Force International believes that security institutions must be inclusive and gender responsive to be representative of the diverse communities they serve, and to build trust and confidence of their service delivery to those same communities.
Reforming the security sector must include a recognition that recruiting increased numbers of minority groups alone will not bring about real change, real change results from inclusive strategies, policies and procedures which ultimately lead to changes in organisational culture.
The focus of gender responsiveness within security and justice sectors, is to ensure that the needs of women and girls, men and boys are met, this necessitates the increased inclusion, integration and meaningful participation of women and other minority groups. Men and women need to be recognised for the different strengths they bring to security institutions and their different needs as victims, witnesses and suspects. Gender Responsiveness and the inclusion of women is about ‘operational effectiveness not women’s rights and equality” (Peters, 2015).
Force International can provide you with subject matter experts who can work with you to build gender responsive security institutions.