Designated prosecutors and police officers in Bosnia and Herzegovina took part in a two-day training to strengthen their capacities to tackle gender-based violence against women journalists, including digital forms of such violence.

The fourth capacity building session for contact points responsible for the safety of journalists focused on deepening understanding of how gender-based violence affects not only individual journalists but also freedom of expression and democratic debate.

Participants examined key Council of Europe standards and tools, including the Istanbul Convention, the relevant case law of the European Court of Human Rights; the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4 on the protection of journalism and safety of journalists and media actors and Recommendation CM/Rec(2019)1 on preventing and combating sexism. 

Looking at the local context, through the case studies, the participants discussed the questions such as: What type of gender-based violence journalists in BiH face the most often? Why is the rate of reporting of violence against journalists, including gender-based violence, low? What can and should be done by the media community, civil society, and institutions?

The action “Protecting freedom of expression and of the media in Bosnia and Herzegovina (PROFREX)”, within which the training was organised, is implemented by the Council of Europe as part of the joint European Union and the Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”.