Education for security: a gender perspective in the curricula of police schools in Serbia

Abstract

International documents ratified by Serbia, as well as the progress made at the local level in the last ten years, have led to the issue of gender equality becoming one of the most important for the future development of the country, and such a trend is present in the security sector. Implementing gender equality policy through education is one of the methods necessary in this sector. This is indicated, among other things, by the two action plans adopted so far (in the period from 2010 to 2020) for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 "Women, Peace and Security" in Serbia. This paper analyses the degree of implementation of gender equality issues, i.e., gender perspective in educational programs on the example of the curriculum of the University of Criminal Investigation and Police Studies and the professional development program of trainees in the Center for Basic Police Training. Based on the analysis of the content of textbooks and language used in the curricula for education and training of police officers, we came to the conclusion that, despite the fact that certain steps have been taken to introduce a gender perspective in security education programs, this issue remains peripheral and the language used often contains words that emphasize gender stereotypes. In conclusion, it was recommended that the gender perspective is not only an integral part of these programs, but also reflects on the content of educational programs and the language in which they are written, which would promote gender equality in the security sector.