Integrating the Issue of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Detention Monitoring: Training for Staff of the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina
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The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in close collaboration with the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, is organizing a training for staff of the Institution of Human Rights Ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina on integrating the issue of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in detention monitoring. The training is taking place from 13 to 15 November 2023 in Sarajevo.
The training aims to help detention monitors integrate the issue of SGBV in their monitoring activities, providing practical best practices, identifying risk situations and following up on incidents of SGBV in places of deprivation of liberty. The course is based on ODIHR’s publication “Preventing Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Places of Deprivation of Liberty”, the first comprehensive international policy guidance related to the prevention f SGBV in the OSCE region and beyond, as well as on ODIHR’s guidance note for oversight mechanisms, “Integrating the Issue of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Detention Monitoring”, now also available in Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian.
The training is part of ODIHR’s ongoing work to address and prevent SGBV in places of deprivation of liberty across the OSCE region.
Participation in this training is by invitation only.
Background
Sexual and gender-based violence in places of deprivation of liberty is an extreme form of discrimination and a serious human rights violation, which continues to be under-reported, under-researched and largely neglected across the OSCE region. Acts of SGBV threaten the health, dignity, security and autonomy of victims.
SGBV in places of deprivation of liberty is a widespread reality and remains a taboo for detainees and state authorities alike. It is often accepted as “collateral damage” of detention, enabled by acceptance of violence in closed facilities, patterns of negligence, inadequate safeguards and often a result of the power imbalance within the detention system. Victims are usually reluctant to report SGBV for fear of further retribution and stigma.
Oversight mechanisms can play a key role in detecting instances of SGBV in places of deprivation of liberty. It is also now well established that monitoring is an important factor in preventing SGBV and other forms of abuse.