Days of gender equality in Mariupol
With the participation of the adviser of the Minister of Internal Affairs on gender policy in the regional departments of the National Police of Ukraine, the State Emergency Service, the State Border Service of Ukraine and in the military unit 3057 of the National Guard of Ukraine, meetings were held on the implementation of the principle of equal rights and opportunities for women and men in everyday activities.
The issues of Ukraine's international commitments to gender equality, the basic principles of gender policy of national legislation, in particular the tasks of the National Plans regarding their implementation by the components of the security and defense sector, the advantages of gender equality for the Ministry of Internal Affairs system and the content of gender competence of the Ministry of Internal Affairs professional were considered.
Considering the complexity of perception of gender issues in society due to manifestations of information hybrid warfare, the basics of gender concept were introduced in an interactive format, accompanied by violent emotions and practical questions from the participants of the meetings.
The problematic issues of gender discrimination in the structures regarding professional selection, retention, career growth of personnel, material provision and the needs of women in improving uniform and armor protection, improving infrastructure in units, especially in the conflict zone, were raised.
“At the same time, with the need to solve problems, there are significant changes in the understanding of the management and team composition of units in the need to introduce gender integration, and the increase of women in leadership positions is pleased. Women are also changing — today they are already in uniforms and patrols, most women serve on a par with men,” the gender counselor noted.
On June 7, the next Ukrainian Women's Congress was held in Mariupol, in which Victoria Arnautova also took part. In the first discussion panel “Women in Politics and the Sphere of Security and Defense”, she reported on the political will of the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the positive dynamics not only in the overall increase of women, but also in leadership positions in all five institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs system.
“Among the tasks of advisers and authorized units for gender integration in the Ministry of Internal Affairs are such priority tasks as the institutionalization of gender policy, the distribution of statistical information by gender, the development of gender indicators for monitoring and assessing the impact of the reforms taking place in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. One of our challenges today is the creation of a training system for the personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs system to increase gender awareness, which significantly facilitates the implementation of gender policy in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and more effectively responds to the needs of the security of society,” said Victoria Arnautova.
It was also noted that in recent years almost all legal restrictions for women in the field of security and defense have been resolved, at the same time there is a need to change legal restrictions and discriminatory norms against men as “citizens in uniform”.
