Lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI) in Bosnia and Herzegovina are frequently victims of discrimination, physical and verbal violence. For their rights to be better protected, it is necessary that police are well equipped with knowledge on how to combat hate crime and hate speech, especially when based on sexual orientation and gender identity grounds.
With that aim, the European Union and the Council of Europe are working with the institutions on strengthening their capacities. 20 police officers coming from ten different local communities in Republika Srpska, have been learning on 12 and 13 July about how to deal with hate crimes and hate speech targeted towards LGBTI people.
This is the first time that the police of Republika Srpska undergoes a training, that included, next to the legal and procedural aspects, a part on sensitising towards the position and needs that this community has, including a discussion with community members. Police officers learned more about stereotypes and prejudices that the police officers might have and could negatively influence their work.
One of the police officers stated that this training helped her to better understand the position that LGBTI individuals are in. “I think that this concept and organisation (of the training) exceeded my expectations in all ways”, she added.
Participants also learned more about the methodology for investigating and providing hate crimes and hate speech in the practice of police agencies and prosecutors, cases from the practice and about the legal framework and regulation of hate crimes and hate speech.
Iskra Stojčinović, from the Department for International Co-operation Office of the Minister of Republika Srpska, Ministry of Internal Affairs, stated that the “Ministry is committed to support projects which relates to the sensitised protection of vulnerable groups such as LGBTI community by police officers.”
The Council of Europe Sexual orientation and gender identity unit’s manual Policing Hate Crime against LGBTI persons: Training for a Professional Police Response that is also translated into Bosnian language, was an integral part of the training.
This training was organised by the action "Promotion of diversity an equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina“ in co-operation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, within the joint European Union/Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022.
