Police of the Canton Sarajevo Ministry of Interior: “We realized what are the key issues LGBTI persons face”

Sarajevo Open Centre, with the financial support of the Heinrich Boel Stiftung, on 13 and 14 September 2017, held the two-day training for the police officers of the Canton Sarajevo Ministry of Interior. The training for the police officers was about the human rights and better understanding of the issues lesbians, gay, bisexual, trans* and intersex persons in BiH face, named “Combating violence against LGBTI persons, experiences from BiH and the Region”.

During the first day of the training, there was talk about the LGBTI terminology, prejudice and stereotypes, and the status of LGBTI citizens in BH society. By the end of the first day, the police officers had the chance to, through the concept of human library where people are “books to be read”, meet LGBTI persons and talk about their personal stories, experience, problems they have. During the second day of the training, there was talk about hate crimes: contextual and legal framework, and about concrete cases in which the police officers could see how and to what extent hate crimes affect LGBTI persons as one of the social categories mostly affected by these crimes.

Having in mind the expansion of violence and hate crimes against LGBTI persons, we consider the education of police officers on human rights of LGBTI persons to be crucial. Police officers, at the end of the training, emphasised that it contributed much to their better understanding of the issues LGBTI persons face in BH society.