NORDIC-BALTIC POLICE COOPERATION AGAINST GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

DENMARK, ESTONIA, FINLAND, ICELAND, LATVIA, NORWAY

The project Gender-based violence in the Nordic countries and the Baltic States focused on raising awareness about men’s violence. The project was financed by the Nordic Gender Equality Fund and ran from 2014–2015. It was led by the Nordic-Baltic Network of Policewomen (NBNP), which brings together women from police organisations in the Nordic and Baltic countries.

“We wanted to focus attention on these issues and increase knowledge within the police forces in our respective countries, especially in the area of human trafficking,” says Inese Voloseviča.

She works as a police superintendent within the Latvian police and is a board member of NBNP. She chaired the network in 2015, when the project on gender-based violence was carried out. 

As part of the project, a Nordic–Baltic conference was held in Riga in autumn 2015. The participants included police officers, decision-makers and representatives from various civil society organisations.

“It was very successful, with many great workshops and speakers. Our Latvian President,  Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, took part and made a speech on human trafficking and gender equality. We feel that we had a great impact,” says Inese Voloseviča.

As part of the project, NBNP also organised two programme items at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in 2015. This meeting is held in New York and brings together thousands of participants from all over the world.

“350 people came to hear about our work in the network in the Nordic and Baltic countries. We were very surprised by that level of participation and interest in our activities,” says Inese Voloseviča.

She notes that there is great international interest in how the police in the Nordic and Baltic countries work in combating gender-based violence. 

“This is not just a problem here in our countries, it is a global problem,” she says.

She believes that it is important to learn from each other at the international level in the fight against gender-based violence, and she feels that there are particularly strong reasons to cooperate in the Nordic countries and the Baltic States. Particularly in the fight against human trafficking, where this type of criminality transcends national borders.

“Because we are neighbours, it’s important that we have good cooperation in these cases and that our focus for work in this area is the same,” she says