was
established. Each S/CAC provides strategic guidance on policy
issues and reviews implementation of the police community
engagement programmes at state level including monitoring of
work plan at state-county level; extent and effectiveness of
stakeholder involvement at the local level and among different
sectors of government and the community that have an interest in
police community engagement.
Community Aid Posts (CAP)
At the village level, police community engagement is implemented
through the establishment of Community Aid Posts (CAP), working
under the guidance of the Sate/County Advisory Committee.
Established at the village or in IDP camps depending on the
population, they serve as the hub of all police community
engagement activities in the concerned police station jurisdiction.
The Community Safety Committees are constituted by
election/nomination of members of the local community residing in
the jurisdiction of the concerned police station/ IDP camp. It is cochaired by the police station Commander and the
elected/nominated representative of the community.
The UNPOL supported by UNDP have setup three Community Aid
Posts which are fully functional in 2010. The first one was official
opened on 25t June 2008.
The CAPs are not police stations. They provide a place for local
community safety members, UNPOL, host-state police officers,
NGOs, and representatives from UN agencies to meet and discuss
various security related issues. The CAPs provide a venue for
awareness programs and vocational training with the community. It
holds the Community Safety Committees offices and it is also the
co-location point for UNPOLs and the host-state police.
Every Community Aid Post has a Gender, Child and Vulnerable
Persons Protection (GCVPP) desk with a female police officer. The
presence of female UNPOL and GOS officers at the CAP makes
the women and children feel secure and confident. Vocational
training for women funded by the UNDP included tie and dye. Each
of the three CAPs has two sewing machines which women use to
make cloth. These activities have reduced cases where women
were involved in acts such as beer brewing which is an offence in
North Sudan.