OSCE Mission to Skopje promotes research on stress factors affecting women police officers at work

Today, on International Women’s Day, together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia and the Alumni of the OSCE-supported mentoring programme for women in the police, the OSCE Mission to Skopje organized a discussion on recognizing and overcoming stress symptoms of women in the police. 

Research demonstrates that female police officers face even greater stress than their male colleagues due to negative public comments from citizens, a constant need to prove themselves at work, and the need to balance their responsibilities as officers, wives and mothers.  Helping female officers to cope with job-related stress is essential to keeping them in the profession. 

“Together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, we at OSCE Mission to Skopje work to support women in the police, to make sure they advance in the ranks, remain in the profession and contribute to public safety and order. I believe that fair recruitment practices, educational offerings, including on how to cope with stress, solid working conditions, and digitalization will help to trigger change, attract and retain more women in the male-dominated police,” said Head of our Mission, Ambassador Clemens Koja, during the debate. 

“Society moves forward only with emancipated, economically strong and independent women and girls and we pledge to continue working in this direction. Only so, through joint efforts and participation in respective processes, we will strengthen the society equal for all,” added Oliver Spasovski, Minister of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia.  

“We, as a progressive state striving towards gender equality continuously work to attract more women to police profession. To achieve results, we continue eliminating barriers stopping women from joining law enforcement. The results are already visible, and work in this direction remains one of top priorities for us,” concluded Magdalena Nestorovska, State Secretary at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of North Macedonia.