The Ukrainian Association of Women Law Enforcement Officials (UAWLE) together with Canadian partners Police Stabilization Project initiated and conducted an offline workshop "Gender-Sensitive Leadership in Police and Law Enforcement", which was attended by more than 60 members of the association, law enforcement officers from different regions of the country, representatives of the international community.

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Head of the UAWLE board Kateryna Pavlichenko and Deputy Director of the Police Stabilization Project Kateryna Kaimashnikova addressed those present with welcome and motivating speech. Invited foreign experts shared their experience in this area: Jerry Campbell, former senior superintendent in Scotland Yard (London, Great Britain) and retired chief superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Janice Gray.

The event was attended by representatives of Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs, members of the UAWLE Association, representatives of Equal Opportunities of KhNUIA – Oksana Tsukan, Assistant to the Rector on Gender Issues, Candidate of legal sciences, Associate professor and Nadiia Serhiienko, Specialist of the Department of International Cooperation. Participants considered issues of gender sensitivity, namely: what it means to be gender sensitive; how it effects on police work; what is gender-oriented policing; a gender-sensitive approach in the work of the police and the involvement of all layers of society in it; strategies of gender-sensitive policing. The purpose of considering and using these concepts is behavioral change in policing and increasing the operational efficiency of the police. Experts also paid attention to mental health and the importance of family support for every law enforcement officer in difficult times. Foreign specialists provided electronic access to manuals with thematic information. Each session was accompanied by a series of questions/answers from Ukrainian law enforcement officers.

“War cannot make us stop being more responsive and barrier-free. Gender-sensitive leadership is not about management positions," Kateryna Pavlichenko stressed. As Jerry Campbell noted, “standards are generally implemented by men and should always be based on relevant science. Academic science and operational forces must be together."

Kateryna Kaimashnikova emphasized on the importance of gender-sensitive leadership and noted that today law enforcement officers are at the "frontline of change".  https://univd.edu.ua/uk/news/19722